Magical Creature Lessons: #26

Building self-esteem

Ann Litts
2 min readMar 15, 2024

A while back, I began teaching the two oldest Magical Creatures how to sew. On a sewing machine. The Oldest Magical Creature made a lovely velvet pillow for Mommy for Christmas that year. The Middle Magical Creature hasn’t finished her project yet (a tie-dyed pillowcase to match her comforter), however — she did master the art of sewing in a straight and curved line AND threading the sewing machine.

That last bit is what I want to focus on here. You see, The Middle Magical Creature belongs to a theatrical group that meets after school. There is a lovely teacher who volunteers to help make the dreams of elementary-age thespians come to life.

Unfortunately, for the costume makers in the group — said teacher had no clue how to operate a sewing machine. Enter The Middle Magical Creature. She got the machine up and running, correctly threaded, and able to sew costumes in no time.

She told me that no one else there knew how to do any of that. And then, she beamed. I was so proud of her that I nearly burst. But mostly I was grateful to have had a chance to show her a new skill. A new skill that has served her well and earned her the recognition and respect of her peers.

I saw the shine of self-confidence glow from within her as she told me the tale. And the…

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