Scissors

3.28.2006

When I worked at the children's museum one of my favorite things was helping kids use scissors for the first time. Often, parents would say "Oh, I thought he was too young." or "It always makes me nervous". I loved being the person who help them succeed at what could be a very frustrating experience.

My maddie is not quite two and has started using scissors. She runs up to me, paper in hand and uses her fingers to cut the paper; "cut, cut" she says. We sit down together and I make long strips of paper as wide as 1 snip with the scissors. I hold the strips while she manuvers the scissors from right to left hand (she can't decide is she is a righty or lefty)and then works them up and down, until snip and success. A little piece of paper. She gets so excited each time.

At the museum I would always get an envelope and put the cut pieces in, seal it and date it. The kids usually didn't want to glue them, the cutting was the thing that day. Madison is getting pretty good with the scissors and will soon not need my help. I have the envelopes with Anya's and Madison's first cuts. It seems a bit silly, but one day I will be able to open up those envelopes and remember how small the hands were that cut those pieces, and how for a time, they needed me to succeed at what could be a very frustrating experience.

Happy Birthday to my brother Mike.