Last Pottery Class
Lucas and I have been taking a pottery class together on Tuesday nights for several weeks now. Tonight was our last class, but we've had so much fun doing this together I'm tempted to sign us up for another 5-week session. The first four classes we spend learning different clay building techniques, including one chance on the potter's wheel. (I would really like to do more of this.)
Tonight we spent our time glazing all the pieces we've created. I'm excited to see how they turn out! The glazes are funny. Sometimes when wet they look like you would expect: light blue looks like light blue. But sometimes they look totally different when wet than how they will look after they've been fired. There was a brick red-looking glaze that fires into a forest green. I used a glaze that's supposed to be royal blue but was a sort of mauve color when I painted it on my bowl. So, in a way, we don't really know what we'll get until after they are fired. We have to wait two more weeks before we can pick up our finished pieces. I'll post pictures when we finally have them in hand.
I guess what I really want to say is this: It has been really wonderful doing something with just Lucas. I mean no offense to Asher, of course-he is very jolly and fun in his own shrieking toddler way. But Lucas is a treat when he doesn't have Asher either dragging him back or hogging up all of my attention. He is able to focus on his art, work independently, and carry on limited conversation while he does it. We are easier with each other when we are alone. Perhaps more forgiving, definitely more relaxed. When it's just me and Lucas, and he is neither playing boisterously nor fighting with Asher, I can breathe easier and just be with him.
I've got my copy of Your Seven Year Old now, and am reading it. So far it has described my son to a T. I haven't yet gotten to the chapter with suggestions for how to handle "Seven," as the book says. But I'm looking forward to finding better ways of coping with this introverted age.
Tonight we spent our time glazing all the pieces we've created. I'm excited to see how they turn out! The glazes are funny. Sometimes when wet they look like you would expect: light blue looks like light blue. But sometimes they look totally different when wet than how they will look after they've been fired. There was a brick red-looking glaze that fires into a forest green. I used a glaze that's supposed to be royal blue but was a sort of mauve color when I painted it on my bowl. So, in a way, we don't really know what we'll get until after they are fired. We have to wait two more weeks before we can pick up our finished pieces. I'll post pictures when we finally have them in hand.
I guess what I really want to say is this: It has been really wonderful doing something with just Lucas. I mean no offense to Asher, of course-he is very jolly and fun in his own shrieking toddler way. But Lucas is a treat when he doesn't have Asher either dragging him back or hogging up all of my attention. He is able to focus on his art, work independently, and carry on limited conversation while he does it. We are easier with each other when we are alone. Perhaps more forgiving, definitely more relaxed. When it's just me and Lucas, and he is neither playing boisterously nor fighting with Asher, I can breathe easier and just be with him.
I've got my copy of Your Seven Year Old now, and am reading it. So far it has described my son to a T. I haven't yet gotten to the chapter with suggestions for how to handle "Seven," as the book says. But I'm looking forward to finding better ways of coping with this introverted age.