Unpinning Pinterest and a Prize for my Son

Okay- confession time. I don’t like to fit in. It’s not always because I’m really sincere and authentic. Sometimes I actually go out of my way just to swim against the current.

For example: I refused to watch Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – not because I was a fan of the books and disagreed with Peter Jackson’s interpretation of it, or because I wanted to read the books first, or for any other noble reason… I just didn’t want to see it because EVERYONE loved it so much it annoyed me. If the whole world was obsessed with LOTR, I was determined to remain unimpressed.

But then came a long flight from Washington, DC to Tokyo, Japan. I can’t sleep on planes, so I stayed up and watched EVERY movie the flight had to offer- except LOTR. Finally, 11 hours into the flight, I caved. I was riveted, enthralled, and wooed by Middle Earth. Yes, on that tiny screen slapped on the seat in front of me, and with uncomfortable headphones, I finally watched it. The problem occurred when the movie was half over and they turned it off for landing. I had to wait through a 5 hour lay over, boarding, and take-off before I could finish it on my flight to Beijing, China. And yes, I’ve been in love with Tolkein’s world ever since.

And then there’s Pinterest. I only jumped on that obsession a few months ago, holding back for the same reasons I mentioned above. I don’t think I use it like most normal people do – but there I am pinning and planning and drooling over projects.

Every once in a while, the whole world gets it right.

Turns out Lord of the Rings (and Jackson’s cinematic version), and Pinterest (and the plethora of ideas available and organized) are pretty cool. I’ll post later about how Lord of the Rings relates to crochet, but here’s an example of how Pinterest is intertwined with the art. I pinned this one and KNEW I would do it. There’s a company that takes a drawing by a child and makes a toy that looks just like it.

My eldest son, Benjamin, loves to draw me pictures. Every one he draws is a present for me.

Maybe he draws people exactly like every other 5 year old, but I also drew them in the same fashion when I was his age: circle for a body, face on the body, arms and legs connected to circle.

He drew a picture of Mommy and Benny holding hands. He needed an amigurumi to go with a drawing.

We call them “Mommy and Ben.” I have green eyes and he has blue- he chose the buttons and told me exactly how to place them.