My Other Baby

My sewing machine isn't really my other baby anymore because my real baby makes it too hard to get to her but here is the semi-interesting story of how I found her. I will keep it short, I promise.

I used to sew in high school a little bit. I think I made a couple of shirts and a dress all without patterns. The dress was a flop so I took it to a little Asian seamstress to see if she could make the bottom into pants. I was envisioning some hip bell bottoms but what I got was MC Hammer pants. The seamstress wanted to make some more adjustments and told me to come back in couple of days. But I never went back. Which of course now I know was the wrong thing to do but back then I was in high school, a tad embarrassed, and spending my own money.

Then when I was first pregnant I borrowed my mom's sewing machine and made a quilt for Sylvia. I also used it for another quilt top and few other miscellaneous things. Eventually my mom wanted it back.

So there was a couple of years that I didn't have a machine. I missed it a little bit, but not too much. Then one day some of Gus' cloth diapers started needing minor repair. I could either fix them or buy some new ones. I needed a machine to fix them but didn't want to spend a whole lot of money in case I rarely used it. So to the Goodwill I went. And wouldn't you know, on my very first try, look what I found.



A 1960's blue Singer made in Great Britain and nearly all metal. All for only $15. It was fate, because you see, blue is my favorite color.

Phew, that was a little longer than I intended.

Just for fun, here's my serger. The much less attractive machine in my basement. And one of these days, when Millie starts going to bed earlier, I might get more use out of it.

Domestic Goddess?

My life has been pretty hectic for awhile, well, ever since I started having kids. That's almost five years! But judging from how busy all of my friends are, many whom are childless, it's just that we're adults now. The beginning of my childbearing years did correspond with the end of my college years.

I was talking to Sylvie the other day, trying to explain to her why it makes me frustrated when she makes me do something for her that we all know full well she can do for herself (like turn on the bathroom light). I told her that I have so many things to do with cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, etc that I just do not want to have to walk across the house to turn on a light when I'm in the middle of cooking dinner. And tonight we had another talk where I explained the difference between "Mommy the servant" and "Mommy the friend". I am struggling to find a solution as to how to teach her to do some things for herself...little kids just like to be pampered! And I'm trying to figure out what to let go of in my own life to open up more room for quality time with the kids. Should I stop making the beds? Give up my attempts to get back into breadmaking? What about my sewing time? How many times should I clean the kitchen counters each day? This house can consume me with it needs if I let it.

Clean Laundry

There it is, the pile of diaper laundry that greets me four times a week (and this is a very small load). Bummer, another chore, right? Maybe I should be ashamed to admit this but I actually enjoy the diaper laundry, washing, drying, folding, and putting away. When we lived up in the country and my laundry lines (inside and out) were such that I could hang and watch the kids, I readily did so. Unfortunately the lines in our city house are too far from where the children are and Rex does not like the idea of putting screws into our plaster walls to support a line in the family room.

I suppose it's a zen thing. And it's a chore for which I get to sit down! I love sitting there and zoning out, vaguely acknowledging the usefulness of these rags. And, of course, I pat myself on the back for my environmental stewardship. Usually the kids are in the room with me while I fold. It's Sylvia's chore to fold the wipes. Lately we've had music on. We've been listening to an introductory series for the Classics from the library and we are enjoying The Story of Mozart this week. Out of the three cds we've listened to so far Sylvia's favorite is Tchaikovsky because she recognizes all the ballets.