My Gift to Last All Year

What are the little 6-inch squares of paper scattered in front of me and why am I so anxious to start folding them?

I am trying to bring myself “up to date” both literally and figuratively.

After returning home from a post-Christmas Holiday party with my husband, Mark’s side of our family, Mark presented me a small box – one of those page-a-day calendars. The pages are brightly colored on the back and made to be folded into an origami design that is described on the next day’s page.

I have been fascinated by origami, “the Japanese art of paper folding,” since my preschool years. (I don’t mean that I went to a preschool back then, I mean before I started school.) My mother had been preparing to review a book on origami for her Monday Club (I belong to it now).

I watched her folding as her book described and – lo and behold -flat, one dimensional paper suddenly came to life in 3-D. Fabulous! I was hooked.

Origami is noted not only as a fun pastime, but a great, tension reliever/mind soother. There is, also, nothing like it for teaching spatial relations and geometric concepts.

My girls each had Shirley Lee as their second grade teacher; she made time for parental participation, bless her heart. I planned origami workshops for each of their classes and spent part of the day wearing a kimono to set the mood and helping them learn basic origami folds. We made wallets (I provided play money to put inside), jumping frogs, pinwheels, hats and more.

This new calendar of mine will be a fun spot to look forward to every day. When I finally get all the pages folded, I’ll have enough little paper ornaments to decorate a full size Christmas tree this coming year. Thanks, Mark!

– National Hugging Day is January 21.