If at first you don't succeed
If there is one thing we have in common as parents, it's the repetitive nature of the job.
The phase 'I've said it a thousand times' could be our collective motto, but does anyone ever take any notice?
There are so many little phrases that we repeat on a daily or sometimes hourly basis. Since mine can read I'm tempted to tattoo them on my forehead, but since there are so many. Maybe I should write a long, numbered list and fold it up concertina style, tape it to the same spot so I can just let it unfold and shout 'three!'
Wednesdays are always the worst days. Although the children finish school early, this provides the opportunity for double therapy, one session of speech therapy and one session of occupational therapy for both of them, with the accompanying transitions. Hence, a couple of years ago, I adopted the line of least resistance and designated that Wednesdays would be pizza night. A shop bought pizza makes for an easy, quick and popular supper to be squeezed into the busy day after homework.
Whilst I pretend to 'cook' the children enjoy their thirty minutes of electronics time, but it only takes a few minutes to shove a pizza in the oven and throw cutlery on the table for no-one to use. Why is everything finger food? Instead, I spend a few minutes deliberating.
I have several completed bowls, thrown on the pottery wheel by my own, not so fair hands. One will be a wedding gift to my brother and his soon to be wife. I have whittled down the choice of pottery bowls to five. I'm out of options and choice time has arrived. I slip the five bowls onto the table, each with their different faults. One has a tiny crack but is otherwise perfect. This would be my first choice, but the crack glares at me like a cravass. The next one is also perfect. It has no crack. Instead it is the wrong colour. That shade of green is ever so slightly offensive, slightly bilious. The third one is perfect. It is the right colour and the fish decoration is even, but the bowl is not circular, it has warped in the kiln such that it is elliptical. The fourth one is perfect, but the base or foot is rough. The roughness cannot be eliminated at this stage. This means that their gift will scratch the surface of anything that they place it on, assuming that they don't hide it at the back of some obscure cupboard. The fifth one is perfect. The fish swim, sweep left in a swirl of a school but they are a little larger than I would wish. The colour is thin and a little bald on the rim. I dither about a marking system, but it would be too complex to design. Which is worse a wonky bald rim or a round bowl that isn't?
My daughter saunters up to the table, “whatcha doin Mom?”
“Hmm. I'm trying to decide which one to give to JP and Andrew for their wedding?”
“Oh you gotta give them that one!” she announces without a waver.
“Why that one?”
“Coz it's the biggest and there's two of em. It's big enough for them both to eat their cereal outta.” I blink. I had salad in mind rather than cereal. The word 'cereal' penetrates someone else's focus, which pings them into the arena. “You are have cereal in dat?” he asks. We explain the current state of deliberations. “Oooh, I am likey dat one?”
“Why dear?”
“Coz it is shaped like dah egg.” Well, of course I should have seen that one coming. I would prefer not to have the biased opinions of my offspring all of a sudden, as it really isn't helping. The word 'egg' triggers the last one to blunder into the debate. “You are have eggs?” We explain the tortured current status of the bowl debate. He drapes his upper body on the table top, no so much as for a better view, but more from the exhaustion of having to come up with a well argued opinion. We wait. I prompt.
“Well? What do you think then?”
“Um I fink……I fink………I fink…….dat one.”
“Why that one dear?”
“Coz it is dah bestest Vermillion.” Well that's a different version on 'bilious green' I suppose, but 'green' is never a word that he can retrieve. Their father appears, not drawn by the bowl debate but lured by the wafts of pizza smell. “What's up?” he asks distractedly peering into the oven willing it to speed up. My daughter gets him up to speed. He peers at the table top, “well not that one for sure.”
“Which one?”
“The one with the fish going the wrong way.”
“Which one is the one with the fish going the wrong way?”
“There! Anticlockwise indeed, that'll drive them nuts. It's not like they live in Australia or anything.” I pout. Of all the unreasonable objections, that's about the most ludicrous to date.
“Anyway, why are you picking now?”
“Because anything that isn't glazed now, or rather by the 30th of November, isn't going to be ready by Christmas. There was a notice from the studio warning everyone to get their stuff finished.”
“So?”
“SO, I'm out of time. It's this or nothing.”
“But it's only November 28, you've got a couple more days.”
“Yes, but I just wanted to get something finished, done, one less thing to worry about.”
“O.k. If you're sure, but the more you practice, the more you do, the better they'll be.”
“You don't think any of them are good enough?”
“I didn't say that. It's up to you. There's no harm in trying again surely?”
“Mummy is da try, try, try agin?”
“Yeah. Have another go mom.”
“Da try agin is good.” My self satisfied, smug husband grins at me. “What do you have to lose, you don't eat pizza anyway! Go out to the garage and fling some clay around?” I look at all the expectant faces that taunt and goad. How can I continue the 'good enough' campaign in the face of such united front?
November 29th, 2007 at 1:39 am
Perfect is over-rated… go for originality!
(If all else fails you could choose the one that would be the best talking point…)
xx
November 29th, 2007 at 3:18 am
Well, you have been given permission to go an get your hands dirty. I would take that and run with it.
(even if you end up using one of the already made ones)
November 29th, 2007 at 3:27 am
give them the lot… This is a gift of love. and it is your family…. Trust me I am a learner potter as well…Ignore the faults that only a ‘potter’ can see…
give them to your brother and his missus, from yourself and your children… hey warts and all..
cheers kim xox..
