4-H Lessons Learned - Part II

Here’s the second installation in the series of “4-H According to Mary.” This one comes from the “leader” standpoint.

As a young mother with no children in 4-H, I was asked to help a beginning 4-Her with a clothing construction project. As much as I disliked sewing, I felt I probably needed to take on the challenge to feel a sense of satisfaction in the small community in which we lived.

I remember the project was a poncho made out of light weight denim and it had white fringe on it. I was very patient with the little girl and she seemed to enjoy the project. She took direction well and in the end she won Grand Champion. She was happy, I was happy, and her mother was ecstatic. In the end, however, I was exhausted from the experience.

When my eldest daughter became 4-H age, it seemed that clothing construction would be an excellent choice as a beginning project. Yea, right! (Remember that I disliked sewing.)

During that first year I tried to impress upon this child the importance of sewing very slow and steady on the machine. So repeatedly I was saying to her, “Let up on that foot feed !” She began to show less and less enthusiasm for sewing, but I kept on with my comments.

She did very well at judging and of course, I was all smiles. The next year, however, when I suggested that she take clothing construction again, there was a resounding, “NO!” When I sat down with her and tried to better understand this reverse enthusiasm, I was told a story.

My daughter said that she had a nightmare the year before. In it I was yelling, “Get your foot off that foot feed!” When she did, the sewing machine only went faster. I continued yelling, but she couldn’t stop the machine. When I saw her distress at recalling the nightmare, I knew it was time to find a new sewing teacher and we did.

To this day, however, my oldest daughter will not sew.

MORAL OF THE STORY FOR LEADERS: If you want to positively impact the life of a child, teach what you love.