Doin' the Parental Thing

The Big Project, took a lot of time away from the kids in the past month. #3 son felt the brunt of it. Being the youngest, and the one who has always wanted more attention from the 'rents than the other two, the past month has made him feel like a demi-orphan, sometimes. So DH and I have been trying to spend a bit more time with him, and reminding him that he is a priority in our lives. To this end, we took our budding little concert violinist to his first classical concert. Boring, right? Not at all. Violinist, Tasmin Little, presented a mid-afternoon concert called "The Naked Violin" at our otherwise Hoity-Toity symphony concert hall. It was thouroughly enjoyable, and #3 son was enthralled. Ms. Little, played, talked about her violin and the pieces she played, answered questions from the audience - adult and child alike; and a good time was had by all. Best of all, the concert was free for the kids and their parental escorts. A free classical concert you could attend in your jeans, what better way to introduce a kid who loves his violin, skateboarding and baseball, to classical music.

You can even download "The Naked Violin" for FREE on Ms. Little's website.

Now, there has been some knitting going on....not as much as I would like, though. It seems that I can't get more than a few rows done in the evening without thinking that a little snooze is just what the doctor ordered. A couple of weeks ago, I started - for no particular reason - a baby blanket. I do this occasionally with no specific baby in mind; having faith that one will pop up from somewhere. Well, no sooner had I cast on, when my boys came home announcing that several of their teachers, or teachers' wives were expecting. So now the question has gone from "where will I find a baby to give this blanket to," to "which of the dozen babies soon-to-be-born will get the ONE blanket I have to give." Ya know, that Teacher's strike in September is reaping some unusual benefits.

Still slogging away on hubby's toe-up socks. They go with me everywhere, but lately, when I have kid-wait time, it is spent making or returning phone calls. I spent an entire two hour baseball practice the other day talking to our agents who had not heard about our big change. I would have much rather been knitting on those socks - but no such luck. And just the same, I have been wanting to start a dozen other projects, despite the fact that I have a dozen UN-finished projects patiently waiting their turn in the limelight.