Friday, January 6, 2012

Flower Origami

Tommy becomes obsessed with different things every couple of months.

For instance, back in September he focused on anything Mario.

Before that it was Legos.

Now it’s Origami.

It could be because of his Aspergers. But then again, I remember being obsessed with various things growing up and then moving on.

Like my love for Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block.

And then I moved on to Macaulay Culkin from Home Alone (what? He has pretty blue eyes..)

Tommy got an Origami book for Christmas and he’s been working hard on figuring it out. There were some tears, when he couldn’t fold the paper the right way. Tommy likes to do everything perfect the first time and gets frustrated when it doesn’t happen.

“Just don’t get mad. Take deep breaths and try again,” I always instruct.

“Sometimes Origami makes me so mad!” Tommy shouted, which is something I didn’t expect to come from a nine-year-olds mouth since most of them seem to be focused on video games and texting. (Seriously. So many nine-year-olds these days have PHONES!)

At one point he gave up and placed a pillow over the Origami book.

“I’m done with this!” he yelled.

I pulled the Origami book out. “Keep trying.”

I went to fold laundry and prepared to hear more shouting from Tommy. Instead if fell silent—well, it wasn’t completely silent. There is a four-year-old in the house, after all. But there were no more protests.

“Mommy!” Tommy said. He rushed in the room and was holding something. “Look! I did it. I made a flower.”

He held it up.



“It’s beautiful,” I said. I mean, I couldn’t do something like that.

“It’s for you.” Tommy held it out for me. “And when I get married, maybe I’ll make one for my wife, too. If she makes me pancakes.”

I smiled as I took the flower. There are hard days with Tommy but days like that made it all worthwhile.

Maybe down the line Tommy will have a wife (who makes him pancakes) and he’ll give a flower to her.

But for now, I proudly have mine displayed.

He's a great kid.

40 comments:

  1. Very pretty! My son watches YouTube videos to help him with origami. There are lots of different ones out there.

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  2. Beautiful post. My son is 13 and also went through the origami stage...in fact is still in it. now he watches it done on youtube which is so much easier than following along the book

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  3. That is great! I am always impressed by people who can do origami. I can never follow the instructions in the books.

    By the way, I had an obsession with Joey McIntyre as well. It was the curly hair and blue eyes.

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  4. How awesome! And so sweet. Sounds like a pretty great kid.

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  5. I about dropped my soda....Alex is 8 and went through an Origami phase that lasted about 2 years. (I know!!!) He made everything from boats to swans to frogs.

    He got so good at it they made a school video of him making swans at school to help the other students---after the tsunami in Japan they made swan's and each swan they made they donated a certain dollar amount. I think Alex alone made about 150 swans in a week.....

    Don't worry Tommy will get it. Have him make a frog---those are the cutest and you can make them hop. The boats are pretty cool too!

    Michael's has the square Origami paper back in their crafting section---use a coupon and it's reasonable. OR just cut your own paper down to size. Way cheaper!

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  6. That is really cool. I wish I could fold origami.

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  7. Awwww. How cute.

    I remember going through an origami phase growing up too.

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  8. So sweet of him... & it's such a pretty origami flower.

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  9. Great post. Good story.

    Suggestion: what is laundry folding except clothing origami? It seems patently obvious to me that you're missing out on an INCREDIBLE opportunity to turn a young boy's obsession with folding into your own personal laundry slave.

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  10. Yes he is. I love moments like that when your child is frustrated but then they figure it out. To see them develop that belief in themselves is so wonderful to witness.

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  11. That is the sweetest story I have heard all day! What a great kid!

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  12. Ahhh! That's such a sweet story! Origami IS hard sometimes!!! But it's wonderful when you finally figure it out. Great parenting!!!

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  13. Good for Tommy! That took a lot of patience and perseverance. If our grandkids ever get into origami, I'll have to remember your readers' comments about YouTube.

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  14. That is great. I'm horrible with origami, so kudos to Tommy.

    Just as a side note, no 9 year old should have a phone.

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  15. I make a dragon origami (it's the only one I know. The instructions for it are here: http://origamihowto.com/dragon-folding/dragon-folding-page-1

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  16. oh my gosh. He's gotta be the cutest little boy ever. :o)

    Kudos to him, I've NEVER been able to do origami. Even with the instructions. :o)

    have a great weekend!

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  17. He IS a great kid. I used to give my mom dandelions...the prettiest flowers ever, she'd say. I bet she would have like Tommy's origami flowers so much more.

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  18. That is such a sweet story! I love that he will make his wife one if she makes him pancakes! I have always wanted to learn origami but I just don't think it and I would get along too well, something about having to take your time and try try again....so not for me.

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  19. My son was the same - always wanted to do it perfect the first time and gets frustrated when he couldn't. I think a lot of kids are like that. But he learned; as Tommy will - that with patience it will eventually come. That is a beautiful flower. And yes, he will make one for his wife (who makes pancakes) one day.

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  20. You know, I think my son did origami for awhile. Since he is now 34 my memory is naturally a bit foggy. But he always loved highly detailed activities and origami qualifies. I surely never did origami. But it is so fascinating and beautiful to look at. Be sure and try to save some of your son's creations!

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  21. So adorable and the flower is beautiful. So sweet that he gave it to you. Well, we all can wait for the day when another woman takes our place in their lives. So cute how he gets frustrated over the Origami. I wish I knew what that is though. LOL. Hope your new year is going great.

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  22. My 8 yr old with ADHD has just started to love Origami. We have a couple of books but he just discovered this website which has short little moving illustrations.

    http://en.origami-club.com/index.html

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  23. that's beyond precious...I may have even teared up just a little. I blame it on the 1:15 am bit...

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  24. I love this post. Thanks for making me smile.

    Thanks so also stopping by my blog!

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  25. I haven't been following your blog for long, so I didn't know until this post that your son has Aspergers. My best friend also has a son with Aspergers (Anna's brother) so I'm quite familiar with it. Sam is now 13, and due to his different obsessions over the years, he's a walking encyclopaedia about certain topics. If we ever want to know the capital of any country, or the gas mileage for any model of car, we just ask Sam.

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  26. Origami, once mastered can be soothing. I too can get pretty focused on getting things just right but feel that same sense of accomplishment.

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  27. Kids with Autism are amazing! I know you've read all about my son...there were some days that were SOOO hard! Especially when he was little. Then there were other times (like his awesome scout accomplishments) when I just knew all the hard work and effort were worth it. Give you son an extra hug from me...proud of him too.
    Sandy

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  28. It is exactly those moments that make being a mom the most amazing thing in the world! And what a beautiful flower it is!!

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  29. You know, there is something about origami! I have had 3 different students over the years (with autism and aspergers) who all LOVED origami. And, Mario, yes.

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  30. Great story!!! I love your kids!

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  31. So sweet. It's just the best when you know your kid has been thinking about you when they are making something!

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  32. What a great post! You've really captured a day in your child's life...a very sweet one. Glad he has focus and determination...it really helps everyone doesn't it.

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  33. What a lovely story. And the bonus of the flower is you don't have to water it.

    LisaDay

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  34. Tommy's gonna make some young girl really happy. I just know it.

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  35. Its beautiful! I certainly couldn't do it.

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  36. Congratulations to Tommy for having figured out how to fold the origami flower. The important thing is to persist!!
    Here I share a link of my origami website showing some instructional videos I have made. Perhaps Tommy wants to try some of these models.
    http://www.origamispirit.com/videos/

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