November 29th, 2007 at 5:02 am
Well if you can’t find any homes for them, send one over to me, I LOVE them!
November 29th, 2007 at 5:22 am
I like the one that scratches their table or the one that your son (with my sense of humor-love that boy) says they can both eat their cereal out of..
I agree with Vi also, I’d take any ONE OF THEM!
Is that a photo of Gumby or are they stretching the cat to make him taller?
Love you
Suzy
November 29th, 2007 at 6:17 am
LOL! Leave it to the husband to really complicate things. Anti-clockwise? Too funny.
From the picture above I don’t see any flaws at all. They all look lovely to me. But I know how it goes when you make something. You see every tiny flaw.
November 29th, 2007 at 6:24 am
ok, i find the imperfections (except for the surface scratching bottom) to be part of the charm. i’d be quite tickled to have something handmade like that!
November 29th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Impressive. A factory can make things perfect, so let them! =o)
BTW, after reading your Dear Diary “scare” we had a real one at our house. I think it may be from eating too many cookies and brownies 2 nights ago…
November 29th, 2007 at 6:34 am
The bowls are lovely, and somehow, I think, imperfect is the whole point. They weren’t made by a machine, they were made by you. The flaws are what give them their charm.
I would be more than happy with any one of them! Good luck deciding.
November 29th, 2007 at 6:41 am
Oooooo! I had a tabby EXACTLY like that one! I called him Sam. He was beautiful, cuddly, soppy, wise, and had cheesy feet.
November 29th, 2007 at 6:42 am
Weev got a bowl wiv littol fish on it. It’s mayde ov soapstone. Dilly likes yor green wun best. Sheez full ov serprises, that wun.
:@}
November 29th, 2007 at 6:54 am
Anti-clockwise, seriously!
Hadn’t you noticed that on tv commercials and the like people and things always move from left to right on the screen: a car disappears off-screen on the right, a coin rolls to the right hand side… It seems the right has positive connotations (with the right hand for instance being used to greet people), the left is negative (for muslims it is the unclean hand they use to wipe their bums with).
So, there certainly seems to be a right way and a wrong way to depict moving objects…
November 29th, 2007 at 7:35 am
i love these conversations. the fish thing kills me.
part of the beauty of handmade gifts is the imperfection. go with it.
November 29th, 2007 at 7:36 am
look at that cat! i am amazed at how she does with the kids.
November 29th, 2007 at 7:40 am
check this video out:
“the mom song”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM
both the bowls are gorgeous!
November 29th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Your brother and his future wife will love the bowls just the way they are- perfectly imperfect.
November 29th, 2007 at 7:52 am
I’ll chime in on the “Hey, I’ll take one” crowd
I’ve always thought that pottery looked like a lot of fun to dabble in… but it’s something I’ve never done.
Personal opinion – eenie meanie miney moe – is always a good way to make a choice!!
November 29th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Maddy- you are certainly talented! Do you sell your pieces? I would love one as well.
As for which to choose? I’m with the marital cereal bowl!
November 29th, 2007 at 9:00 am
The bowls all look gorgeous–and the homemade quality is absolutely part of the charm. It means it’s real and that part of you is in it. Besides, I think something utilitarian but slightly flawed is the PERFECT gift for a couple getting married.
Messed up my ankle yesterday trying to vault over a gate–it’s swollen to size of softball, so I’m grounded for a while, cast and all. Boo. No artmaking around here.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:06 am
You made that pottery…it’s phenomenal. Great gift idea and salad bowls…always useful! Original is a definite plus.
And oh yes, the things I say 1000 times a day. I wish I had a penny…
Julie
Using My Words
November 29th, 2007 at 9:39 am
hilarious
November 29th, 2007 at 9:44 am
Well they all look fabulous! I like the “they can both eat their cereal out of the same bowl” one.
Or you could just give them the whole lot…I’m sure they’ll love whatever you choose.
November 29th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Umm, how about “I’m going out to fling mud around and I’m notcoming out until it’s perfect.” and then don’t. he, he, he. You know, make the DH pay for the suggestion that they were less than.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:43 am
I love all of those bowls! You’re even more of a terrible perfectionist than I am!
November 29th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Maddy, the bowls all look fabulous! But the cat photo…disturbing!
Are they tickling the poor kitty??
Um, on the table-scratching bowl…you could glue a felt strip or pad to the bottom, or use some kind of water-proof caulk that dries clear to build up a non-skid/non-scratch ring on the base.
Unless, of course, you finally threw the “perfect” pot while everyone else torutred the cat and ate pizza?
November 29th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
That is awesome that you are into pottery. They all look great. I love the picture of the kids with the cat. They all look so in love.
November 29th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I’m afraid that if I took notice I would go insane! Wait I’m already there!
November 29th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
All the “imperfections” seem to me to be character. Cute that they all decided that you could do better. That is faith.
December 1st, 2007 at 6:58 am
I think they’re all lovely!
Did you have another fling? ;o)
December 1st, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Sounds like a fun hobby. I love how your kids are encouraging you. How cute. Imperfections do provide character, although if I mess up on my crochet I unravel it all…sigh. At least we try with these homemade gifts!
December 1st, 2007 at 2:31 pm
And they’re gorgeous by the way.
December 1st, 2007 at 5:08 pm
that cat looks like he is in heaven!