This year Maria decided to do a Photography and Nutrition project for 4-H. Last year she sewed, and while that went well, the sewing project she wanted to do (Tops for Tweens), she was not old enough for - you have to be at least 11 years old. The only possible sewing project for her age was making a jumper (honestly, isn't it time they retire the old jumper and tote - that's what I made in my 2nd year of 4-H!).
So she chose photography and nutrition. Ben has taken a photography class in college, so we knew he could help her, and the nutrition project was mostly cooking already made up recipes. She's had the project books since April.
But that doesn't mean that my procrastinating daughter even started on the project until school was out. In fact, I'm not sure she really looked at the books until then. She did take several pictures during one weekend in June, but then did nothing with them. And I really struggle between letting her to do things at her pace or forcing her do them early, so they're done and I don't have to think about them anymore. She decided mid-June that she should only take the Photography project to the fair. Thank goodness.
So we were really busy in June and the project was really not mine to help with, but Ben's, who is also quite the procrastinator. So I tried to keep my panic about this project never getting done to helpful suggestions, which they both pretty much ignored. Finally I realized she was going to complete the entire project the week before the fair, and I should just get used to it.
It has been one heck of a week. The project is very involved - there is really a lot to it. And while Maria does quality work, she is pretty slow. OK, make that excruciatingly slow. And easily distracted. Tuesday morning she and I set a goal for each day, and while it gave her some focus, I don't know how much it motivated her. She worked for many hours each day - and Ben did too. And some of it was not her fault - the questions on these journal pages were repetitive and in some cases, pretty stupid. Like they (whoever writes the book) had to fill the space with any possible question they could think of. And Maria, wanting to do quality work, debated about each and every answer to each and every question.
By Wednesday night she told me she was sewing again next year. And I don't think she's the only one beat down by the size of this project - she was about 10th (out of 30) to be judged this morning and Ben said at least half of those never signed in, which means they aren't going to be judged - probably never finished the project. There are 30 people taking Photography Level I this year, and only 4 taking Photography Level II. That's a lot of people who don't continue.
But the project was finally finished at 9:40 last night. Her judging was at 9:50 this morning. And she did really well. She is so very poised and professional during the interview, and tends to make a really good impression on adults. Her score sheet is shown above. We won't know if she'll win any award until Monday evening, but she received an "A" on her project and a blue ribbon. And the best part? It's done!
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