“When you grow up and have children of your own, do please remember something important: A stodgy parent is not fun at all! What a child wants - and DESERVES - is a parent who is SPARKY!” - Roald Dahl

I've always loved that quote. There is a certain element to being a parent which means we become a little "stodgy", we work jobs, we have the stresses that come with adulthood and parenthood, we feel as though we get very little time to ourselves. It's very easy with the times we live in to simply turn on the TV and let our children vegetate so we get a break, I'm certainly guilty of doing this sometimes, especially when all I want is a cup of tea and five minutes where i'm not being climbed on like I'm a jungle gym!

This is why handcrafts have become so important, more important than they have ever been in my opinion. Children at the age of about four can recognise up to three hundred logos but can't identify a single tree! Historically, skills like woodworking, knitting and sewing, gardening, cooking etc were the entertainment and necessities of the day. But now a vast amount of people don't partake in any kind of creativity whatsoever because of the invention of the television.

When we pass on skills, creativity and the desire to make things with our hands to future generations, we aren't just keeping those traditions alive, we're creating precious memories. In years to come I want my children to remember times I taught them to whittle around a campfire on friday nights, or carving bowls and toys.

My mother is an avid Gardener, her home is usually filled with home grown produce. She has said to me before that one of the things that makes her smile is the knowledge that when she is gone, her Grandchildren will always remember being able to rummage around the garden, picking and eating food in the summer sun.

Children have such a sense of wonder when we show them how to make something, or we involve them in activities like Gardening, when we take them away from TV's and ipads for a while.

Modern society will become more and more out of touch with reality, with nature, and their oposable thumbs! Unless we change the way we percieve our time away from the hub bub of modern living, all of our memories will fall along the lines off "Do you remember when we watched this on TV?....Do you remember when we were playing on the games console?"

So every once in a while, create memories that will last, pass on skills and knowledge that will endure through time so that one day your Grandchild will be saying to their own children "My Grandparent taught me how to do this".