Preschool scene

Recently there has been crying and fussing when I'm dropping Burak off at his preschool in the mornings. It's been almost 3 months since he started and I wasn't expecting this. I thought we could be on a routine by now; get in, get out. No scene, no issues. But my day is always full of surprises.

It's not Burak who's fussing, it's Ela. I take her with me when we go to Burak's school because I have noone else to leave her. I hate the fact that I have to bundle her up and take her out to that freezing weather every single morning, but I have to.

Now, as she's getting closer to her first birthday, she wants to stay with her brother and play with the other kids. First she jumps on to his teacher's arms, as if I had abducted her. She grabs her shirt or cardigan, whatever she has. She giggles and smiles, acting cute so that the teacher cannot let her go. When I get her back and she lets a cry out. Oh my god! She wants to get down. As we leave out of the door, she's crying.

I worry about your 3 year-old getting used to being away from you at school and how he's adapting. On the other hand, my free-spirited daughter wanting to get away from me, already.

Is this a red flag for the future? Is this what my mom had warned me about?

"If you have a daughter like yourself, you'll see"

Oh my...

Downturn

When I go out everyday to leave Burak to preschool, I pass by a gas station. Today regular was $2.29. I think 3-4 miles up North it might be around $2.09. It's always very low north of the city. I remember, the days we used to pay $4.50 weren't that far past.

It's nice to see the drop in gas prices, but I also see the big "going out of business" sale signs. It's not the mom and pop store at the corner. They're already gone. These are the big guys. Linen's n Things and Circuit City.

When housing market got tighter and mortgage bubble burst I was thinking maybe it'd pass before we're affected. Then stock market turned upside down, I started to think of worrying things more than once a day. Now with all the closings, and huge lay downs by big corporations I'm biting my nails.

Most stay-at-home moms might aggree with me on this, because we have only one person on the line, remaining in the volatile job market and that's the only income we have right now. I have my Avon business and some other side start-ups going on but it's not going to pay our mortgage and living expenses alone for sure. In addition, working even part-time with two kids is not as easy as it sounds. At least, I feel guilty when I have to do work related stuff instead of playing with them or taking them to the library etc during the day. So, the less time devoted, the less income earned.

I left my job voluntarily and for a short period - theoretically. I loved my job and the company I worked for, and hopefully they appreciated me as a member of their team as they told me when I was leaving. The decision then was not that hard. I wanted to stay with my kids at home, instead of looking for a new nanny (love) after Ana. (When we moved, she couldn't come with us. She is the gratest nanny on Earth) If I would be making the same decision today, it wouldn't be that easy.

I just hope we can hold on tight until Ela is at least 2 years-old. I hope I am making the right choice of investment.

Wordless Wednesday

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November 2

Yesterday

Handmade pouch sling

I did not know it was International Babywearing Week this week until I finished my first home-made pouch sling. I made this sling using the directions at Sleepingbaby website at home.

I had used Evenflo Snugli Classic Soft Carrier, The Ultimate Baby Wrap and Evenflo Snugli By My Side Soft Carrier. All of them were usable but my biggest problem was putting the sling on and putting Ela in it. I still use Snugli By My Side out and about. I was trying to use The Ultimate Baby Wrap at home whenever Ela couldn't entertain herself anymore and I had to prepare meals for them. It takes so long to put it on.

Not a lot of people use slings in Chicago. Maybe it is because most of the year it's so cold that the baby is either in the car seat or in the stroller anyway. Recently I saw a mom carrying an infant with Kangaroo Corner Adjustable Fleece Pouch. I really liked it but the price threw me off. I can sew so I decided it's high time to blow off the dusts on my sewing machine.

Even tough the directions warn you not to try your first pouch using polar fleece it's not that scary. I actually chose this fabric just because I loved the pattern. I have two more fabrics, one of which is a light upholstery fabric. I will post the pictures once I finish that one.

This pouch sling, is very very easy to use. Quick to put it on, put the baby in and take her out. It does not hurt my back, distributes the weight. Ela is about 24 lbs and I can easily carry her around the house with this. The baby sits firmly and is not flimsy as I though at first. Only thing I can recommend with fleece is to make sure you cut the fabric in the non-stretching direction and make the pouch seam a little bit curved at the ends than shown in the directions.

Directions for sewing a pouch sling by sleepingbaby.com

Home-made, Mom-made Halloween Costumes

It is way past Halloween, but I wanted to share the costumes of our little ones. I made Burak's Spongebob Squarepants costume. I used one of Ela's diaper boxes. I cut the head and arm holes and took the bottom part out. Then I wrapped around with yellow poster paper. Then I used my sons Spongebob t-shirt to trace its face on a white paper and applied it back to the box. I cut out and glued its pants and tie from colored craft papers. The costume was ready.

Unfortunately, my son wore the costume twice and did not want to go trick or treating with the costume on. So my husband carried it along. Burak wore his Spongebob t-shirt instead. He did not want to wear his pirate costume last year as well. Since I had asked him what he wanted and did not want to wear it despite his choice, I will be hesitant to "purchase" a costume, that he might not wear next year. I can do another one myself. Actually, I saw a picture on one blog of a kid with garbage truck made out of cardboard. I loved it. I will ask Burak next year and if he agrees I will build a garbage truck out of cardboard.

Ela's costume was made by my grandmother -with my humble helps tracing the pattern and cutting the fabric - 3 years ago for Burak. We used a Kwik-sew pattern. It is so cute, I couldn't think of any other costume for Ela. Burak was 3 months-old when he wore this. Ela was 10. It was a perfect fit and she kept the hat on as well.

The weather was gorgeous that day in Chicago. We sat down in front of our door to give candy to the kids (and eat the candy) while Burak and dad went around trick and treating.

Wordless Wednesday