I have been telling a certain 6 year old that I wanted to teach her to do some simple embroidery stitches (I only know simple) and yesterday she came to me with an embroidery hoop and a needle and said she wanted to learn. The problem was that I had about 15 minutes before starting dinner, was in the middle of folding laundry, and had an 18 month old running around unfolding laundry as fast as I could fold it….and it just wasn’t a good time.
But, I stopped. Took a breath. Looked at the laundry…and decided that there would never be a “good time” and decided to go for it. So, we got out a small hoop, a needle, some muslin and began our lesson. (I doubled the floss and knotted both ends through on the back so she couldn’t lose the needle—funny how I remember my mom doing that for my sister and I.)
And we spent about 10 minutes learning how to backstitch.
One mom moment….that I almost didn’t take.
But 30 minutes later when I was making dinner and she brought me this….boy was I glad I did.
~Elizabeth
Obviously Vincent isn’t old enough to do this {although I bet he’d love to try}, but I totally understand your mum moment! Sometimes it’s so easy to just focus on everything that ‘needs’ to be done we forget about the important things. Washing and dishes and housework and the trillions of other things are ALWAYS going to be there, but our kiddies may not.
I do my absolute best to remember this, I don’t care if my dishes sit there for days, as long as at the end of the day I can lay in bed and know that I gave Vince every ounce of attention I could muster {which is hard sometimes lol!}
oh yes, how often we dont do that enough. and im pretty sure your little girl is already better at hand stitching then i am:)
Elizabeth truly the meaning of life, she’ll cherish forever your teachings! So glad you spent the time, I often feel like ‘now’s not a good time’ but your post will definitely make me pause.
Big smile!
My secret fantasy is to have a live-in chef, housecleaner and laundry person (who also tidies the dresser drawers and swops out cold season clothes for warm when the time is right) and chauffeur. That way I can just be Mom. But that’s still a fantasy. And, like you, I might miss those amazing moments if I forget to pause. What surprises me is how quick it is to actually stop to teach the kids something. I always think it will take an hour and dinner will be late, which is sometimes true, but so often it’s just five minutes. Isn’t it funny -I’m always glad (on hindsight, I mean) I took the time to do something with the kids, but I can’t remember the last time I was glad I ploughed through dinner prep instead of, say, teaching a kid to write her grandpa’s name on a birthday card. Thanks for the reminder, Elizabeth!
P.S. That’s an AWESOME backstitch!!!!! Tell her so!!
I thought her backstitch amazing too! (But I am her mom) I literally only did the first 5 stitches with her…and she did the rest. I tried to find a reference point she would know for how big her stitches should be, and we finally settled on a grain of rice (we eat a lot of rice around here.
Thanks everyone for your nice comments…I do need to remember these “mom moments” more often.
Good for you for taking the time to make a memory with your kid. I have to remind myself all the time that house work can wait. It isn’t like all hell will break loose if my laundry isn’t all the way done or dishes cleaned. But it is important to stop and make memories with my daughter. She is 3 and I know it won’t be long until she is a teenager and doesn’t want to be seen by my side. Or wants to sit down and make crafts with me.
Good for you for recognizing it was a moment worth making!
Her backstitch is incredible! Points to you for telling the laundry to wait.
Way to go! Thanks for the reminder and I agree with 2littlehooligans and LiEr.
you are a great teacher (her stitching is wow!) and a great mum, to know when to grab the moment…good on you. xx
a really wonderful moment…and what a good job she did 🙂
Wow…I am impressed. I am impressed with your perspective of what motherhood should be about “in the moment” and with her crazy neat stitches. Loved this post!
I loved every word in this post. What a sweet reminder to savor the moments we are in. Very touching.
Thats awesome! I can’t wait till my 4 month old is old enough to teach crafting to as well!
Aww. I love this
Elizabeth, that’s awesome that you did that. My first exposure to crafting was when I was five and a nice lady put some patterned cross stitch in a hoop in my hands and told me how to make the Xs. I was hooked. Whether I am good at something or not, being creative with my hands has been a blessing and outlet throughout my life. You have just given that blessing.
BTW, what I would give to find some of that “vintage” patterned cross stitch fabric – bunnies, etc. Wouldn’t that be a cool project?
How beautiful is that!?!? Man, she has some talent 🙂 She must have some good genes & an awesome teacher 😉
That is a beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing. I skip those moments that are presented to us too often, I’m afraid. Thank you for the reminder. 🙂
Awesome as usual! I really like this idea for quiet or calm down time. Too bad I never learned how to embroider. I suppose my girls and I can learn together though. Thanks for the idea.