It Takes A Village to Raise a Child

I have no idea where the wisdom that it takes a village to raise a child originates, but I am beginning to think that some of our villages aren't holding up their end of the bargain. After the knitting fiasco of last Fall, I had pretty well made up my mind that I wouldn't do the enrichment clusters at the elementary school again. However, when Younger Son was given a project on Community Heroes as a Grade Three Social Studies project, I changed my mind. Why? He chose me as his Community Hero because of the time that I spend at the school with the enrichment clusters and other volunteering. I LOVE my kids! After that compliment, it was kind of hard to say "No" when I was asked again...
I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice and decided that maybe I'd do Sewing this time. We're making handsewn beanbag frogs and it is going much better, thank you very much! One of the kids even finished his frog today, so I'll have to have him do something different with our last session in two weeks. (Truth be told, I sewed on his frog eyes because he wanted to give the frog to his younger sister so I'll probably get him to sew the eyes onto a different frog. Sewing on buttons counts as a life skill so it is something he really should learn.)
One of the things about the sewing is that it is a smaller group, which does make it more manageable. There are supposed to be a total of 4 kids in the group, but I have never had more than 2 at a time. Of the 4, there is one girl and three boys. One of the boys had been in Younger Son's class for a couple of year, but they are no longer in the same grade.
Here is where the village comes in - I know that not everyone is going to agree with my life choices, nor my ideas about parenting and childrearing, but I just don't know what to do with this child! He is very capable of completing the project, but has clearly never had to try to do anything or find his own solutions. I could live with that, but what do you do when you have an 8 year old telling you that all he does at home is play video games because his Mom says that that is his "thing"? Or when he tells you that his favourite television shows are Family Guy and Robot Chicken and that his Mom likes to watch Family Guy with him? Or when he tells you that his parents like to swear a lot? Or when his idea of a relationship follows these steps: meet, have a baby and then fight about who has to take care of the baby? Or that video games are educational because they teach him which words not to say in public? And Mario is his favourite Super Hero...
I'm quite certain that I don't get everything right with my life or my kids, but it strikes me that this poor kid doesn't stand much of a chance. I wish I knew what I could do to make things better for him, but I just don't have a clue.

Da Weather Bomb

Today in New Brunswick, this was our weather:

At least someone enjoyed it!

So - who wants to come for a visit???

Fifth Photo Meme

Angie tagged me with this meme the other day.

Here’s how it works:
Find your 5th photo file folder, then the 5th photo in that file folder.
Then pass the meme to 5 people.

Ta-dah!
I don't know whether I technically cheated or not... I went with the folder that was labelled as "005". Mr. Me tends to re-arrange photos and give them numbers that will put them ahead of what "the system" would automatically give to a download. I chose the 5th photo from "005". It was taken last Spring on the day that this was going on. It gives me hope that despite all the snow that is covering the ground these days, Spring WILL come!
Now I'm pretty sure that I've said this before, but I will say it again, I find it difficult to tag people... I think part of it is the implicit fear of rejection. So I don't know that I'm going to officially tag anyone, but I will tell you whose photography I really like and ask them to play along.
1. Nancy - I especially love her Saturday Skies photos.
2. KM - Always lovely photos, although her Friday Flowers make me very jealous this time of year.
3. Chan - Always great pictures and who wouldn't love her models?
4. canKNITian - Who I wish would come out of semi-retirement...
5. Cheryl - I love how she stages her sock photos, which is not an easy task.
Even if they don't want to play, drop by and visit them and check out their photography.

Mama's Gotta Brand New Knitbag

Please tell me that at least one of you heard this music when you read the title...
Okay, so I didn't exactly need a new knitting bag, but I wanted one and last Tuesday at lunchtime, I needed to get away so I ran away with a co-worker and fellow knitter to Saigon. Well, not really Saigon, but the Saigon Department Store. They have a fabulous selection of hand embroidered bags that are made in Viet Nam. They are surprisingly inexpensive. My bag was $25! I like that it has a strap so that I can carry it over my shoulder and the fact that it has little brass feet so that if I have to put it down, it has something to rest on.
And the flowers make me thing of Spring...!

Next Floor - Socks - Going Up!!!

Okay, so maybe I shouldn't admit this in public, but I do remember elevators that had the sliding grate doors and an elevator operator that announced the floors. It was many years ago when I was a child at the Eaton's (RIP) in Hamilton, Ontario. They also had wooden escalators... I don't know what happened with the building when Eaton's went under but I certainly hope that they found a good use for it because for me, it was a landmark.

What the heck does that have to do with socks? Nothing. It's just how my mind works. Normally my socks are "going down" (top down), but recently I seem to have been "going up" (toe up) with my socks.

On my left foot we have Azure and on my right foot we have Chartres Chausettes (aka my Stained Glass Socks). They're both toe up patterns. Also both have interesting heel details, but as I had previously mentioned, taking pictures of the backs of one's own heels is challenging!

Details of the yarns and such are all on Ravelry, so I won't bore you with them here. I really enjoyed knitting both patterns and now need to find some new open backed shoes to show off the heels, and did you notice? I made a point of shaving my pasty white legs so I didn't look like a wookiee!

It Followed Me Home

One morning recently I received an e-mail from my LYS that she had some new yarn. "Excellent" I thought to myself. I can always use an excuse to get away from my desk and go for a bit of a walk at lunchtime... However, it was a busy day in the midst of a busy week so I started to waiver. Did I really have the time? One of my knitterly coworkers was going anyways. I was going to stay and work until I saw her with her coat on. Then I HAD TO go! I didn't buy anything but was I ever glad I went. A sample ball of Rowan Kidsilk Night followed me home! Ice Queen here I come.Thanks, Trish. Just one more reason I LOVE my LYS.