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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think Mr maker is the work of the devil?

94 replies

darkandstormy · 11/02/2010 14:20

I seriously dread the end music and the titles,as my 3yr old ds jumps up shouting, "lets make something",can't stand doing any of that arty crap .Usually just offer him a treat as a distraction.What a crap mummy I am.

OP posts:
BariatricObama · 11/02/2010 14:22

yes 'lets crap on a a washing up bottle, paint it green and call it an alien'

no its not an alien its a washing up bottle painted green that i have crapped on

fernie3 · 11/02/2010 14:23

I hate arty things too. I love craft like sewing and crocheting but I hate paint and anything that involves sticking or fiddly peices of card. I buy sets like the paint your own door hanger sets so they do them while I am near but not trying to make a hat out of felt and paper or whatever.

crankytwanky · 11/02/2010 14:25

That "I am a shape" song going round your head at 3 in the morning is fookin evil.

PotPourri · 11/02/2010 14:27

buy lots of sticky backed foam shapes and a pack of coloured paper. Then use that as your art project. You can even stick it round a toilet roll or empty washing up bottle etc.

Looks messy and creative, but is actually quite a clean activity. Totally sympathise with the whole painting thing - soooo stressful!

Original poster
darkandstormy · 11/02/2010 14:27

thanks ladies I thought it was just me,I am often on a guilt trip on this one.Mr Maker makes me feel inadequate.I sometimes think when ds is older I will yearn for these moments, so that makes me feel worse.I am just no one of these patient types.

OP posts:
thefinerthingsinlife · 11/02/2010 14:27

glad it's not just me, my nearly 4yr old dd loves him i however think he's a twit. The one that really winds me up though is big cook, little cook aghhh!

Lovecat · 11/02/2010 14:28

God yes, DD watches this with rapt attention saying "we could do that, mummy!" every 5 minutes as my soul shrivels at the prospect...

And I'm quite arty, I just hate the prospect of 'crap on a washing up bottle' (LMFAO at that one!) then littering the house for months on end before it gets quietly chucked tidied away.

OTOH, the disco spider alien thingy we made with modelling clay and cotton buds is still dangling from the kitchen window and looks quite cheery when the sun hits it....

AppleTreeWick · 11/02/2010 14:32

Buuuuut "making" is very easy to set up keeps em occupied demands minimal mummy time once they're established and generally is a nice way to spend time...

3yr old... tear strips of paper and pritt sick em to a box and look a monster! Seriously they let you get away with any old crap at that age...look a plastic bag stuck in a loo roll - Monster!

we love mr maker not as much as we love Justin obviously but still

FaintlyMacabre · 11/02/2010 14:34

I have the same problem with Katy from I Can Cook.

I love baking, DS (2) loves baking. The only problem is that we have very different ideas about how to do it.

I take the conventional approach of mixing all the ingredients together then baking them before eating the results.
DS likes to mix the butter and sugar together, and then eat it. Any attempts at adding eggs, flour, raisins etc is greeted with disgust and horror. He is normally a fairly amenable child but we can guarantee at least one tantrum during a baking session.

And yet I agree to it again and again...

Original poster
darkandstormy · 11/02/2010 14:36

I am just not avery "interactive" mummy on that score,I sometimes think will I yearn for these moments when he is grown up

OP posts:
pippylongstockings · 11/02/2010 14:36

I love Mr Maker - really, he gives me great ideas and yes, the painting thing can be pretty messy until they are about 5 and understand the theory of it having to look like something a bit more - but as others have said if it inspires children to do something what's the harm?

fanjolina · 11/02/2010 14:38

thanks Cranky - now I have "I am a triangle" going round in my head!!

Original poster
darkandstormy · 11/02/2010 14:40

actually I used to prefer the cooking side of things with my dd,I suppose it is horses for courses.

OP posts:
crankytwanky · 11/02/2010 14:45

Mwah ha ha!

"Baking" in our house means I make something while DD gets to lick the bowl out.
And it costs a fortune! I spent a tenner on ingredients for caramel shortbread last week. Could have bought some for a couple of quid.

victoriascrumptious · 11/02/2010 14:48

I am a shape na na nana
I am a shape na na nana

My 18month old hasn't got a clue what's going on in this programme but she loves Mr Maker

ChristianaTheTwelfth · 11/02/2010 14:56

Message withdrawn

minkulus · 11/02/2010 14:59

This is weird.....I was going to post today with "is Mr Maker Beelzebub in disguise?!".
Seriously, I love making stuff, being creative etc but when your child is home from school with a raging temp, you are 15wks pregnant and you have no toilet roll let alone large pieces of paper - No I DO NOT want to make a life size farkin pirate picture!!

nannynobnobs · 11/02/2010 14:59

Actually the main thing that annoys me IMMENSELY about Mister Maker is that he will take a big piece of card, draw the tiny shape he is to cut out SLAP IN THE MIDDLE then the rest of the card is chucked! Honestly, one of the first lessons we learned in craft at little school was don't be wasteful. It's not that hard to do ffs.

scrappydappydoo · 11/02/2010 15:02

I hate Mr Maker - I think his projects are over-ambitious. I want to know what paint he has that can paint properly on plastic AND would someone please show him how to hold a pen properly

dunbreedin · 11/02/2010 15:21

Ohhh, Mr Maker - does he talk like that in real life, do you think? He sounds so bizarre. Can you imagine him in the throes of passion, squealing away in his kerrazy voice..

And his one minute art thingies are utter shite.

GreenMonkies · 11/02/2010 15:34

I can't stand Mr Maker.

MayorNaze · 11/02/2010 15:41

mr maker holds his pencil in a weird way.

it is the way that dd1 is currently being discouraged from doing so

Shoshe · 11/02/2010 16:10

No he is brill, my mindee was watching earlier (before you flame me, it is only her and her baby sister today, who is not very well, so we are staying at home 'doing things' we watched Mr Maker for some ideas.

Anyway, it was the one where he drew around himself andd made a pirate.

Mindee let me draw around her, and has sat on the kitchen floor painting the picture of her, multi coloured (actually it is a fairy!)

ImSoNotTelling · 11/02/2010 16:17

i think mr maker is fantastic. Love it. We always get up and dance to the shapes and lie on the floor and say "i am green" or whatever.

DD knows better than to try and engage me any more than that. She knows shapes and I am green is as good as it's going to get..

Sidge · 11/02/2010 16:31

I prefer the children doing arts and crafts in the summer so they can do it in the garden, naked.

Case in point - DD2 got a 'Paint a Pot' set for Christmas and wanted to do it at the weekend. No probs I said through gritted teeth.

Time spent by DDs1 and 2 painting a pot - 14 minutes.

Time spent by me cleaning up DD2, the chair she was sat on, the table protector, the part of the table that got paint all over it despite being underneath the table protector, the floor, the wall behind her that she leaned on as she got off her chair, etc etc - 37 minutes.

They do look lovely though