As we loom closer to that special day when my little dragon boy has his first birthday, I am getting more and more nervous. It’s such a huge milestone, definitely one to be celebrated, 
but it also means an end to the magical world that the two of us spend our days enveloped in. I’ll be heading back to work soon and while I know I’m not the first mom to do this, it’s really tugging at my heart.
I’m surprised to find myself thinking that being a Stay at Home Mama might not be so bad. If you had told me last year that I would feel this way about returning to work I might not have believed you. While I’m eager for the routine, the adult conversation and challenging myself professionally, I love having so much time to spend with DB. We’ve done so many things together so far in the first year of his life and there are so many things I can’t wait to show him.
It’s amazing how much nostalgia is such a huge part of parenting. It’s very evident in the marketing of toys and movies (Oh Hai Transformers movie, Smurfs movie, and all-other-morning-cartoons-from-my-generation’s-childhood-movies). The desire for a lot of parents is to give their children the things they had when they were kids and more. So you can imagine how excited I was when my hollyhocks bloomed this year. I planted them a year ago based on a childhood memory of making hollyhock dolls from their buds and flowers. As soon as the buds started forming, I became very impatient for the others to open so I could make the first hollyhock doll that I’ve made in a couple decades at least (ugh, has it been that long?!).
The blooms have faded now. Sadly they were rapidly assisted by terrible small brown beetle-like thieves which devoured every leaf on their tall stalks. I did at least manage to make one doll and I’m currently reading up on pest control. My hope is that one day a few years from now my beloved hollyhocks will be overrun with blooms for DB and whatever siblings he may have to make a virtual army of hollyhock dolls.
Have you ever made one of these floral ladies? Many of you likely were taught by your grandmother or your mother and have a warm summertime memory of making girly twirly armies of them. For those of you that haven’t made a hollyhock doll, I found this short YouTube video to show you how to do it. It’s a slightly different method than I was taught, but I highly recommend you give it a try. Then teach it to your kids, nieces & nephews, friend’s kids, whoever you can find. Give them a fun memory to look back on and cherish:
I put the container near a window so they would receive indirect bright light for several hours a day.
September, I’ve found it easier and easier to find time for knitting. Mind you, it really isn’t my highest priority right now given that my days are entirely devoted to his care and feeding. Well, that and he’s so damned adorable that I can’t stop staring at him.
He’s just about 4 months now, and currently he’s down for a nap which has afforded me the time to finally start this blog up. When I’m done this post, I’m going to pour another coffee, pick up a pair of socks that I started back in August of 2009 and complete the first of many FO’s that I hope to see this year. I turned the heel on the second sock last night after DB had gone to bed and my husband and I caught up on Dr. Who. (Weeping Angels episode…super creepy.) We have time like that now. The more DB grows, the more our new lives find their old routines, take them by the hand and start a new path.
