sneak peek #2: bread and butterflies
Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at 6:06PM Here is a question I get asked a lot.
How do you balance three school-age kids, a three-week-old, two horsedogs, a marriage, and a business? How do you do it all?
Here is the answer.
I do not.
Most days I do not even do some of it.
Today I swept up enough dog hair to weave a sweater for my 6'5" husband. And a matching one for my newborn.
Tomorrow I will probably not sweep up the dog hair. In which case, the dog hair will pile up, and so the next time I get around to it, I'll close the door to my bedroom and quietly tap my head against the wall while I think about the atrocious living conditions I'm providing my children.
Lucky for you, I have a separate studio located several miles from my horsedogs, and there is no canine hair near the yarn I'm about to show you.
Here's the next sneak peek of our new collection: Bread and Butterflies.
I think dinner is burning right now. Something smells weird.
For real. It smells like burning chicken.
And -- I swear to God -- my dog Rosie just threw up in the living room.
Twice.
Oh, but look! This makes me feel slightly better.
Does it make up for the dog vomit and the burning dinner?
Maybe?
Next to me are two baskets of unfolded laundry, which we will probably just clothe ourselves out of rather than systematically folding and putting away. Today I figure clean clothes stored improperly are good enough.
This colorway is at the top of my favorites list. I can't wait to show you more of it.
But first, I have to spend more time snuggling Baby Shamrock.
Yeah, she has magenta diapers. White is so 2011.
She is fantastic, thanks for asking. She's a good nighttime sleeper (I take no credit, totally luck of the draw). She is doted on and snuggled and sniffed, and I wouldn't trade her for a perfectly cooked dinner, well organized drawers, and non-shedding, non-barfing pets.
Want to tell me about how you don't do it all, either?
Please?
Reader Comments (31)
I don't do it all either... with two babies under 6 months... it's just not possible.
I never did it all with 3 boys, multiple cats and dogs. Didn't care. Love and laughter were the only things that WERE done in those 28 yrs. That's all that mattered (or matters) in the end.
Everyday I don't wash my floors. Sometimes I vacum, sometimes not. I do have a little dog that likes to help clean up :) Sometimes I let my kids swim in the pool and I wonder if it is ok to put some bubble bath through the pump? Then I don't have to bathe them as often :) That's how I don't do it :)
My friends always referred to my house as having the "lived in look" I took it as a compliment because everyone always felt comfortable being in my house. I miss those days. My kids are all gone :(
Hubby and I both work full-time and he is finishing up his master's. We have two boys, age 5 and 2., and a Sato Dog named Joey. The Clutter Monster doesn't visit, he has his own condo here. I haven't seen my vacuum in....three weeks? (Perhaps I should file a Missing Persons report. ) There are a lot of meals consisting of some sort of filling slapped between two slices of bread. At the end of the day if there's something clean to wear tomorrow and the dishes are "sorta" done, it's been a good day. :)
What a beautiful baby girl!! Love the yarn, too, but not nearly as much! (My daughter is 30 now.....those days seem so long ago!) Enjoy your kids, husband and horsedogs...and yarn dyeing, too.......it's good to keep your priorities in the right order!
Once my friend, who had 8 children of her own, told me to leave the vacuum out in the front room...cord uncoiled. That way if company dropped by it at least LOOKED like you were about to clean it all up.
Fake it 'til you make it around here.
Congrats on the new baby, she's gorgeous.
I don't do it all either. Most days I'm just glad to make it through without accidentally setting my house on fire- and I only have a 17 month old... and a horsedog, and three cats. :) yeah...
ps: Love the colorway!
I'm here to tell you that you don't need to do it all. You don;t even need to do half. Do what you can do and still stay sane and have a happy family.
Smiles,
Love the colorway and the magenta diapers. I so wish those would have been around when my girls were little.
4 kids and I homeschool, also 2 dogs (so get the dog barf part). My mom's best advice: just love them, really let them know they are loved, that is successful parenting.
Im amazed at how much you can do! We don't have kid's, just a dog and a bunny. We are in the middle of remodeling and our house looks like crazed construction hoarders live in it. Or just keep their stuff here. Between the pet hair and emptying all stuff out of the kitchen cabinets to paint them it's a disaster area. The yarn however is safe.
Currently the clean clothes are safe and sound in the drier... the dog induced dust bunnies are plotting a coupe under the dining room table... the guinea pigs have their little tin cups and are raking them across the bars... my 'to do' list is in dust on the coffee table - I consider it 'cleaning' when I cross something off...
Feel better?
"goodnight to cobwebs,
dust go to sleep.
i'm rocking my baby
and babies don't keep."
This little anonymous poem was a great comfort to me when my daughter was tiny. I savored every minute of her babyhood, and left the soot sprites to their mischief. I hope my house is never totally clean and organized-because that would likely mean there weren't any kiddos in my life. Nor pets. Shudder.
Baby Shamrock is so beautiful, and she looks like she's thriving.
Nope, don't do it all. I used to. Many years ago, when I was juggling way too many things. Somewhere along the line, probably after the kids left home, I realized that the only person who cared was me. Now I do what I feel must be done. We have clean clothes to wear and we won't get food poisoning. So what if there's a little dog hair on the floor? Want to see the awesome yarn I spun today or my painting in progress? Life is too short....don't waste it!
You couldn't have blogged this better! Thanks for keep it real. This post is a keeper. I may print it and put it in my fridge as a reminder that we don't have to do it all. Actually, that is impossible to do it all. And that is okay. Have a lovely, non perfect rest of the week!
I've never 'done it all' and I'm never going to. I think there's a season for all things - although I think it's likely that my life will NOT have a season when a clean, tidy house it more important than anything else! Different priorities for different times of life, right now my priorities are friends, work, knitting and (some) family - and they are priorities because that's what I need to keep sane and a roof over my head. I am fortunate to have a partner with different priorities - cooking meals, doing the paperwork, and occasional housework are on his list, which is brilliant.
Thank you !! you have just made my day-and congratulatons by the way
You are definitely doing it right! Each day doing what works for you that day. Enjoying your photos of your beautiful baby.
All I have to say is beautiful baby............enjoy!
I definitely don't "do it all" either - the other day, my 9 month old found a cat hair dust bunny the size of Detroit and promptly put it in her mouth! Sometimes I'm so overwhelmed, but it gives me hope to read here that I am in good company :)