cash register, stacking rings, clock

mini workbench

my town train set 

 

I’ve tried to sew exactly 3 times while my kids are at home with me, the 3rd and the last being over 5 years ago. For some reason, as soon as I sit on my sewing machine or get out my pattern and fabric to cut, they either sit on my lap and wants to “help” me sew, or teach them how to sew, or sit on the fabric and find it’s nesting spot like a cat would. Come to think of it, I had a cat growing up and my kids are very much like my cats, following me everywhere, even to the bathroom! Another thing they have in common is they’re so darn adorable you can’t even get mad. How can you get mad that they just want your attention and want to play with you?

So with my son, I’ve never even attempted to sew while he’s awake because he’s just as much of my little shadow as his sisters were, if not more. So when I was designing my sewing room, I knew I wanted to create a space right next to my sewing space, of fun, lasting toys for him. Then life got busy and it wasn’t in my top priority so when Mentari Toys reached out to offer to gift us some toys, it couldn’t have been any more perfect. They sell the most adorable wooden toys, I always study the website to see if I’d want to work with a company and 10 seconds in of browsing their website, I knew it was a definite yes! I love wooden toys because they’re natural, sturdy, long lasting and so cute. Jay and I were setting up the train set a few weeks ago(okay fine, it was just Jay as I just watched and talked), and he said these were made really well, better than the Thomas and Friends train set, which we also have. I loved it so much I got 3 more train sets to gift to my siblings’ nieces and nephews for Christmas. Not only am I going to be the coolest grandma ever, I am the coolest aunt ever. 😉

Jay makes fun of me because the main reason why I am a huge fan of wooden toys is because they last forever so that I could save it for my future grandchildren. Call me a dork, but that excites me so much! To have a toy room full of the coolest toys, many of them the ones that their own parents grew up playing with! I’m going to be the coolest and the most fun grandma ever, you just wait and see.

I love asking older people their life stories and their perspectives(I am an old soul, I’ve always loved talking to people a lot older than me), and every grandparent I know tells me that being a grandparent is the most magical thing in the world, even more than being parents. My theory I came up with is that it’s because they get all the good from being a parent, and none of the hardships. They don’t need to stress or worry about what they’re doing/not doing, teaching/not teaching, no pressure to raise the grandchildren to be upright citizens since the parents got that covered, while the society is hard on the parents and very judgmental and comparative of one another, grandparents do not! They are free to give them candy without worrying whether the child had enough sweets for the day and whether he/she will get cavities, they can hand off the baby to the parent as soon as it needs a diaper change. What do you think, do you agree?

 

 

This is a paid post, in partnership with Mentari Toys. As always, I am super picky with the companies I support and will always give you 100% honesty. Thank you so much for your support, it means so much to me, especially after this whole drama with one of my blog agencies.

 

 

 

 

#TyauSunday while daddy was comatose from the jet-lag.

I’ve been a mother for 9+ yrs. and up until now, I’ve often times had a mindset of a woe is me mantra, complaining of motherhood of how hard it is and how much I need to give, how much I have to sacrifice and give up time, goals & ambitions, etc. But with my epiphany I shared on my blog 2 months ago & as I read The Conscious Parent, my perspective is drastically changing.

(It’s still in the works because 3 of my proudest assets before having kids were my keen memory, optimism, and a certain body part, all are which now my weakest assets which makes me bitter, the memory & optimism more than the latter.)

While I thought the point of becoming a parent is for my kids, to raise them, teach them, to give, give, give, the foremost purpose of becoming a parent is to let our kids shape us to be the person that we need to be. That is the #1 purpose, the other being #2. When I served a LDS mission, I learned that the main purpose wasn’t for us missionaries to teach and to share about Jesus Christ to others, the reason foremost was for God to shape us to be the spiritual leaders we need to be after our missions. And so it is with parenthood.

“We discover that our children contribute to our growth in ways that are perhaps more profound than we can ever contribute to theirs.”

So while I thought woe is me, I give so much to my children, it was the opposite this whole time, they gave me so much more, and they always will. They’re shaping me to be a more Christ-like person, which is the whole purpose of this life and the most priceless gift of all.

“The parent-child dynamic becomes a transcendent experience, replete with soulful exchanges worthy of beings who recognize the privilege of finding a spiritual partner. By surrendering to the oneness of a conscious parent-child relationship, we elevate parenting out of the purely physical and into the realm of the sacred.” #SarahsSoulful

 

 

 

photo from yesterday morning, his bed hair and all. have you tried those instant water balloons? they are amazing!!! wish they weren’t so expensive, we got ours for free at Slide the City.

This morning my son woke up an hour before we needed to and was super grumpy. He was being really loud and I was worried he’d wake up his sisters so I made him come back inside the bedroom and out of tiredness and not being quiet awake and in the heat of the moment I said to him, “STOP! Stop being grumpy! UGH.” To which he probably got scared and quieted down. He lied next to me quietly for the next 30 mins., drinking his milk.

When I was feeding everyone breakfast and packing his sisters’ lunches, I said to him, “I always love you, you know that? Even when you’re grumpy, even when you’re sad, when you’re happy, when you’re not listening, when you’re being a good boy, I always love you.”

A few minutes later when his sister came to the kitchen, he said to her, “Guess what mommy said? Mommy told me even when she’s mad at me she loves me!” Then he ran up to me and said, “Mommy, I liked it when you told me that. When you told me you love me always. I love you always too.”

This boy is mature beyond his years and he’s one of my greatest teachers. He teaches me more than I teach him. I love being his mother.

 

 

 

We went to Krispy Kreme yesterday for free donuts! If you talked like a pirate, you got a free donut, if you dressed like a pirate, you get a free dozen. We scrounged for 20 frantic minutes as we got our costumes ready and rushed there before we had to drop my daughter off at her soccer practice.

I heard my daughter tell my son, “Do you want me to make a pirate costume for your piggie too?” And I thought that was so sweet until she didn’t know how to cut the shirt and the stapler she planned on using to “sew” the shirt together didn’t work, so I ended up making the whole thing.