A long weekend, just what we needed! You too? On Saturday we cleaned and gardened a little bit, and Joska and I partied until late at a lovely Mother blessing. I found it a but full on emotionally; I knew my last birth experience was still fresh, but I didn't realise just how raw it all still was. There was talk of the hardness of it and then the moment of euphoria after and I realised I didn't get that; no endorphins to balance the experience, no real rush of love for my baby, not then anyway. The love has come slowly and gradually ( which is real and valid for many women), but I feel a bit ripped off that I didn't get that moment! I didn't feel empowered this time. I like to think I kept that stuff out of that environment but I'm probably quite see-through when I'm trying to hide my feelings etc. I wish my friend an amazing and empowering birth experience and I don't doubt for a moment that she'll get that. Soon too!
Yesterday the older kids had a Nanny(Granny-Nanny) day, and Struan and Joska and I headed into Nelson for a day of birthday shopping ( Maaike will be 6 next week!) and Founders Book Fair-ing. Struan carried Joska mostly and my body had a little break.
Today I thought, "I need tree buttons!" so I chopped some branches off and a tree down and made Struan cut some button sized bits. We also ended up with some block sized bits for the kids and some kindling. It was a mama-initiated activity but the kids loved it too. Tobin was a helping builder man and the girls were chatting excitedly about using the blocks to make fairy plates or chairs and things.
Here are some of my prized book fair finds ( there were two bags between us all up). I particularly like the gum nut babies books after seeing the author profiled in Frankie magazine a while back. Then at Spotlight I saw a range of quilting Fabric with the same illustrations. Yay! (I didn't get any this time).
How did you spend your long weekend?
What a booty of books! I saw that fabric in spot light too, I couldn't resist a 1/4 of a couple of them. What are you putting your buttons on?
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your honesty talking about your birth. I think it's so important to think about/talk about birth - good and bad - because it is such a huge event.Such an emotional time with all the hormones whizzing around, and also such a unique experience each time. I hope your friend has a beautiful, empowering experience, but if she doesn't, it will be some helpful for her to have friends who can relate, aye?
ReplyDelete(Also, homemade buttons?! wow! I wish my husband was handy at things like that. Do you dry them out and varnish/stain them?)
Aren't the individual birthing experiences all so personal and unique and contextual? Thanks for validating this in sharing your experiences. Beautiful love.....and gorgeous books.
ReplyDeletelove the milly molly mandy book! you managed to get some great books! i once tried to cut myself some branch buttons, but my cutting skills seemed to need some practice - they all ended up really wonky or snapped in half!
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