The Crocheting Mom

Crochet as Self-Care: How Simple Stitches Help Moms Reset There’s a point in the day when the mental noise feels louder than the room itself. Between schedules, snacks, laundry, and the constant question of “Mom, where’s my…?”, it’s easy to feel like your brain is running in the background even when the house finally gets quiet. For many moms who crochet or knit, picking up a project isn’t just about creating something beautiful, it’s a way to slow the spinning , even if only for a few minutes at a time. You don’t need hours, a retreat, or perfect silence. Sometimes three rows are enough to feel like yourself again. Why Repetitive Stitches Help You Breathe Again Crochet has a rhythm that doesn’t demand anything in return. When your hands repeat the same motion, your brain naturally shifts out of problem-solving mode and into something steadier. It’s the reason you can stitch while talking, watching a show, or keeping an ear out for the d...

My family has to deal with ALL my craziness.  I mean all of if it.  Between bouncing off ideas for school, and different suggestions for our family activities, they hear all my crazy ideas.  Not only that, they have to deal with my crochet craziness.  They listen to me talk about yarn, they put up with me writing about them from now and then on my blog, and they endure the many photo shoots I request of them for modeling and displaying my new products.   I wanted to make a post about how my children feel about what I do.  I sat down with each of them individually and asked them the same questions.  I have not changed what they've said.  I've always thought that children have the most pure minds.  They are brutally honest, and I love them for that!   ASHLEY (12) What do I do for my job? - You teach the young minds of 4th graders What is my favorite hobby? - Crocheting. What is your favorite thing that I ever crocheted for you? -...

School is here!  And whether you are in person, or elearning, this time of year always gets me excited for the Fall. With the start of this glorious season, my children always start asking me about Halloween and discussing what they want to dress up as. I have been dreading having this conversation with them.  They LOVE Halloween.  They love going trick or treating with their friends.  My oldest loves being able to run around the neighborhood without the boring adults.  My littles love seeing all the costumes and seeing how much candy they can get.   This year, though, will be different.  The droves of people that come to the neighborhood will be slight, if any at all.  I'm not even sure if the town is going to officially allow Halloween.  Even if they do, I'm sure not many people are going to want to partake in it.  I know I don't want my children going from house to house, getting candy from the hands of people I don't know. ...

I've said it before, COVID ruined our summer plans!  We had plans to vacation back east to visit family.  We had the girls signed up for sport camps all through the summer.  And we had plans to throw in some day trips such as the pool, the Children's Museum, and the Zoo.  ALL of those plans were canceled.  All those fun summer days, were just a sad memory of what could have been.  Now my children can't seem to find ANYTHING to do but be on their electronics.   Well we had to put a stop to that! 

We are a very competitive family.  We play at lot of games in our household, whether it's card games, board games, mind games or physical sport games.  Playing games as a family is fun, and I think it brings us together.  When we're playing games, we're not locked into electronics, doing our own thing away from the rest of the family.  When we're playing games, we're all together, using our mind, being creative and having fun being with each other.  Games are fun, and are a great family activity. 

I'm an elementary teacher and it's what I love to do. I'm so happy that I chose this profession, and I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I used to substitute a lot and I would often get put in the younger grades. One of my favorite books to read was the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series. They are fun books that all students love. Because of my love for these books, I have written a few different parodies:

Yes, you read that title right.  Strawberry Pizza!  I was confused, too, when my 5 year old came running over to me asking if we could make it. You see, for her 5th birthday, my Mom signed her up for a Highlights High Five Magazine Subscription .  My oldest got this as well, but has since moved up to the regular Highlights magazine.  It was written in my 5 year olds birthday card, that she would now be getting these magazines, but of course, at this age, she didn't really get it because she didn't have it in her hands at that moment.  When her first magazine came in though, she was so excited!  She doesn't normally get mail, unless it's her birthday or another holiday, so it was very exciting to her to get something of her own.  She was breezing though it, and then came running to me when she saw the recipe.  The Strawberry Pizza recipe.  She was so excited about it, there was no way I could say "No" to her.

Where I grew up, we didn't go back to school until AFTER Labor Day.  Now, living in a different state, my children go back to school in beginning of August.  That's crazy right?  I feel like it's still summer until at least the end of September. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm am definitely ready for school to start, but I just feel bad for the kids because it's still hot out, and perfect weather for playing outside!  The kids do get out of school in the end of May, though, so they are still at least getting 2 and half months off.  I feel like when I was a kid though, summer lasted so much longer.  I guess as a parent, days just go by a lot faster because we have so many more worries.

Money is a big part of life.  As much as some of us may try to say it isn't, that money doesn't rule our lives, it does.  You either are trying to figure out how to get more or trying to figure out what to do with what you have, or most likely, both! From a young age, when children start to get an allowance, birthday money or even just finding change on the street, they want to spend it.  They don't care how much they have, or even if they have enough, the second that glorious money hits their possession, they want to use it.  I'm not sure if its because it makes them feel older, being able to buy something by themselves, or just the adrenaline that they receive from getting a new item, but they want to spend it as quick as possible.  This is why it is so important to teach them at a young age the importance of saving money.

