When my boys were young and wild, each of them requiring 100% of my full and undivided attention, I told them I expected six grandchildren from each of them someday. At least half had to be girls. After all, the granddaughters would be perfectly well-behaved little angels, right? And the boys would be payback. In due time, they grew to be handsome and charming, married lovely girls and started producing babies. And shortly thereafter, each informed me that they would not be having six children. Imagine that. (snicker) A Story Problem We have quite a few friends in large families, and sometimes it ‘s easy to identify them by number or position in the family. “What is the name of the third Smith girl?” “Can you believe that woman is having her tenth baby?” “That youngest Jones boy is quite a handful.” “My oldest son is off to college in the fall.” Emma Schenstrom, in my book Baggage Claim, enjoys referring to her numerous offspring like that. It’s a family joke, and no one takes it personally. They’re all happy and well-adjusted. So I did the math – a story problem – for our own growing family: We started with Read More
Tag: family
Exceedingly, Abundantly
Introducing… Soren We welcomed a new baby into our family this weekend. Our grandson, Soren, was born late Friday night. He’s the first child of our youngest son, and it brings me joy to see his parents love and cherish their newborn baby. Their awe blesses me. When my own children were little, I was always pushing for the next milestone – the first tooth, the first word, solid foods, walking, riding a bike, learning to read… forward, forward. Now, with my grandchildren, I want to slow it all down. To treasure each moment and fully appreciate each stage of their development. This is a good era for being a grandparent. Soren is the only grandchild who lives near us, but we see pictures of the others online. (Never try to tell a grandparent that Facebook is a bad thing. I have even “face-timed” with my grandchildren several times!) Grandchildren grow with astonishing speed. They change too quickly. I’m sure it’s no faster than their parents did, but from a distance, time passes alarmingly fast. We can’t catch it and slow it down. All we can do is be aware of life in each moment. A few years ago, I heard a man used the phrase: “I’m Read More
This is what it’s all about.
Grandmotherhood. Granddaughters. I’ve made several of these skirts for my two granddaughters. It’s a simple swing skirt with a yoke and bound hem. The binding at the hem gives it better twirlability and a nice flared shape. It’s a quick skirt for me to make, and I have done several for each of them. They like having matching ones. This week, while Alanna was visiting, she made the skirt all by herself. I cut it out and basted part of the binding at the hem, but she did all of the sewing, using the serger as well as the regular sewing machine. It’s quite an accomplishment for a ten-year-old! Teaching granddaughters to sew and quilt is a joy to me!