From a kid's view

I am always handing my camera to my kids and seeing what they'll snap. Hey, I'll hand my camera to strangers' kids. I've had to replace two cameras, but lemme tell ya, they just love when someone gives them a big responsibility like that. My very best payoff from it, though, was when my daughter took a picture of the dining room table, and you could see the underside. It suddenly struck me that this is what the world looks like to them. My two-year-old will come up to give me a hug, and her head is right at my bum level. Poor kid! That's what a hug means to her, and she loves me so much, she keeps on doing it! Anyway, I thought it was really interesting, the perspective they look through. Can you imagine how scary I must be if I yell at them, or just yell because I stubbed my toe (again)? I keep this very, very in mind when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes I give myself a time-out, not them. It's just as useful, really, if all they're doing is being kids, and someone needs to calm down. Yup, that would be me. (Oh, and I jinxed myself. Silly me, I was just thinking yesterday that Blogger hadn't given me a hard time in quite awhile. Now it won't let me upload the kid perspective picture)

I spent the first four years of my daughters' lives wishing I could find that danged mom manual. I knew there must be one out there, and I was sick of people telling me that every child was different. Now I'm feeling pretty confident, right before the teen years! They really are different, but I think there could still be a manual. Of course, I haven't been out meandering the book stores, so maybe there is. At this point, shopping means searching amazon.com, so I guess I'll go there.

I got many nice comments on my FakeIsle hat, so I will gift it to my daughters' Girl Scout troop leader. She doesn't get many thanks from me, because I'm usually struggling with a hungry two-year-old when I pick the kids up, but I sure do appreciate the independence she tries to teach my children. We're pretty sure that if they were starving, and their sandwich fell to the floor, it would be touch-and-go if they'd live. I also started the Hermione hat, as part of the third blog-along for 2007 that I've joined. This blog-along is from Spinnerella, and I was planning to do it anyway. Get a teeny start on those Xmas gifts for next year! Knit from your stash, work on Xmas gifts, finish UFO's. Can you tell I'm trying to get organized? I want to be one of those moms I have been envying, but so far I haven't been able to put my makeup on consistently in the morning... that's overrated, right? =-P