Off duty mommy

One of the most difficult aspects of being a parent is that you are on duty all of the time, especially when you are a stay at home mom like I am. Even when Aidan is at school or at VBS or somewhere else, I am the parent who will be called if there is a problem. And while James gets breaks whenever just Aidan and I go to visit my mother, the times that I have been away from Aidan overnight are rare.

I was fortunate to have one of those breaks this past weekend. James had arranged that he and Aidan would visit James' parents, who live in the Charlotte NC area, for the weekend. The original plan was that I would stay home, but then my knitting friend Kelli suggested that since she would be up in Charlotte on that Friday anyway to pick up a friend of her daughter's at the airport, why not ride back with them to Columbia for the weekend?

Why not, indeed?! So last Friday, the three of us left at 6 am to drive to Charlotte and we met up with Kelli and crew by 11 am. I was officially off duty! After a few fun hours wandering around in lovely Southpark Mall (including lunch in the Nordstrom Cafe - yum!), we drove down to Columbia.

What a lovely weekend. Although we didn't do much exciting by many people's standards, we had a great time talking, knitting, drinking blueberry ginger mojitos (awesome) and generally enjoying one another's company. Kelli took me to Columbia's two yarn stores, where I got to pet yarn I have never seen before in person. I did not have to bathe anyone, see that they ate fresh fruit or keep them from doing foolish things - well, except me. It was such a treat to only be responsible for myself for 48 hours.

Yesterday, we met back up with James and Aidan at noon for lunch in Rock Hill, SC, then drove back to our respective homes. I was a bit sad to see my weekend of leisure come to an end, but still glad to see my boys. And I so appreciated the extra effort that James, Kelli and Aidan put forth so that I could be off duty for a weekend. Sweet!

Happy anniversary, Motherhood Later group!

Today is the one year anniversary of the formation of the Motherhood Later Rather Than Sooner group on Ravelry. Woohoo! The group is for knitting and/or crocheting mommies who have given birth at age 35 or older. What a great group of women - this is the group in which I have participated in two swaps, and one of two groups that I visit multiple times a day.

One of the members came up with a great way to celebrate our anniversary: "...wouldn’t it be nice to send a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) to a good friend you’ve made in the group, something you know they would love or have wished for in conversations, and you could make it happen? Maybe it’s a thing you make or buy, but it would represent a celebration of online friendship that we wouldn’t have without this group. I’m not talking like a full swap package; just a symbolic item."

I adore this idea - just sending a little surprise to another member of the group, just because. And the woman who made this great suggestion is the person that I chose to gift first with a set of felted coasters:


I got her address from one of the last swap moderators and sent the coasters in the mail yesterday, with a little note telling her how I have enjoyed getting to know her on Ravelry. Not a big gift at all, just a little something to say "I appreciate your friendship", and I hope that when she uses them she will think of her friend in Georgia.

Now, what and to whom should I gift my next RAK?