I've written before about my children during chores in my home, but it's such an important topic I wanted to give some more tips.  I won't say it's easy, but my husband and I are trying to make it second nature for our kids. We want them to understand that having chores is just a part of being a family.  We all need to help out in the house, and as a family, we can keep the house clean.  I have created a list of different ways you can help acheive this goal.

My husband and I are both the baby of our families, each with three children.  So when we decided to have our third child, we though things would be easy peasy.  Or second child, wasn't even two when we got pregnant so things seemed normal to us.  We had no idea what we were in for. I always heard that about "the middle child syndrome" but never though it held any weight.  I used to think that it was just something parents said to give an excuse for that child's behavior.  Boy was I wrong.  They were right on all accounts.

My daughter is almost 9 years old, going on to a 13 year old.  I swear she's already acting like a tween.  Besides her attitute, the fact that she loves sports, and that she's already developing her taste in music, she also gets caught up in the "it" thing, the current Fad if you will. Right now she loves all things IU (Indiana University - since we live in the college town), Minions and Emoji's.

If you are looking for a place to travel to with your kids, and you even remotely close to Indianapolis, I highly suggest you make a trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  It is over 400,000 square feet and spread out over 29 acres.   It is THE largest children's museum in the world.

For the past couple of years, the Easter Bunny has brought my children little flower pots.  Each year my children hope that they will get them again.  They really have fun with the process of planting, caring for, and watching their flowers grow. The Easter Bunny finds these particular starter pots  which are only a couple inches high, at Target in the dollar section.  The Easter Bunny loves target for filling easter baskets!  LOL

My 8 year old daughter LOVES to play games.  It started way back when she was younger with memory.  A great game for her, because she found something she can always beat Mommy at!  She was drawn to most games, naturally because her parents are also very competitive. Board games, card games, mental games (I spy...) and physical games (basketball) were all fair game for games.  Lately, she really enjoys playing card games though.  Maybe it's because she's realized that I will say yes more often than not to card games, because I love them as well.  Playing cards reminds me of when I used to sit and play double solitaire and cribbage with my Grandfather.  So when she asks, it's usually a YES of course!

If your kids are anything like mine, they love freeze pops . And if you’re anything like me, you love them too because they’re one of the cheapest summer treats around. My kids, including my two-year-old, would happily eat them all day long. I don’t let them, but they’re perfect for hot days or after a long walk. The only problem? Frozen pops and little hands don’t mix. Cue the endless paper towels. So I made a simple crocheted holder to keep little hands warm and messes under control. I wanted something quick, easy, and perfect for using up scrap yarn. Here’s my free pattern, or you can purchase finished ones in my shop on my SquareUp Market . Just be sure to note your color preferences. Materials Small amount of worsted weight acrylic yarn G / 4.0 mm crochet hook Yarn needle for weaving in ends Pattern Notes Work in continuous rounds. Do not join. Pattern Chain 6 Round 1: Single crochet in first 4 stitch...

I love summer.  And, for the most part, I love spending summer with my kids!  LOL.  As long as the bickering stays to a minimum we'll be good.  I usually try to plan a lot of activities to keep the kids busy and active, mentally and physically, through out their time away from school.  Back when I was a kid, my summers consisted of staying with my cousins and swimming in their pool, or staying with my grandparents, and going to the beach down the street.  I was pretty busy, and I loved it. One of the things that we do every summer is: Summer Reading Programs.  We find all the ones we can, and my kids have fun tackling them, eager to earn their prizes.

I am so excited about my newest item in my crochet shop!  I don't usually do posts on just one particular item, but this one is such a game changer, and so much fun, that I just had to write about it. What is the one question you dread to hear during the summer? "Mom/Dad, can you fill up water balloons for us?"

When people find out that my children have chores, they seemed surprised.  Actually, it surprises ME how surprised they are.  Chores are important for young children as it helps them get a sense of ownership in the house that they live.  They are part of the family, and more importantly part of the mess, so they should have cleaning chores as well.  I'm a stay at home mom, so yes that is one of my responsibilities, but with 3 children living in this house, (and ahem, a husband), this house would be EXTREMELY messy without their help!  

When my husband and I were just still dating, we used to talk about the future a lot.  One of the topics included how we would raise our children.  Our biggest hope for us as parents, was that we would encourage our kids to be part of something.  It could be sports, music, art, drama, scouts, or whatever else they wanted, but they had to be in something. Once we had children, and they started getting a little older, we let them try out a multitude of activities.  Especially our oldest, who is almost 9.  She has done gymnastics, softball, basketball, piano, cheer, volleyball, and probably some more things that I can't think of at the moment.  My husband and I want to give her all these options, so that she can find what she truly loves.