Oh-So-Slow

The weather here continues to be plain nasty. We alternate between rain, sleet, hail and snow, all of it wet, cold and yuck. I am longing for a little of the crisp, bright beauty that I remember from this time last year.

Little Man continues his lengthy stint on the sofa, he has never been so under the weather for such a long period of time before. He is battling a throat infection, and it's obviously a very tough army of germs cos he is completely worn out with the effort of just being horizontal day after day.

Every so often he will pep up a little and seek out some slow, gentle activity. Yesterday he cut out and hand stitched a sweet little christmas stocking decoration. My heart squeezed a little as I watched the concentration and effort etched on his pale face.

Little B has taken a while to adjust to these oh-so-slow days stuck indoors. He alternates between being plain irritating (pulling all the wet wipes out of the packet, breaking toys, scribbling on the furniture etc) and super sweet (making me pretend cups of tea, chatting to Daddy on his mobile phone, sitting quietly to look through books, stacking towers of cups and clapping himself proudly).

We continue to bake. Little Man asked to bake biscuits yesterday, I smiled to myself when I saw him get out the silver balls, remembering last year's baking :o)

I continue to plod my way through the slowness of the days, sneaking a little time in Blogland when I can. I am drinking a lot of coffee and working my way slowly-but-surely through the tin of gingerbread festive traybake. I can tell you it improves immensely after a day or two.

When Little B naps in the afternoon, I sit in the bay window and work on my crochet projects. A little bit of holly. A little bit of bunting edging. Slowly, slowly it's coming together.

I am trying very, very, very hard to embrace these oh-so-slow days, to enjoy the comfort of being in a warm, cosy home with my two boys. Drinking coffee, baking, photographing, writing, crocheting, cleaning, cooking, sorting laundry, providing care and comfort and love. But. I am frustrated at not being able to go out, I am missing my friends, I am just about managing to hold down a huge swell of panic when I think about the Christmas presents that haven't been bought yet. Not a single one. There's time yet? It'll be OK? Yeah. I hear you. It'll be OK. I can do Last Minute, I do it every year. Breathe deeply. Drink more coffee. Eat more cake.

It'll be OK.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Edit to add :: aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes INterNet ShoPPing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like a right Plum Pudding now. Of course. The magical Internet. No need to go out tramping the streets! Amazon, here I come!

 

 

 

Comments

[suzie sews at Dotty Red]

enjoy enjoy enjoy... Oh how I long for the days when my wee ones were little and days moved slowly and with ease. Lucky enough to be a stay at home Mom... children grow and food needs to be put on the table and Mama needs to go out to work, trying to do the Christmas frenzie around work and all the children's commitments is making me one grumpy Mom and I cant remember when I last picked up a crochet hook :( So whilst you sit on those rare peaceful Mommy moments, breath deeply and enjoy and relax in to the moment....do it for me....with love

[tammy]

i hope your little man is feeling better. the flu has hit my house in the states too! it's horrible. i'm spending my time catching up on reading your blogs from 2008. i started from the beginning because you are such a great blogger! thank you!!

[Jacquie]

Hi Lucy , hope you managed to do an Amazon order....I love internet shopping as I hate the Christmas crowds .Hoping little man gets better quickly , sounds like a nasty bug.
Today is cold and grey here "the dark days before Christmas" as my MIL calls them. Quite depressing especially when you are stuck indoors day after day.
Hoping J has some time off over Christmas as it will give you a break and I REALLY enjoyed all your end of year posts last year:0)
Jacquie x

[angela-southern USA]

Lucy!You need to put a warning on last years 'baking with Little Man'!Like(view before taking a sip).I nearly sprayed tea ALL over my lap top:P Boys!Just think what He'll come up with when He's older:O and Little B right behind Him:)Have a good one.

[Helen]

Ah Lucy sorry to hear you are getting cabin fever but to me your post sounds idyllic. Staying in with your babies, loads of cuddles, baking, sneaky crochet and lots of love. I hope Little Man gets better in time for Christmas, it's not nice for him to be sick for so long. I've been sick 3 times this year and my baby has had 2 colds as well so I know it can be grim. Good luck with the internet shopping, it's the only place to shop at this time of year. Try not to stress, it will definitely be ok.

Helen xx

[Carole]

Hi Lucy,
I`m almost the same as you. I have a few pressies but i too start to panic, it`s a horrible feeling isn`t it. Never mind it will all come together. Take Care and i hope little man gets well soon.
Love Carole from Rossendale xxx

[Vicky]

I'm not stuck at home, but have done a lot of Christmas shopping over the internet by choice - its warmer, cheaper and you don't have to worry about parking or being jostled in a crowd of angry Christmas shoppers!
Hope Little Man is better soon, its horrible when they're poorly, especially for such a long time.

X

[karen]

This may not be helpful, but when I am feeling the pressure of anything, I try to keep my coffee limited to two cups and go on to a soothing cup of tea after those two cups of coffee. That way I can breath through the self induced stress of holiday pressure easier. Just a thought. As I say to my, now adult, kids: This is advice which means take it or leave it.

You do so many lovely things for your family, just making sure you are also taking care of yourself. You know what they say, "the Mother needs the oxygen first, so she can save the kids."

