Because you might be doing this stuff anyhow July 18, 2008

I’m a crafty, crafty person.  I knit (though not as well as I’d like), sew, paint, make jewelry, decopauge, do mosaics, embroider, and I’m always thinking of how I can make something I want but don’t have.  I’m not always successful in my attempts, I start more crafts than I finish, but hell, I love to craft.  I love to have something unique.  I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with saying “I made it” when someone asks where I got something.

If I were a better crafter, I’d sell my stuff here

Etsy

If I were rich, I’d buy stuff there too.

Now, if you are a single mom, god knows you could use a little extra income every now and again.  If you are a crafty single mom, Etsy might be the place for you to earn that little extra income.  If you are a rich single mom, Etsy might be the place for you to spend some of your money on some totally unique, fashionable and expensive merchandise.  But how many of us are actually rich single moms?

As for me, I can barely finish knitting a hat in time for my son to wear it (and the last one I knitted him didn’t even fit), so I doubt if I’ll be peddling my goods on Etsy anytime soon, but if you’re doing a lot of crafting anyway, it might be worth looking into.

Ripping off other publications (with credit, so its not plagerism, right?) July 10, 2008

I read this today on the Yes Magazine website.  I think it is worth reposting and spreading around.

Has the cash economy swallowed up your life? Here are some ways to extract some of your time and “life energy” from the cash economy.

Reduce debt. If you can’t pay cash, don’t buy it. Practice being mindful about what you buy and why.

Do it yourself. Grow food, pick berries, can and preserve food, make wine, bake bread. Make or repair clothes, furniture, and gifts. Create your own entertainment. Walk, bike, run, or play basketball instead of joining a fitness club.

Share & Exchange. Take care of neighbor kids and elders. Play music, sing, act in local theater, write poems, hold art shows. Exchange haircuts for applesauce, bike repair for massage, language tutoring for babysitting.

Reduce waste & pollution. Weatherize your home or apartment. Reduce your car usage, or get rid of a car.

Buy local. Run buy-local campaigns, print stickers, publish or post a directory of local businesses. Acknowledge business owners who foster the well-being of the environment, employees, and the whole community. Convert public funds from luring outside corporations to supporting local businesses.

Start a new local business. Start a food market, credit union, wifi network, or even an electricity co-op. Explore ownership options like cooperatives, nonprofits, for-profits, or single proprietorships.

Buy Fair Traded when you buy imports. Vote with your dollar for a better world for all.

For all of you crafty single moms out there June 13, 2008

Here is a site that gives you instructions for turning your old bras into nursing bras.  I am totally doing this.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Drill Weekend Post May 5, 2008

I’m eating blackberries, and they are sour yummy!

We put an offer down on a house today.  I am happy with our decision.  Cross your fingers that they accept it.  I’m already mentally planning our garden, although we won’t really be able to plant much this year.  I can’t wait to start throwing parties!

I spend a lot of time thinking up subjects to blog about, mostly when I’m driving, but then I forget them when I get to work.  Elijah won’t let me blog when I’m at home.  Once he’s mobile he probably won’t want to be held so much, but right now …

Ah, here’s something for you single moms.  I’ve mentioned attachment parenting on this blog before.  While I think I prefer that “method” to others I’ve heard about, simply because the most of it is what I feel naturally inclined to do, I’m learning as I read some attachment parenting literature that I have to take a lot of it with a grain of salt.  The attachment parenting experts of the world don’t seem to have much consideration for single moms.  In fact, in one book I read it claimed that because I got pregnant in a bad relationship that there is going to be something wrong with my baby emotionally.  I’m sure there’s no intent to exclude or insult, but the author is clearly not considering the different circumstances people live and find themselves in.  Its not like I wanted to get pregnant in a bad situation, and I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got now.  How about a little support?

I’m considering writing the author, care of the publisher.

People just forget about the single mom.  We really are totally neglected by society.  I would have killed for a pregnancy book in the style of What to Expect or The Pregnancy Bible, that didn’t mention “daddy” or “your partner” every other paragraph.  In my pregnancy journal, I crossed out all the places it said “daddy” and wrote “grammy” in.  And my mom spent a long time looking for a baby book for me that had the least mentions of daddy in it.  Now, eventually I found the book The Single Woman’s Guide to a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy, which was AWESOME and I highly recommend it to every single mom and single pregnant woman, but it didn’t fill all my needs, and from what I can tell its the only book of its kind on the market.

Maybe I should write these books I wanted to find.  What do you think?

Anyway, when it comes to attachment parenting, and any other parenting method, take what you need and forget the rest.  If something you read offends you, write to a publisher or author.  We’re never going to be recognized as a valid parenting force if we don’t start speaking up for ourselves, I suppose.

I think Elijah is teething.  He’s been drooly and chewy for about a month now, and then the last couple of days he’s been really fussy and a little feverish.  Tomorrow, my only day off this weekend, we’re just going to chill at home.  Just relax and do some laundry and maybe cuddle a little.  Maybe he’ll take a nap and let me clean or sew a little.  I doubt it, he never takes a nap unless I’m holding him, but maybe.

Cross your fingers for me.

As I pump my breasts at work March 21, 2008

Yesterday morning, after a relatively sleepless night, I cried and cried and freaked out and cried and yelled a little and cried some more.  Then I took the day off of work because I was in no shape to go in.  After letting all of it out, I feel much better.  I think I’m going to head in a new direction from here.

I’m going to stop buying crap.  I buy a lot of crap.  I don’t need to do that anymore.  I am currently suffering from buyers remorse for having bought an iPhone with my tax refund, for example.  I realize that owning an iPhone has made me no happier.  I could have spent that 500 dollars paying off bills and eliminated some stress in my life instead.  That would make me happier.

But I still want crap, so my solution, I suppose, is to make crap, because I like crafting, and that will make me happy.  Its hard to squeeze in time to craft with my son, but I will be able to do it, if only slowly.  Currently I’m working on making a few slings for my sister and a friend at work who are both having babies.  I am also embroidering some burp cloths for my sister, hopefully she will like those.  Today I downloaded some patterns to make different kinds of slings, so I think I’m going to try those out next.  I want to enhance both my sewing skills, and my baby wearing skills.

I also found a pattern for knitting the international breastfeeding symbol.

Pretty sweet, huh?  I don’t know what I’m going to put it on yet but watch out! (Thats not the actual pattern, of course, its just the symbol, if you want the pattern - which is also good for cross stitch and beading - just let me know and I’ll send it to you)

For my own sanity, I’m going to move even further in the direction of natural and attachment parenting.  What I’m doing now just isn’t working for me, and the more I read about attachment parenting, the more it seems to make sense for me.  Last night, for example, my son and I slept much better in the same bed.  We coslept the whole time I was on maternity leave, but when I went back to work my mom suggested I start putting him in the crib.  That’s just not working out for us, so he’s coming back into my bed.

Now if only I could pump more breast milk in a day and eliminate the formula usage …