When it doesn't work...

I am not a crafty person.  Many times crafts and projects don't turn out how I expect.  And other times they don't work at all.  Sometimes its because we don't have the right supplies (read: I didn't plan ahead), other times I don't follow the directions, and sometimes my little helper helps a bit more than anticipated :)  While I could just not post about those crafts, not take any pictures, or pretend they didn't happen, I don't want to do that.  I don't want to attempt to appear like a "perfect Mom" because I am so far from it.  I fail.  Plans fail.  Sometimes we have no plans at all :)

A recent example:  I saw this great activity in the September Family Fun magazine -- a marble coaster made from the edges of paper plates and toilet paper rolls.  Seemed simple and straight forward.

We started out cutting the plates for the coaster on the patio table since it was a beautiful day.  My son really enjoyed cutting up the parts of the plates.  It started so well, but as we attempted to put it together, it started falling apart, literally.  I didn't have glue dots as the instructions specified and was substituting tape... bad idea.  We were trying to assemble it in the sandbox (thinking it would be easier to adjust the heights of the supports) but the sand + tape + three year old was a terrible combination. 

I was quickly getting frustrated.  Then I took a deep breath.

"I'm not sure we'll be able to get this to work today" I said.
"But this is fun!" my son replied.

I was confused, the coaster track was not staying together.  The marbles and small cars we were using were either falling off or getting stuck on the way down, and the whole thing kept tipping over.

"What part is fun?"  I asked.
"You and me in the sandbox!  I like you to be in the sandbox."

My son doesn't care if the projects turn out or if they are picture-worthy.  He wants me, my time, my undivided attention, next to him, with him, together in the sandbox.  That I can do.