Parent life / Homecoming preparations
Please silence your corsage
Texas homecoming preparations have reached the part where somebody gets out the tape.
A Texas homecoming mum is a corsage that has found things to do with ribbon. Artificial flowers, decorations, school spirit: there is room for ambition. In 2019, the Arlington Museum of Art devoted an exhibition to Amy J. Schultz’s exploration of the tradition.
The museum had questions about what it all meant. A school has an additional question: can we hear the lesson?
Plainview ISD’s reminder to elementary families welcomed mums and garters, then asked parents to tape the bells and other noisy pieces. Children needed to be able to manage their creations themselves. Staff would not be unpinning, repairing or keeping track of loose parts.
A celebration had been invited to school. It was expected to bring some basic life skills.
Picture the last inspection before leaving home. Everything attached? Child able to move? Excellent. Now a little shake. If the outfit answers, there is one job left.
Schultz, the photographer behind the museum exhibition, knew about discovering your limitations at a craft table. In an interview with Kirkus, she recalled being relieved of mum-making duties because she was terrible at construction. She started taking photographs instead.
A graceful reassignment. Many of us could use one. There is a moment in group craft when you realize that the person beside you has made three beautiful things while you have attached something to yourself.
You may still have strong opinions about the design. Unfortunately, these are not the same as a useful pair of hands.
For Schultz, stepping back with a camera meant noticing the work the makers were doing. What looked extravagant from a distance became something people were putting time and skill into.
That change of position can be helpful at home, too. Before declaring a project excessive, consider whether you are being asked to complete it or merely hold this end. Holding this end is quite often within reach.
The museum’s exhibition treated the craft, the family involvement and the enterprise around mums as subjects worth looking at. A decorated flower could carry rather more than its decorations.
A teenager may remember who stayed to help. The helper may remember how long it took to find the good scissors. Both memories are part of the thing.
The school, meanwhile, has left room for the delight. It just needs the bells to stop contributing. A little tape, and the corsage is ready for an education.