Many of my sewing students are girls, but this week spring there were two boys. One likes to design. He created a superhero mask, and a cape. The edges were raw but that only added to its appeal. He created a stuffed dog, with pointy ears and sturdy legs. I was impressed. Another time I helped him make a character from a video game I had never heard of, so I had to take his lead. He was pleased with the result. This week he saw my baby chicks and was inspired to make one like them. Which he did, complete with poky feet. 

The other boy is less committed to finishing projects. Often he will snip up a slab of fabric like Swiss cheese, then change his mind. He is also drawn to living on the edge of danger. 

"How many pins do you think I can fit in my mouth?"

The other day I insisted he put down the scissors, which he was using to chop the air into bits. He has finished bean bags, and a pillow, and a stuffed bunny, which were cute. I am not sure if the bean bag lasted through the first day of whacking. Maybe there are beans all over his room even now.

One of the perks of teaching sewing to children is the adorable presents they give to their mothers.  Another is what is less easily measured, even with a ruler. The process of cutting, and finding out it is too short, and cutting again. The patience needed to coax elastic through a casing. The doubt that hovers when they see me put the beautiful side of the fabric on the inside, where they can't see it. Then the rapture when it is turned right side out, seams on the inside just like they hoped. 

My wish is that these qualities will last longer than the appeal of a superhero cape. In a few years when relationships take their place as the current project, perhaps these children will have reinforced the ability to try again. Maybe they will remember the effort it took to push through a casing, and call on it to wiggle through a misunderstanding. It is even possible that after the drudgery of a marriage that feels muted, it will all turn inside out and be beautiful.