In honour of “Make Something Day“, I decided to do two things with my hands:
- Finish the curtains for my kids’ room.
- Pack a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child.
“Make Something Day” is actually tomorrow. Jason Evans wrote this about it here:
“In response to the over-consumptive habits of western culture, Adbusters magazine has been promoting Buy Nothing Day for years now. The Friday after Thanksgiving is typically marked as the highest buying day for Americans. But we live in a world that can no longer handle our consumptive habits here in the west. And while we pile up on things we don’t need a large portion of the world exists without basic human needs being met every day. We applaud Buy Nothing Day … but it isn’t enough for us. As followers of Jesus, we believe that giving is a central part of the lifestyle we are trying to embody. So, we replaced the negative with something positive: Make Something Day.”
Now, I have never actually participated in “Black Friday” shopping. I don’t want or need anything that badly, nor do I enjoy shopping enough to brave the madness. So even during my eight years in the USA, I never took that opportunity. So to have a day of “buying nothing” was fairly simple for me. But I liked this approach much more.
I’ve been trying to do more myself – less meals out, more meals in. Less “prepared meals” and more meals from scratch. Less store-bought cookies and more homemade. Scrubbing the house, doing the laundry and even learning to budget and pay bills with an attitude of thankfulness and presence. Reading books instead of turning on the TV. Playing with my children instead of buying toys with batteries to fill in for me.
So it felt good knowing that I not only saved us money this morning but that I did something myself. Plus, as you’ll see below, the Christmas shoebox impacts more than just me and my family.
To be fair, the curtains actually came from Ikea. But they were miles too long and have languished in my closet, dangerously close to the dusty sewing machine. You know, when we bought curtains for our bedroom, I took them to a seamstress and asked her to hem them. I knew perfectly well how to hem curtains, but I was busy busy busy and so didn’t do it myself. Sometimes, I reasoned, it’s better to pay for the convenience.
But since I’m seeking to reclaim doing things for myself, I had to put my money where my mouth is. 
Being home with my children this year is helping me to do this. I had to lay down a lot of it when I worked fulltime as a marketeer. Now that I have a year of mat leave, I’m able to indulge and relearn these things like sewing.
Brian has been my example in this. He’d rather do things himself. It’s not just a matter of money (although there is that too). Rather, it’s that he gets so much enjoyment out of “projects” and doing things himself. He loves gardening, carpentry, mowing the lawn, painting…he just loves working with his hands. (Of course, he has taken this way too far….I would pay any amount of money for a moving company but no, we always have to move/pack/haul boxes ourselves. My family hates us for this because then they are recruited into schlepping boxes. And it is justified. When we move, I hate us, too. But we will always move ourselves. I have just come to accept this. He cannot pay someone to lift a box while HE is able to lift a box.)
This time, I decided to hem the curtains myself. And I did a mighty fine job, if I do say so myself. It took me way too long because I was the Prep Queen. Despite a rocky start with sewing (right, Mum? Remember home ec?), I have actually learned that sewing is like painting: it’s 90% prep work. As taping off is to painting, so ironing and pinning is to sewing.
Anne played all morning (she played Tim Hortons, pretending to get a “choco bun” also known as a chocolate doughnut and then acting like she was going through the drive-thru….oops…) and Joey slept. While I had the sewing machine out, I also mended my jammie pants and a shirt that has been languishing in my closet for months.
And sure enough, I really enjoyed myself. I enjoyed the process – the measuring, the pinning, the ironing and then the sewing. The fabric felt good in my hands. There wasn’t a rush of just “buy something and throw it up on the wall” but instead, when I finished, I stepped back to see what I had finished.
Finally, Anne, Joseph and I put together a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child. They are collected and distributed to children in more than 15 countries in dire situations, to ensure that they have a Christmas gift. It is collection week right now so you still have time to get in on it. Unfortunately, no homemade stuff allowed but we did have fun picking these out and putting it together.
I hope to get my children in the habit of thinking of those less fortunate than themselves early in the season as well as early in their lives. I’m doing my best to head that “Green-Eyed Monster Greed” thing off at the pass.
I’ll let you know how that is going in about five years when Anne and Joey realise that I really, truly mean it – no video game consoles are allowed in the house. 
And yes, I am still the Meanest Mum in the World. I am in good company – my mother was christened the Meanest Mum in the World when she would let me listen to New Kids on the Block. I figure that if she withstood my wrath on that score, I can take anything my kids can dish out.
So what are you doing for “Make Something Day”? Anything counts – even baking!
