Wistful Thinking

I just started a list of wists. I am doing my very first "Craft Swap" over at Craftster. For those of you who are lost, it is basically where you swap crafts or other goods according to a specific theme (slippers, stuffies, pillows, etc.). The swap I joined is the Beautiful Use Swap where you swap three useful items (one that is hand crafted) that are aesthetically beautiful to the beholder. It basically runs the course of February and I am totally excited for the challenge. My alternative title for this post was "Its Craftastic" which would be my hypothetical craft shop's name or punch-line. :)

On the subject of beautiful uses, I have been reading the book Montessori from the Start, about the Montessori Method of raising/teaching children. The book has been ultra informative and while very extreme in certain cases, I think the method in theory will be very beneficial to Anastasia, my strong-willed child. My only qualm's thus far with the book, is that while it focuses on teaching a newborn baby to concentrate on tasks for long periods of time, I feel that it doesn't stress the importance of nurturing the child as in the attachment method of parenting. Maybe it is just this book in particular but I feel that a child needs a good parental attachement in order to focus and be independant. I like the whole idea of "Freedom with Responsability" and wish I had a safer environment other than my parents house to raise my daughter. But that will come in time (Lord willing). I find that people in general would rather tell Anastasia "no" not to go somewhere or touch something rather than make sure something is out of her reach that is unsafe or that they don't want destroyed. This is life for now. Atleast if I screw Anastasia up, hopefully I will have better luck with future children. ;)