In My Hands, By My Side

The late afternoons here are now full dark and we are finding our groove somewhat by filling it with crafting, board games, knitting, spinning and quiet reading time.

I am finding that when I sit to knit, or spin, the boys will pick up their knitting or drop spindles too - with intervention and a helping hand from mama more often than not, but that's OK, because that's what mamas are for, right? The mini-man tells me what amazing thing he's going to make : a rug for the outside room; a jumper for his dad; some PJs or socks to keep me warm. His brother laughs and tells him how far flung this dream is, and each time I say, "one stitch at a time, and eventually you will get there", or "a man can walk a thousand miles in baby steps if only he keeps going". And if there is one thing I have learned in my life as a mama, and a crafter, is how much can be accomplished in baby steps if only one just. keeps. going.

Life, for the most part, is not made up in life-changing cataclysmic events, but in the everyday persistence of people who plod along. And whilst some who seek thrills and spills might find this mundane, preferring instead fireworks and revolutions, they eventually fizzle out and it is the plodders who change the world. 'Drip on drip on drip and even a mountain eventually erodes away'.

Stitch by stitch, step by step, moment by moment, and imperceptibly a man is forged from a boy by afternoons sat by their mama's side. And if there is one thing I have learned as a mama, and a crafter, is that life is now, and these small moments are strokes on a canvas that eventually build into a beautiful masterpiece. Bit by bit.

Just keep going.