reGENERATIONs: mother's day, 2009

these are not the dishes that my significant other washed while allowing me to sleep four hours longer than the rest of the family (in his stead. ahem).

i was awake by 6.15, and these dishes piled up before 9. and while they piled up i did what moms, what women have been doing ever since we were first dragged into caves by the weaker sex.

i created.

i learned something about my instinct to make pretty things last fall when i sat every wednesday with a group of moms from my children's school, working on crafts to raise money at our annual winter fair.

initially i simply thought it a good idea to learn some new techniques; i had never before felted, or made a doll.

about 15 minutes into the first session, a funny thing happened.

my shoulders began to drop from their usual perch up around my ears, and my back straightened . i ceased thinking about how much time i was taking away from the office, or what form of torture my boss would have waiting for me when i returned.

i didn't think about laundry, or dishes, or taxes. and although we may have more cause than anyone else i know, for three full hours every wednesday, none of the mommies whined. do you know why?

because there is no whining in nirvana.

after six weeks of new projects, far too many all-nighters, lots of laughter, a few tears, and a whole lot of getting to know the people whose children spend their days with mine, i had made this..

after a successful fair my schedule returned to normal, as did the quasimodish curve of my spine. then one night it dawned on me. all those weeks sitting in that circle, sharing, creating... i didn't have a single negative, self-depricating, defeatist thought.

i had felt satisfied.

while promoting his most recent book, i heard michael pollan say something like 'if you do things the way your mom or grandmother or great grandmother did, you'll probably be headed in the right direction'. which might explain why i feel so okay when i am crafting.

you see, my mom makes pretty things. as did my aunties, and great-grandmom, and a whole host of women who came before them.

for ever and ever, women have sat in circles, cared for each other's children, laughed, cried, and made things...

alphabet blocks, the circular saw, the dishwasher, the elevated railway, the fire escape, the medical syringe, the windshield wiper, and most importantly, the chocolate-chip cookie.

all invented by women.

so this mother's day instead of sleeping in, getting my toenails painted and going to brunch, i woke up early and i made this robot...