Get it Together Aunt Jenna!

I feel like I kept saying this to myself all week last week. A little perspective here: I’m 28, married for almost 2 years, I am generally responsible for myself and my two cats and occasionally my husband…yes, I did teach 5th grade for two years, I substitute taught kids as young as 3rd grade, I’ve coached volleyball for 10 years…

However, I do not have children myself. My two spoiled rotten kitties are a bit needy at times, but they are pretty self-sufficient. This last week, I cared for my 3 yearold nephew and 4 yearold niece…breakfast, lunch, dinner, bathtime, bedtime…it was up to me.

I have a new appreciation for parents. I have never been more exhausted before in my whole life, this includes 4 years of college volleyball (hello preseason with 3-a-day practices), student teaching while still running spring volleyball practices and coaching a club team, teaching school while also coaching club volleyball and school softball and planning a wedding…those things were hard, I had moments where I thought I would just quit, sit down in the dirt and quit, but I didn’t. I knew that all of those things had an ending. I knew I would make it if I just kept plugging away.

All of this to say that being a pseudo-parent for a week was much more exhausting. Not just physically (waking up at 6am to small people in my face, picking children up and down, cooking, cleaning, bathtime, bedtime), but mentally and emotionally. I had no idea how tough it is to mentally do battle with yourself over what a 3 and 4 yearold may or may not understand, how tough it is emotionally to not have an adult conversation with anyone for 6-10 hours in a day…

So to all the parents out there, especially the ones who do it on their own, thank you and I owe you mad respect.

All of this to say that even though I finally posted 2 posts in a week before Friday, I missed my Freshly Finished Friday post! I realized it at 8:45am Friday morning when I was hauling the two kids to Sky Zone (trampoline park) to jump at Toddler Time (it was raining so no outside/pool time). I was running through my mental list, trying to determine what I was forgetting when I realized I left you guys hanging. 😦

Anyway, I have been knitting, but not on any of the WIPs I’ve mentioned before. I started a pair of worsted weight tube socks for my 4 yearold niece. On Sunday of last week, she noticed I was knitting myself a pair of socks (these Bootstrap socks) and asked if I would make her a pair. Of course I said yes, when I finish these…I think I even have the perfect yarn. (It’s supposed to Zebra stripe with the teal as the background and orange as the stripey bits)

Well, what do you know when I had them over to my house on that Tuesday for a bit, she beelined for my stash cabinet and was immediately struck by this:

It’s Cascade Yarns Pacific in the color 517 (Circus). I grabbed some US 4 DPNs and told her I would start them soon.

When we arrived back at their house for the evening, she may or may not have demanded that I start them immediately and then asked me every 10 minutes if they were finished and while simultaneously requesting they go all the way up to her knees.

For the rest of the week, any time I was sitting anywhere she requested I work on her sock. As of Sunday night this week (6/21) I have finished one sock and started the next. (link to Rav page here)

It’s a good thing these are worsted weight 🙂

Linking up with Nicole at Frontier Dreams for Keep Calm & Craft On.

Anything been slowing your knitting roll?

❤
Jenna