Chapter 226 – Xixi’s handicraft class
The curriculum at the Chuntian Kindergarten was very interesting. The teachers didn’t blindly engage in cramming-style education1 “填鸭式” (tián yā shì) is a Chinese term that literally means “force-feeding style” or “cramming style”.. They paid more attention to enlightening the children’s abilities.
It was just like two weeks ago when they learned how to write characters. After the teachers taught them the stroke order, they asked each child to go home and study the way to write their own name with their parents.
It was this kind of exploration that allowed the children to experience the construction of those characters. In the future, there was no need for teachers to teach them one character at a time. They themselves knew how to learn to write other characters by imitation.
Of course, the writing class was just the beginning. Children at this age were not suited to spending all day crawling on desks and grids. After inspiring their basic writing skills, the teachers began other more interesting courses.
For example, the handcraft class that just started this week. Although it was designed to inspire the children’s hands-on skills, it was very popular among the children. Xixi liked it very much, and almost every day after returning from kindergarten, she looked forward to going back the next day.
Under the guidance of Teacher Shen, who was skilled in all kinds of handcrafts, Xixi and the other children seemed to have entered a new world.
On the first day, Xixi brought home a heart made of red paper, which was “stolen” by her mischievous father. Yang Yi took a picture of it and sent it to Mo Fei without telling her that Xixi had made it.
On the second day, Xixi brought back a large cardboard, on which colorful shredded paper was glued and watercolor pens were used together to construct a pattern of trees and flowers.
On the third day, Xixi brought back a project that she made and played with her father and her mother who was temporarily staying with them. It was Teacher Shen who taught them how to make a handmade telephone using two paper cups and a cotton string. Although Xixi didn’t understand the principle behind it, she was delighted to show off her magical whispering skills to her mother!
On the fourth day…
That was yesterday, and it was finally the weekend. Teacher Shen demonstrated to the children in class and even gave the instructions to the children to take home. She assigned a parent-child homework to the children and their parents: Mom, Dad, and Baby are going to use discarded fabric at home to make a doll!
It was fortunate that there was this little task, otherwise on a big weekend like this, Xixi would probably keep pestering her father to take her to kindergarten to play with Teacher Shen.
Three-year-old Mo Fei2the child in her. Inner child. was very interested in Xixi’s handcraft assignment. She enthusiastically prepared the materials last night.
She dug out a bib that Yang Yi had bought for Xixi before, but she couldn’t use because Xixi was not a one-year-old baby. It was made of 100% cotton fabric, felt comfortable to the touch, and was a soft pink color, pure and elegant, suitable for making a doll.
As for the cotton used for stuffing, Mo Fei didn’t want to use medical cotton, so she mischievously opened Yang Yi’s pillow and took out a handful. She even came over and asked Yang Yi with a sly smile if he knew where she got this cotton from.
Having no other choice, Yang Yi had to apply the family discipline to her…
Without a pillow, the two of them had to share the same pillow that night. Yang Yi slept on Mo Fei’s pillow, and Mo Fei slept on Yang Yi’s body… ahem!
It was worth mentioning that Yang Yi didn’t have any needles and thread for sewing and patching clothes at home. Although he was a literary assassin who could embroider in his heart, he didn’t actually know how to embroider.
Spider-Man and Kick-*ss3
can make their own clothes, but Yang Yi can’t… Usually, when clothes are worn out, just throw them away and replace them. Who would think of sewing and mending them?
So his pillow couldn’t be patched properly, and the next day he had to find a place to buy needles and thread for Mo Fei and Xixi to make handicrafts.
Yang Yi really didn’t know where to buy needles and thread for sewing. Fortunately, Ding Xiang, who lived frugally and continued to wear clothes that were mended after being torn, could provide advice.
“Big Brother Yang, is Xixi’s clothes torn again? Give them to me. I’ll fix it in the dorm and bring it back to you.” Ding Xiang, who came early to open the shop on weekends when there were more customers, kindly wanted to help Yang Yi save money. “There’s no need to buy needles or thread. You won’t use them often, and it’s a waste of money, right?”
