I'm not planning on becoming another Mormon Mommy Blogger, so this post is actually about books... sort of. I've been trolling Mommy blogs lately because I want to make The Punkin a quiet book. I am told I should expect to spend 50 or 60 hours for a modest-sized one, and that supplies will cost around $40. It reminds me of a meme I saw on Facebook, "Why buy it for $10 when I can make it myself with $90 of craft supplies?!"
I'm not crafty, so I feel deficient in the motherhood department. And now that I'm a mother, I'm not really sure what I'm actually good at, considering all the juggling I do--I drop things a lot. Like the time I will never be forgiven by my sister for forgetting to buy lunch meat in my mad dash to the grocery store in the tiny window of time I had between work and dinner. And the time I literally dropped a bar of soap on The Punkin's head. Ouch.
One night The Punkin was giving me grief by refusing to settle herself to sleep, and none of my efforts at comforting her were working; she is not a cuddle-baby. All I could think was "You're ruining my life!" Then, immediately, the Spirit corrected my thoughts, and I remembered, "No--you are my life." After all, what else is there? I waited for this season for decades. I knew it would be hard. In some ways, it's not nearly as hard as I thought it would be, but in most ways it's harder.
For instance, The Punkin doesn't really care for being read to. She only likes books if she can put them in her mouth while wandering around the house ... although we are making small strides with her adorable baby version of Pride and Prejudice, a counting primer. She doesn't like to be cuddled, so I'm useless when it comes to comforting her if she is upset (fortunately, she rarely is). And I know babies and toddlers are always on the move, but she learned how to crawl at 5 months and started walking around 9 and a half. I couldn't be more proud, but it scares my socks off.
Nothing in the world scares me the way this child scares me. She is so small and so very alive. I look at her so often just to marvel that she is real.
And that is why I'm going to bite the bullet and buy that cartload of craft supplies and make that silly quiet book.
