Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Cheese, Wine, and Motherhood

Some time ago I was researching an entirely different topic when I happened across an article in the  March 1976 Ensign entitled, "When You Feel Inadequate as a Mother", by Claudia T. Goates. I was intrigued by the suggestion made by the title (you mean, feeling inadequate as a mother is not a feeling unique to mothers today?) so I read on to discover what the advice was 37 years ago. Surprise, surprise, it's completely relevant today!

Things I liked:

  • Factors that may cause feelings of inadequacy: 
    1. Comparing our weaknesses to others' strengths
    2. Tension between motherhood/women's lib
    3. "...[W]e all begin motherhood inexperienced and unprepared. ...I didn’t realize that there are maturing stages of parenthood and that I couldn’t become a mature mother without passing through the intermediary stages of childhood and adolescence. I wish I had known that the mothers I admired also had frustrations and discouragements."
  • Maturing stages of Parenthood: 
    • Infancy- Naive confidence of knowing everything.
    • Childhood- Realization that book learnin' isn't going to cut it and need advice from others' experiences.
    • Adolescence- Mildness, length, and and timing of this stage vary for all. Feelings of tiredness, impatience, incompetence, etc.
    • Maturity- "This ultimate stage of development is marked by a real testimony that perfection is a process that takes a lifetime, by truly internalizing this feeling and feeling comfortable with it, by accepting a problem and calmly working on it rather than fighting it and feeling frustrated and inadequate." This stage was reached by 1.) Time- "learning from living" and seeing the fruits of your labor ripen, and 2.) Fasting, Prayer, and Scripture study. 
  • "[I] can testify that the true joy of motherhood awaits those who do not retreat from their commitment. The Lord gives no commandment unless he provides a way for us to accomplish his desires."  
  • "My life as a mother changed because my attitude changed. ...I no longer focused on my failures, but rather on my successes."

Monday, October 21, 2013

2 Steps Forward, 3 Kicks in the Pants

This would summarize the process of my current sewing project.

I was overcome by an unusual spirit this Halloween and decided my husband and I would actually wear costumes. I decided we would be Snow White and Prince Charming- I know, I know, not much of a costume for my husband. I found a killer deal online for the only modest Snow White costume manufactured and patted myself on the back for avoiding the time/effort that making a costume would take.

Unfortunately, the costume arrived and I looked awful in it. As in, it looked like I had instantly gained 10 15 pounds. {shudder}. After much indecision, I decided to return the costume and urgently conjured a simple costume idea together in my mind. I went to the fabric store, picked out my supplies and got started. Things were looking good at the beginning, until the day I shipped my costume back (which was ironically addressed to "Fulfillment"). Once my back-up plan was gone, the sewing project hit some turbulence. Not much unlike the time when my first child was born and hospitalized 2 days after my mom flew home.

The sewing gods reminded me that there is no such thing as a simple sewing project and that they require a sacrifice of my sanity. In my calculating, I had naively forgotten to account for extra time volunteered by Dumbness that eats your precious time and kills your morale. Things like:

1. Machine mysteriously jamming and requiring 1/2 hour of troubleshooting
2. Fabric fraying like none other
2. Bobbin thread running out mid-stitch
3. While winding bobbin, thread coming off the bobbin and winding itself tightly around the rod a bajillion times.
4. No time to work on it

Long story short, my simple costume is requiring much more time than I had intended. This is exacerbated by the fact that I insist on doing it the "right way"- even though it is only a costume- because I hope to use this costume a lot for future Halloweens. Luckily, my mom has patiently helped me troubleshoot things and it looks like I'm on track for getting it done this week. So... using the Sewing Estimation Formula:  

estimated time x 3 (Dumbness) = 3 Weeks

And that is an example of how I use math in my everyday life.
And why I will never be able to sew things for etsy.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Despicable Me

Agnes: Why are you wearing your pajamas?
Vector: They're not pajamas! It's my warm-up suit.
Agnes: Why do you need warming up for?
Vector: For doing stuff
Agnes: What kind of stuff?
Vector: Super-cool stuff you wouldn't understand.
Agnes: Like sleeping?

This is the conversation from the movie that came to mind when it occurred to me that I had become too liberal in wearing my "exercise" pants. The great thing about exercise pants is that they are so comfortable and yet make anything you do feel like exercise. But, oh, what a slippery slope they can be.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

A Sparkling Home

My daughter just received a Disney princess costume for her birthday. The tag includes the following warning:

"CAUTION: During handling and play this garment may release particles of glitter."

Now, I am new to the princess/glitter arena, but my observation is that this disclaimer is a tad on the weak and misleading side. In my experience, the following warning would be more accurate:

"CAUTION: During handling and play this garment WILL release particles of glitter. In fact, glitter will rain constantly from this garment during handling, play, and at rest. Glitter will cover every surface, nook, cranny, crease, and crevice of your home- including the bodies of anyone living therein- whether or not they have come in contact with this garment. You will find glitter in places we can not mention. Furthermore, please understand that glitter will shed from this garment for an indefinite amount of time. Once introduced into your home, glitter will resist all cleaning efforts. A locked and sealed room is not safe from glitter. There is no escaping the glitter. The glitter has won."

I'm guessing they had to shorten the warning for cost?