After knowing the real purpose of Yang Yi buying needles and thread, Ding Xiang wanted to offer her own needles and thread to Yang Yi, but Yang Yi politely refused this kind girl’s offer.
He didn’t want needles or thread, he just wanted to know where to buy them…
After a lot of trouble, Yang Yi finally bought the needle box and pink thread that Mo Fei wanted, as well as his new pillow.
…
Finally, they could start making dolls. Yang Yi looked at the excited three-year-old Mo Fei, and kindly reminded her, “Mo Fei, you can’t do all the steps by yourself. This is a parent-child homework, and you have to let Xixi participate too.”
The little girl, who had been squatting on the side early on and eagerly watching, quickly nodded her head. She blinked her big eyes and said, “Mama, I also want to play.”
Not only did Xixi want to play, but when she saw these fluffy cotton balls, all three kittens also raised their tails and circled around with interest, watching their owners’ reactions while looking for a chance to sneak in and play.
But Mo Fei was vigilant and shooed them away. She spread out the instructions and pointed them out step by step, saying, “Of course Xixi can participate, but Xixi, Mama tells you, you can’t touch the needle. The sewing work must be done by Mama or Papa. You can assist and help Mama, okay?”
“Okay!” Xixi happily replied, no matter what it was, as long as she could participate.
“I don’t need to do it, right? I’ll help you chase the cats away,” Yang Yi quickly waved his hand.
Threading a needle, wasn’t that something that girls only played with Dongfang Bubai?4Basically, he is saying he’s not a Dongfang Bubai. More about Dongfang Bubai: Here. I apologize if I misunderstood this.
There was still a way to deal with Xiao Hui, Duoduo, and Xiao Guai. Yang Yi took out the catnip doll he bought a few days ago. In fact, it was a small doll with a bag of catnip inside, conveniently sold in a set of three, and Yang Yi threw them all out.
When it was first thrown out, the little British Shorthairs didn’t pay much attention, only the curious Xiao Hui turned his head to take a look, but it seemed that the attraction wasn’t as strong as that of the cotton ball!
But Duoduo, who had a sensitive nose, seemed to smell something, and she ran over to the nearest doll with a cheerful little trot and sniffed it.
Suddenly, Duoduo’s two cat pupils turned from narrow slits to big round beads. With a “meow” sound, Duoduo pounced on the small toy with both paws and started biting it.
It didn’t seem like she was treating it as a class enemy. After biting it for a while, Duoduo twisted her body, vigorously rubbing every part of her big round face against the catnip doll.
In less than a moment, all three catnip dolls found their respective targets, and were ruthlessly pounced on and ravaged by their respective cats. The unclean scene was almost unbearable to watch.
In any case, these three little rascals didn’t have the energy to bother Yang Yi and the others for the time being.
But Mo Fei still arranged tasks for Yang Yi.
“No, Teacher Shen said that parents and children should make this cloth doll together. Yang Yi, how can you not do your homework?”5This was Mo Fei’s answer to Yang Yi’s earlier question “I don’t need to do it, right?“ Mo Fei looked at Yang Yi’s flustered expression and chuckled, saying, “Come on, take this bib and cut off the knots on the edges.”
Yang Yi had to sat down as well. Fortunately, it only involved scissors, and he was good at anything related to knives. He grabbed the center of the bib and quickly cut around it, trimming off the raised edges, leaving only an oval-shaped piece of cloth.
Mo Fei wasn’t idle either. She rubbed the cotton into strips, and Xixi imitated her, helping out. Then, according to the diagram in Teacher Shen’s instructions, they stacked the strips together and rolled them into a sturdy and beautiful ball.
“It’s a bit too big. Teacher Shen said it should be about three centimeters in diameter. Our doll is a bit larger, but it’s okay. Let’s make a bigger cloth doll!” Mo Fei smiled at Xixi, who was curiously poking the ball.
“Okay, let’s make a big one. I like big dolls!” Xixi responded happily.
TN: “The child in us” is similar to the concept of the inner child. It refers to the part of ourselves that is playful, curious, and imaginative.
TN: If you like my translations support me in ko-fi: Here.
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