last week, this week, next week

I will be stepping away from the blog for a little while as I hold my little one close. See you next year!

friday links: diy edition

Christmas is right around the corner. Here are a few ideas you can pull together as last-minute gifts, if you're into the DIY approach. Because you've got all that free time on your hands...


For the kid or kid-like person: a chalkboard table! These are all the rage right now, let me tell you. Just ask Pinterest.

For someone who needs a bit of cushion and warmth, how about a knitted rug that might fly off the needles? (This is now in my Ravelry queue, and it will be on my floors once I can find a big poofy yarn I can afford!)

For your sweet friend who loves all things rustic with a touch of lovely - lace-wrapped votives. Beautiful.

For the little boy who needs a friendly bowtie, look no further than this little bowtie tutorial.

a week of birthdays

There are two birthdays to celebrate this week! One is my brother's, which is today. Yes, I am directly related to someone whose birthday is 12-12-12. He isn't going to be 12 on 12-12-12, though - he's like 27 or something. I stopped counting when the math made me feel old. Fun fact: Frank Sinatra's birthday was also 12-12.

The other birthday, of course, is my bouncing baby boy's! His first birthday!! I really, really can't believe it. Maybe I'll wake him up at 1:30 a.m. the way he did to me, a year ago! Fun fact: Taylor Swift's birthday is also 12-13. Not exactly the same caliber of musical legacy, but there you go.

Who shares your birthday?

pearl on respecting your child

I'm reading a book I said I'd never read. After a couple of conversations with a wise friend, and plenty of self-assurance that reading something doesn't necessarily require implementing it, I picked up a copy of To Train Up a Child. I'm 28 pages in, and so far I haven't had a stroke, been pursued by an angry mob, or been struck by lightening.

While I'm sure a lot of what's in this book would be highly controversial in today's parenting environment, what I've read so far has not been as frightening as my worst assumptions were. There's a lot that challenges current thoughts on parenting, discipline, and punishment, though, and plenty of assertions to chew on.

That said, I've been shocked to find some gold nuggets. Yes, shocked. I am not kidding, y'all. I really didn't want to read this book and I REALLY didn't want to agree with anything in it. I had all sorts of preconceived notions of what I would read, and these were not the most flattering of notions.

But get a load of this:

The feelings of a child are just as important and sacred as those of an adult. Always treat your children with respect. Never ridicule, mock, or laugh at your child's ideas, creations, or ambitions. The trust you desire to when they are older must be established and maintained when they are young. 

If that doesn't fly in the face of all my assumptions about what I'd find in a book by the Pearls, nothing would. And on this matter right here, I couldn't agree more. The rest remains to be seen.


How about you? Are you familiar with this book or the authors? What are your thoughts on respecting children and how that might play out? Have you ever tried something expecting to hate it and found that maybe it wasn't as bad as you anticipated?

the real mother goose

There's a book that sits in a basket in Gabriel's room. It's a book that probably predates me - I remember having this book in my possession (or maybe it was my brother's?) from day one of childhood memories. It's an illustrated treasury of all the original nursery rhymes exactly as they were said for decades (centuries?) in England. The rhymes are sometimes a little wonky in today's American English, but to me that just adds to the authenticity.

I was paging through this book with Gabriel the other day, reading some of the shorter rhymes to him. He couldn't have cared less, but I found some real gems I just had to share with all of you.

Be warned: this is probably not the only installment of these crazy rhymes. 


THE OLD WOMAN UNDER A HILL

There was an old woman
Lived under a hill;
And if she's not gone,
She lives there still


OH, DEAR!

Dear, dear! what can the matter be?
Two old women got up in an apple-tree;
One came down, and the other stayed until Saturday.


BARBER

Barber, barber, shave a pig.
How many hairs will make a wig?
Four and twenty; that's enough.
Give the barber a pinch of snuff.


and perhaps my personal favorite thus far...


THE WINDS

Mister East gave a feast;
Mister North laid the cloth;
Mister West did his best;
Mister South burnt his mouth
Eating cold potato.

some things i'd like to share with you

I've done a very good job of crawling up into my own head lately, which means I am currently even more socially awkward than usual and more or less unable to do normal, simple things like "chat" and "make eye contact" and "not be a completely awkward weirdo." I think it's a 5 thing.

So because I am currently incapable of making a whole lot of sense or contributing in any way to this great dialogue in the sky that we call The Internet, I have for you a collection of thoughts from other, more coherent, more insightful, frankly more interesting, people. Let me know what you think of each or any of these!



Intentional Motherhood
- How to back out of your driveway
- Finding gratitude in the simplest of things
- Reflections on the tooth fairy, the easter bunny, and that big guy in the red suit


Gift-giving
- Gift Guide for the Polar Bear Lover
-  How to select toys that last (harkening back to Rosemond here)