Socks and A Sorry

socks
I finished my socks yesterday! I'm very proud of them. I have been wanting to learn how to knit socks for a good 6 months or so, but the class that I wanted to take at my favorite local yarn store, Loopy Yarns, was never at times when I could be there every week. Finally, there was a class that fit with my schedule and I took it. I'm so glad I did! It was fun to go and learn something new and get out of the house and let Chris take care of the kids for a night.

I never could have figured out on my own how to knit these. I'm mostly a self-taught knitter (with the notable exception of being initially taught by Colleen), but the rest has just been through reading and www.knittinghelp.com.

I'm going to try a pattern on my next pair, like these:
They are significantly more complicated, so maybe I should do a few more easy ones and then try these...

a sorry
I was getting ready for the day this morning when I hear wailing and whining from downstairs. I yell down to see what was going on and find out that Ben was crying because Chris wasn't letting him watch a Jib Jab video that he wanted to watch. Why is my kid watching Jib Jab, you ask? Our friend made some Jib Jab e-cards with Ben's face (along with 2 other boys his age) break dancing and Ben loves watching it (we think he thinks he can actually dance like that).

Anyhow, there are videos on the side while you're watching your e-card, and Ben wanted to watch one of them that Chris deemed inappropriate. And a fit ensued.

I took Ben upstairs with me and distracted him sufficiently (i.e., showed him my cell phone games) that he calmed down after awhile. We went into his room to get him dressed for school. After Chris got out of the shower, Ben went into our room and said to him "Daddy, I'm sorry that I was crying." I was floored. Completely unprompted, he apologized for his temper tantrum!

The biggest thing that my mom did right in raising us was modeling for us how to apologize. Whenever we would fight, she would always come up and apologize and make sure we made up. That's something that I really want to try to do with my kids. I think it's important for my kids to know that it's not weakness to apologize -- and when you're wrong, you need to do what you can to make things right. I think that lesson has served me well in my marriage and in my relationships.

It's much more often when I feel like I am screwing up my kids. But then there comes a moment like this morning when I think that my folly & failures are not getting in the way of what God wants done with these children...