Indoor Adventures

We're in the middle of our yearly cold stretch, which seemed to arrive much earlier than usual this year, right before Christmas holidays.   When I was a single person with no kids, the cold snaps never bothered me that much.  It was still relatively easy to get out and go to the gym or to work to pass the time, and in fact, it was fine to sit on the couch and read books or cross-stitch for hours on end.  As a mom, though, it is a different story.  My kids - and their friends - have a major case of cabin fever.  There are small outings, to the rink, the theatre or to the pool, but nothing that lasts all that long and burns the amount of energy that kids need to burn.  

Yesterday, I pulled out my scraps of fabric to try and put together the beginnings of a quilt to hang in the entry way.  Janet decided she wanted to sew.  I was reluctant at first and even tried to discourage her, with visions of poked and bloodied little fingers swirling around in my head. In the end, though, I gave in to the begging.

We decided that Janet would sew a pillow.  She designed it herself - a red satin heart with a flower on it.  She drew out the patterns, which included the heart and the flower and then we cut them out of the fabrics.  All the time, I was expecting her to get bored, but she stayed right on it, sewing the pieces together, stuffing the pillow and then sewing up the last little bit.  Her excitement was so incredible that Daniel asked to make a pillow.  He designed a red rectangle with a maple leaf in navy blue.  Like his sister, he patiently sewed up the edges by hand,  stuffed it and finished up the last of the seams.  He remarked that it was a great way to pass the time.  

The kids then helped me iron and cut fabric for the quilt, and proved that they have quite an eye for how fabrics go together.  We worked until 10:30 last night, when I had finally had to sit down.  We had spent about six hours on our projects, with no television, electronic games, computers or anything else interrupting us.  Daniel remarked that it was a great way to pass the time and we all went to bed with a great sense of accomplishment.

This morning, Janet woke up early, jostled me, and asked if it was time to start sewing.  Both she and her brother want to spend the day creating with needles and thread.  As for me, I feel like Supermom!!!