There are times when I watch my children interact with the world around them and vividly remember being a little girl myself. Sometimes the memories make me glad to have grown up, but often the little moments I remember give me the bittersweet feeling of happiness buried in time. The world of my childhood is gone, and the people in it have gone or changed as well. It can’t be any other way. We call it maturing. Without it life is stagnant, but with it comes loss as well as gain. It’s not that my relationships aren’t still meaningful or that my life now isn’t full or happy, but the years in between have drastically changed my perspective. Having children makes this change easier for me. It’s reassuring to see some of my life’s themes naturally weaving through their lives as well. They give me a sense of continuity. They reconnect me to what really matters. They give my life meaning and beauty as well as noise and chaos.
My little girls really want a pretty room, and they’ve been trying, but they can’t do it all on their own. They need my help. I need to help them with paint and quilts (handmade of course). I need to help them find a place to put their things and weed out stuff they don’t use. I need to help them with their fishbowls! And right now, I need to help them with new curtains. These things are simple and inexpensive. But they are also luxuries. They will make my girls feel so special. Handwork is something I can give them that we can all feel good about.
After doing some research with the girls, they decided on blue and green patchwork curtains. But not little tiny squares. They want bigger squares. I decided on cutting six inch squares for ease, and because given the size of the windows, I think it will approximate the look they like. I pulled the colors they requested from my stash and cut it up yesterday. Today I’m laying it out and have begun sewing. I’m thinking of backing it with a piece of cloth they are currently using as a curtain. Easy and cheap, and allows for privacy when the curtains are closed. I’ll have to think about a fun way to pull the curtains back. But first, I need to get the curtains done for these little girls.
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