We should have waited for mom

Lacey was gone to a meeting and I was home to spend some time with the girls. Our choices were to go outside and play or do a craft. Peyton and Reagan pleaded with me to let them create the stepping stones that we purchased for them at Easter. Confession time....when we bought those at Target I distinctly remember thinking "This would be a good project for Lacey to do...I don't want anything to do with it." I told the girls that I thought it was too messy, too complicated, too time consuming. Those all may have been true, but they were pretextual...the real reason was I didn't want to mess with it. After looking on the box and seeing that it dries in minutes (more on that later), and that it is designed for ages 8 and up, I figured that I could tackle it.



We carefully opened the boxes and I pulled out the instructions. The girls were much more interested in putting on the mask and gloves. I couldn't quite figure out why there were masks...there were no fumes involved. Perhaps it was because of the dust in the powder mixture used to create the stones. My other theory is that it was to hide the disappointment in the girls' faces when the project doesn't turn out as planned.

After reading the directions and setting up the work station (basically putting newspaper on the kitchen table), we were ready to begin. The plan was to quickly mix the powder with the water and create the mold for the stones, then add the decorative "jewels" and holographic stickers to create a beautiful masterpiece. As they began to add the powder mixture to the mixing container I sensed that this would not be a simple task. The powder was heaped high above the mold in which we were to mix the powder and water. I could already envision the powder spilling over the sides. Oh well, that's what the newspaper was for. As I poured the water in and watched the girls begin to stir to create the concrete, I thought we had done something wrong. First of all, the one tool that they provided to assist in mixing the mortar was not sufficient for the task. The best way to describe it was a flexible plastic popsicle stick. There was no way it could be used to sufficiently mix the ingredients. The consistency of the mixture was too thick. We were creating random clumps of concrete surrounded by powder. Try as they might the girls could not mix the remaining powder into the moist clumps. There was no way that they were going to get the entire mixture put into the mold and then "gently smooth and shape the stone using motions like frosting a cake". Yeah, right. I plunged in with both hands, kneading the mixture like bread dough. Quickly, I told myself. It's drying. I flattened it out as best as I could and told the girls to start decorating. It looked awful.

"It's already hard...I can't put the stones in."

"Daddy, the stickers aren't sticking."

"This doesn't look like the picture on the box. Are you sure we did it right."

I was frustrated, and tried not to show it. I had followed the directions meticulously. I wanted to tell them that the product stunk and that nobody could create something like they show on the package. At least not by following the directions that they had given.

I have no idea what we did wrong, but it certainly didn't turn out like we planned. Somehow, I think that the outcome bothered me more than it bothered the girls. They enjoyed the process. Peyton summed it up well when she said "That's OK, Mrs. Gould says nobody's perfect."