Some days, you just want to crawl back into bed and restart it all over again. Oh, but
I did that, and it still didn't work. I woke up with a headache. I cancelled volunteering because it was killing me and despite taking ibuprofen and trying to go back to bed, it did me no good. I wasted time laying in bed, trying to go back to sleep. Not sure if the head ache is caused by lack of sleep or by a new medicine I started this week. I will wait and see.
So, I thought I would try and be productive. I started by making some skirts. I love to sew and we invited the sister missionaries over for Christmas. What is better than a skirt for them for Christmas. And while I was at it, I was working on a skirt for Elisabeth and one for me. The one for Elisabeth had a hole in it. I need to fix that. Mine, I thought it was knit fabric, turns out the lace doesn't have much give. So while a knit skirt would have fit at the size I cut it, the lace didn't That is okay. I had enough to make one for my girls, so I will use that part for my big daughter and I re-cut mine. Not too much of a big deal, but I lost count of how many times I had to re-thread my machine. Seriously, I must have re-thread it 15 plus times. I took a break and worked on making candy. For over 20 years, I have been making my grandma's English Toffee. It is a family recipe passed down from mother to daughter. I am not allowed to share it with anyone but my daughters. I have made it. Once or twice when I have first moved some where, it has been a little softer than normal, but it has always been toffee. Today, for the first time ever, I ruined a batch of toffee. My time and all those ingredients wasted. The nuts and the chocolate and the butter. I walked back to my sewing. Re-threading began again.
Fast forward to kids coming home. I get into a frustrating discussion with one of my kids. I know I wasn't at my best. I was provoking him a bit. I think I was just tired as was he. We had both had frustrating days. So, we didn't quite hit it off. We finally made up and worked on his homemade Christmas gifts for the family. A family tradition. Each person makes homemade gifts for every member of the family. It takes work, but it puts the focus back on giving rather than receiving. You should see how excited they each get as they give their gifts to each other on Christmas morning. We had a great dinner, thanks to my husband.
Then, the big kids and dad went to church. In an effort to have a peaceful evening, I requested that one kids join dad at church. Dad suggested that child bring a book. He burst into tears crying and said, but I wanted to make cookies for mom. After having a hard time together today, he wanted to make amends by serving and making cookies. I had told him no at his request twice already. I told him he would have to make him all by himself. He was ready. Then, while I am still working on sewing skirts. So, I worked on sewing 6 today. 5 are now done. I should have realized that I needed to be a mom and not so focused on what I was doing.
It was a good thing to do. But the better thing was to be with my kids. I didn't quite get that, I see that as I look back now. He came in and asked questions about his cookies. I answered. He did eventually make the cookies all by himself. I helped with the timer and taking them out. They were really good. He was excited to make 4 for each person. With a family of six, each person usually gets 2. With only 3 home, he could cook a dozen and we each would get 4. He was so excited. And they were good. Despite my efforts to eat healthy, it was worth it to eat his delicious cookies.
Meanwhile, the youngest was determined to work on her Christmas gift for the family. Why I suggested sock monkeys. I will never know. I have obviously never made sock monkeys. So, I quickly sewed the parts on the machine for her. And then, I realized how much of it was hand sewn. Really, it was a lot. She was so excited about doing it. She has been wanting to hand sew for a while. She found my big needle and the thread, and set to work. After a long break for me to find some stuffing in the house. Cotton stuffing. :-) She stuffed her monkeys and I would get the sewing started and she would sew the parts together. The good news is that I bought fuzzy socks to make the monkeys out of. Because those were the striped ones available at the dollar store. The fuzziness hides any mistakes and they look great.
So, I guess some of my giving independence to my kids paid off tonight. They both learned new skills. I was there to watch them. And to give help. I could have enjoyed the time with them more. I am definitely pleased with their work. I am grateful to say that the big kids project will be pretty independent. Whew.
A great reminder to me to remember what is most important each day. My children and who they are and the time I can spend with them. I love being a mom.
