It was a one eyed, one horned

You can thank me later for putting this lovely song into your heads today. I'm sure it will replay endlessly. You're welcome, it certainly was my pleasure :)

Actually, it's one eyed and one horned, but not a purple people eater. But I'm getting ahead of myself.....Jazz came home from school a few weeks ago very excited about the chance to audition for the school's Odyssey of the Mind team. We attended the informational meeting and I was, admittedly, a bit skeptical and alarmed by the schedule - two afternoons per week and at least one Saturday per month.

So I prayed. Does a mother stand in the way of a child's interests because they are somewhat inconvenient? It's not like I'm waking at 4 AM to drive her to ice skating lessons in preparation for the Olympics. (That would require lovely and sweet Jazz to have some sort of natural grace.) We decided to move forward and let her complete the application process. Her school placed second in the World competition last school year, and, to them, OM is a serious business. The interested children apply for the right to audition and join the team. Is this a bad thing? That a child might be told "no, you're not what we want?"  Mr. Neoclassic and I don't think so. Some children really blossom in certain areas and they should be allowed to do so. Some children don't and they should be steered elsewhere for their successes.

Jazz dived into her application with glee and creativity abounding. Each child was tasked with developing a story line/ explanation for how a monster, of their own creation, would wash dishes. They also need to explain why the monster would wash the dishes that way?

She developed her story and drew her monster. Then she asked if she could create it using felt, like she did with the cat. After I warned her that I could only give directions and that I couldn't actually do the work (OM rules), she started by making pattern pieces of her drawing. Next came the cutting of felt pieces and the discussion of how to layer it all together. Several more intervals of stitching and she was done.

I was nearby for knotting assistance, but not much else

Auditions are this Thursday afternoon. She understands that she might not be chosen and I am happy/ relieved to say she's okay with that knowledge. Jazz even commented that her great buddy James submitted an awesome monster and he would do a "really good job on the team."

So, we wait. And we know that she's more mature (in this situation) than some others might be. And we are thankful.

One eyed, one horned, one mouthed, four handed friendly monster