for reasons that we won’t go into in detail here, Big was banned from gameboy, tv and computer today in a triple whammy never seen before. And as we don’t do sit down work on a Sunday, this meant I knew that I was in for a long day of trying to entertain her, preferably without further argument or bad behaviour that would result in extensions to any bans.
I had a plan. Last time I was in the library, I’d noticed a book, Gifts for Baby
, that looked like it might have some simple craft projects in it, suitable for Big to do. And our library is open on a Sunday.
So, before lunch, but after she’d exhausted the book she started last night, we were ready to go to the library. Slight hitch in that Big had lost her library card, so she decided she would take her purse and buy a new one, plus she had fines to pay off. We set off in the glorious autumn sunshine for a pleasant walk together.
Thankfully the book was still in the library, and even more thankfully, she liked the look of several projects in it. *And* it turned out her library card had been left in the library – as there are self service machines for checking your own books out, it’s quite easy to abandon your card. So she didn’t need to pay for a new one, though she did clear her fines off, with a comment from the librarian about it being good to clear off your debts, but better not to incur them in the first place 😉
Joy of joys, the next Lady Grace Mystery, Keys
, had arrived as well! So that meant she would have something to read when we got home too. Sadly, she has now caught up with the author, so we’re back to scrabbling around for books to catch her fancy after this one.
Then we headed for home, via a quick stop in the cheap shop for some black acrylic yarn for my current crochet project. Seems odd that with five crates of yarn and fabric that I have no black, but there you go.
We looked through the craft book together, and there are several projects she likes the look of, so looks like crafting is back on the agenda. Which is good, I do think part of the reason that she gets herself into a state from time to time is that she’s not being productive, and crafts are excellent for that.
First project chosen was making soft blocks – she still had some stash fabric from the remnant shop bargain basket, so I printed her a template and she cut out 12 12cm pieces, before learning about nets to make cubes and how to lay out the fabric so that the patterns wouldn’t run into each other. Then we had lunch 🙂
After lunch (which took a while, I don’t understand how Small can spin out a banana sandwich, a yoghurt, and a biscuit to last nearly an hour!) I set up the sewing machine and we sewed the first block together. Big did the straightforward flat bits and I took over once we were into 3D. Then we turned it the right way in, she stuffed it and finished the last side.
She also wants to use these things towards a Brownie badge, Toymaker – I’m assuming that some assistance with complicated bits is acceptable? (Really wish that our Brownie leaders were just a tiny bit more forthcoming!)
And by the time we’d done all of that, complete with the usual rethreading of the sewing machine a couple of times and so on, I was nearly passed out on the kitchen chair. I didn’t sleep well last night, due to the hacking cough that developed as soon as I tried to lie down, and the acid indigestion that set in later on 🙁 So I needed a nap.
Big wanted to know what she could do while I was resting. I suggested that she could look through her badge book and plan what badges she wanted to do, that she could take pictures of the block she’d made and write a little bit to explain how she’d made it to show to her Brownie leader (who I’m assuming will be tester), and that she could design another toy – she wants to make an activity book out of felt that will have dressing practise in it, such as a zip, buttons and so on.
I think she probably read some Lady Grace as well 🙂
I slept two hours. While I was sleeping, I think Tim may have explored some of a project he wants to do with the children too. And as soon as I got up, they started fighting again 🙁 Although Tim tells me that it wasn’t for my benefit, they did fight while I was sleeping too.
Made tea, baked potatoes, broccoli, bacon (all things that Small eats) and we ate. The whole sitting down as a family thing is working pretty well now, although I could do with getting my timing a bit tighter so that the kids aren’t running late on shower night.
And then it was shower night and bedtime. And now it’s tomorrow, so I think it’s my bedtime too.
Leave a Reply