[Sandi Lee]

Poor Little Man, poor you, so close to Christmas and not able to get out, well thank goodness for the internet, I just ordered wine glasses that I went shopping for this morning, because I couldn't find them anywhere. I like a shorter, thicker, sturdier stem. They all have thin, long 'breaky' stems. I did find some dinky little tubes of Cath Kidson hand creams tho' :)
Sending a wish to the weather boss for you, for some lovely dry, sunny days to relieve that cabin fever.
Have a wonderful Christmas Lucy and family, thank you for all your lovely writings.
xxxooo Sandi

[Helen]

My mum was wonderful enough to come visit yesterday to look after my girls to allow me to get out and do the Christmas shopping. I was super organised with the list broken down by store so I wasn't zigzagging all over the place. And even more brilliant, Little Miss T went to sleep early which gave me the opportunity to bring inside all of the presents hiding in the boot of the car, and they are all now wrapped, tagged and stashed away. I can't leave them under the tree. The wrapping would be ripped off in no time! From no organisation to super organised in one day!
xXx Helen

[Rose]

Oh Lucy. Is it raining everywhere? Here on the east coast of Australia it's been raining for a fortnight (unheard of!) and has been our coldest start to December/summer in fifty years! I see one of your Buenos Aires readers said the same about her summer.

Cheer up, the days start getting longer for you next Friday. I hope little man throws off this bug soon -- amazing how the healthiest & fittest seem to get viruses the worst these days.

[CrochetBlogger]

Hi Lucy,

I can't find your email info so I thought I'd just drop a note here to let you know that I've given you one of the December blog awards that I'm honoring all of my favorite crochet bloggers with. Really love what you do here!

http://www.crochetconcupiscence.com/2011/12/2011-awesome-crochet-blogs-best-photos/

Kathryn

[lydia @ Twelve]

Dear Lucy

I hope little man is well so very soon, poor mite....

Lx

[Adele]

Astonishingly it all gets done! Curry recipe please: I like tried and trusted.

[penelope10]

So cozy in your home! Oh, yes, the internet is the way to go for shopping.
Hope Little Man feels better and gets back to normal.
I think we are in for the nasty weather, November proved to be so nice and unusual!

[Kandipandi]

Poor little tyke, it's just awful when our kids are poorly, really hope he picks up in time for Santa next weekend. Yeah it's creeping up but you will be fine I'm sure.
I love your little area to sit and craft in, it looks just perfect, I bet there are people nearby who enjoy seeing you sat there making beautiful things.
Kandi x

[Laila]

Just have to thank you for being a great source of inspiration here in the blogging world!
I hope your little man will be better soon! It can be a little cozy in the first days, but then comes the knowledge that you can`t go out of the house! I remember it very well ..
And you are absolutely right! Everything is going to be just ok right in time for Christmas:)
Laila

[ali.b.]

Hope your little fella is up and about soon xx Loving the photos xx

[julie]

My dear.....I used to have that utterly frustrating feeling of so-much-to-do and not-being-able-to-do-it. My girls are now 16 and 20. The eldest arriving home from Paris on Saturday. I am giddy with expectation. Cleaning (rare in my abode!) and enjoying it. The younger in ,Highschool, had her own stint of "unwellness" a couple weeks ago, and the slow days, bringing cosy foods and tucking ins reminded me so of the old days when she was a babe. I almost hate to admit that I liked it....seeing as she didn't feel well and all. And yet, it felt so ...familiar. I wish I could go back and somehow turn off my shoulds and coulds and just be with the moment. It is so very hard at times and yet oh so wonderful to be surrounded by little ones.I'm just a wee bit jealous of you :)

[Carine_07]

sorry he instead of it, I should proofread my comments before submitting.

[Carine_07]

If little man feels a bit better tomorrow, maybe it can try a bit of craft with his brother http://thegreendragonfly.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/christmas-crafts-with-preschoolers/
or http://thegreendragonfly.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/make-a-snow-globe/ (so cool).

Good luck with amazon

[Sarah west mids uk]

Dear Lucy have sent version of recipe I have to you. I decided to buy presents locally this year and it has worked. Some have been homemade.
My eldest son has done all his via the internet.
I had to brave town today to purchase younger son's b'day present for Monday.
Sorry to read that little man is still under the weather.
Weather down here for Friday is sounding grim. Roll on the weekend!!xx

[Katie]

Hi Lucy, I know just how you feel as I've just done a 3 week stint at home as my own little man (5 years old) has had pneumonia. He is fine now and we have just been out for our first nice trip today and we all feel a lot better for it! I hope that your little man feels good very soon, especially with Christmas so close. Talking of which, you're right, hooray for internet shopping!

In the mean time, enjoy the baking, crochet and Christmas preparations and snuggle up under one of your beautiful blankets!

Best wishes
Katie

[mel]

I've been Christmas shopping via the web too!
So much calmer.....less elbows to fight through...that said I am going "real" shopping on Tuesday......actually looking forward to it....I have a list to work through....to keep me on track!

Hope the germs leave soon.....they can be horrible house guests.....
Melx

[Allison]

Lucy, you are not alone. Here we are ten days from Christmas and I have almost accomplished a crochet scarf for my mom and that is absolutely it as far as presents or actually, any other Christmas stuff goes. It will all come together, though. And I do hope your son is up and running before too long and I totally agree that the best place to be when you're sick is horizontal on the couch.