Do-Overs and High-Fives: I fought the yarn…

pile o' yarn

Well this week’s edition is late- but I have a really good excuse… I went yarn shopping last night instead of writing this post.   Details in the Hi-fives- but just look at this stuff would you?  How could I resist?

Do-Overs

The worst part of my week happened Monday night when I was sure that I was the worst mommy on the planet.  AJ was upset because his violin teacher had wanted me to hear a common mistake in the piece he is learning, but didn’t want him to hear it.  For whatever reason, AJ took great offense at this and gave me a hard time about it all the way home.  I did my best to soothe his feelings of being excluded, to explain the reason for not wanting him to hear the mistake played, etc.  All to no avail.  He was full of righteous indignation and sarcasm.   Not a happy combination.

Probably because I hadn’t yet processed my own impending feelings of overwhelm, I snapped.

I snapped in my own head, and I snapped at him.  “FINE, you want to hear the mistake- it sound like this…  Are you happy now??”

And then I just wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

Instead I went into my room and hid under the covers gave myself a time out.

As I was lying there I realized that I was bent out of shape because I had failed to hold my boundaries, and then blamed him for my failure.  I had somehow turned myself into a victim of a 9 year old.

Ouch.

I could of think of all the things he had done wrong, and how things might have gone so much better if he’d only listened to and accepted my explanations…

But as I see it now, I had simply failed to be the grownup.  There’s a quote that I love:

Parents are the bones on which children sharpen their teeth.

– Peter Ustinov

Kids are supposed to push and keep pushing.  But they can only push if there’s something solid enough to push on.

Lying there in the dark, I realized that this was a preview of the years to come, and that I’d better get used to holding the line.  And that I might need to give myself some space to think about which lines I’m really committed to holding, and which are more reflexive.

Even after I apologized, dinner was a little strained, but we got it all sorted out by bedtime.

Baking powder, NOT baking soda…

Well this is a little thing, but I was making scones this morning and because I was bopping along with Bonnie Raitt this morning, I misread my recipe.  I tried to scoop some of the excess baking soda out, but these scones are a little spongier than normal and have that distinctive baking-soda taste.

Not so great…  Oh well.  I guess I’ll make another batch maybe next weekend.

Hi-fives

Overwhelm dissolved and missions accomplished

As usual, the overwhelm that often accompanies deadline week was temporary.   In case you missed it, you can read the gory details here.  I got everything done, even when I didn’t feel so great on Tuesday and spent the afternoon taking what was apparently a much needed nap.  Either I chased off some bug that was trying to get me, or my body was just letting me know that it didn’t appreciate all the stress hormones circulating.  Anyway- after a 4 hour nap, I was back to my normal self.

The yarn

Would you just look at the fabulous yarn?  A yarn store nearby went out of business a while ago and the owner has been selling off her inventory at small ‘yarn parties.’  I missed the first one, but was determined to make this one.

When I got home last night, AJ was in bed but still awake so I went in to say good night.  He asked how much yarn I’d bought and I told him 25 balls.  He was shocked and asked if it was hard to buy that much yarn.  I laughed and told him, “No- the hard part was deciding what NOT to buy!”

I had no way of knowing what I’d find, or how much of any one yarn there would be. So the real high five is that because I remembered to bring a couple of books and patterns with me, I actually have plans for more than half of this yarn.  It may take me a while, but I see one sweater, one shawl and at least 2 or 3 scarves in this pile.

Sunshine!

The sun has finally returned to normally sunny Colorado.  We had a long spell (for us) of clouds and fog.  I’m totally solar powered so after about three days, I’m really ready to see blue sky and shadows.

Here’s hoping you have a fantabulous weekend!

How about you?  Got anything you’d like to do-over from this week?  Got any high-fives to share?

Let us know in the comments!

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