When It’s Not Your Sick Day

This week is a school holiday week. Normally we’d be planning a few fun excursions. Yesterday would have been perfect for the beach, or a hike, as it was in the 60s (sorry to those of you suffering snow after snow after snow!).

However, we didn’t leave the house yesterday. Carter and Cole both are sick, and Carter is so ill that all he did all day yesterday was lie on the sofa and watch Nick Jr. and PBS kids through bleary eyes. Last night he added some upchucking to the mix. At least I have a project today—cleaning up that mess. Hey, I didn’t say it was a fun project!

Fortunately Bunny is fairly healthy. She has a cough, but nothing to slow down She of Limitless Energy. Unfortunately for her, we went exactly nowhere yesterday and today looks to be about as action-packed. I’m already planning to escape to the grocery store this evening alllll by myself after Paul is home this evening.

With many of her neighborhood friends on trips this week, it’s been hard on my social butterfly to stay at home. So, we pulled out some needles and thread and set out to keep those instruments of the devil busy.

I remember learning to embroider when I was in the second grade. My Brownie troop made bookmarks for our moms for Mother’s Day. They had strawberries on them, and it was so hard learning the 3 or 4 crewel stitches. I am sure the finished product was very, very flawed, but I was so proud of my work. Many a snowed-in or sick day were spent cross stitching or embroidering as I grew up, and even a few in college. To me, it is soothing. I like to keep my hands busy, and look forward to the time when I can have yarns an threads out and not have a small child climb in my lap—because if I am sitting, I am generally holding someone. I love holding them, and know, in the course of a lifetime, this time is fleeting, so I always do hold them.

For Bunny, learning new things can be a little trickier. She’s not at all patient with herself, and becomes frustrated. The fine motor skills of needle and thread are particularly challenging, so she must set aside this work often. I’ll keep encouraging her to come back to it, not because I care if she ever becomes a proficient sewer, but because learning to slow down, pay attention, backtrack if necessary, and plan subsequent moves is an important life skill.

And besides, it would be fun to have someone to sit and sew and talk with! :)