age: 35 (I think… I stopped counting after 30.)

current city: Memphis

living situation: I live with my husband John, our daughter Elinor (who turned two in October), two dogs, and five cats.

occupation: I am a full-time mother and homemaker. I squeeze in some sewing during nap time and at night so that I have a little spending money, just for me.

HomeGrown Baby Clothes and Toys

how do you structure your time and space: I keep us pretty busy everyday. I would be much happier sitting on the sofa in my jammies watching Oprah all day but I’m pretty sure that’s not very good for Elinor’s development.

Most days we are out of the house by ten o’clock and off to our various activities. Between eight and ten o’clock, I pick up the house, shower, put on something that matches and is mostly clean, and get the kid dressed (I usually only hit about 50 percent of this). We eat lunch on the road, either with other mom friends at a restaurant or in the form of a picnic. We’re home by 1:30 and she’s down for a nap by two o’clock. Then it’s MY time! I generally turn on Oprah and start sewing. I sell baby clothes at Trolley Stop Market in Memphis, and I also accept orders through email (laurakendrick@yahoo.com).

HomeGrown Baby Clothes and Toys

Some days I’m able to squeeze in a nap, and I always make dinner. My previous business was catering but I had to stop when I was seven months pregnant. Cooking and baking are other ways that I can be creative and keep myself sane.

Elinor usually naps until five o’clock, which is truly one of the most wonderful things about her, other than her hugs. John’s home by six. Then we eat dinner, walk the dogs, and put Elinor down again at eight for the night. I usually return to sewing or relax and spend a little time with John before lights out.

I am constantly dismayed and frustrated by how quickly time passes. There are never enough hours in the day, the piles keep getting higher, and I’m SO exhausted all the time. I keep hoping that someday it will get easier, but then she’ll be a teenager…

using the metaphor of seasons to describe the phases of women’s lives,

-what are the particular challenges and highlights of your current season? Elinor just turned two. Need I say more about the challenges?!

Right now my season is hectic and all-consuming. Elinor is opinionated, demanding, and bossy, which is everything I really want her to be to succeed later in life, but right now it’s making me a little crazy. We are together 24/7 since I’m not doing any parents’ day out or daycare. I keep thinking that I might want to start her in something, especially when she is really acting out. But then we’ll have a great day or week together and I’ll decide against it.

It’s also a time of great discovery and learning for her, so I keep us really busy in different classes and playgroups. I say this is for Elinor, but if I’m honest, it’s for me. The days that we do stay home, the house gets so torn up that I swear I’ll never let us spend the day at home again.

We take a weekly music class, a gymnastics class, and a fitmomma class, and the other two days are usually filled with playgroups. I squeeze in the grocery shopping when I can.  

-what season(s) preceded this one? Looking back, the previous season was wonderfully calm compared to the current one. At the time I wouldn’t have necessarily said that, but I didn’t have a two-year-old then, so I didn’t havethe same perspective that I do now. Elinor was a REALLY good baby! She slept well from day one, nursed well, and could entertain herself for hours without needing me right there. My greatest shame is that I once thought that I was doing something right that other moms, whose children were screaming in stores, we not doing. Well, I’ve learned a great lesson over the last six months. NEVER judge another mom, because your day will come! Now it’s my child who’s screaming in the stores, and I’m the mom bribing my child with suckers and youtube on the iphone just so I can finish my shopping.

-what season(s) might your future hold? The season to come is going to involve a lot of patience, a different kind then I’m needing now. We are just about to submit our dossier for adoption of an Ethiopian girl. We don’t know if our child has been born yet, or will be born sometime over the next year. All we know is that we will be waiting for approximately nine to 14 months to be matched with our daughter. In the meantime, Elinor will be growing up and continuing to keep me busy. I’m hoping that by the time our new daughter comes home, Elinor will be a great little helper and big sister.

favorite family activities: We love going to the Memphis Zoo with Elinor. It’s a great place for her to just run and discover and be loud and be a kid. We’ve also been lucky enough to take her to Disneyland twice (my sister lives in San Diego so we’ve got a place to stay) and to travel a lot. And every night we eat dinner as a family and walk the dogs together.  

favorite solo activities: Napping! I also love to sew and have really enjoyed starting up a new little venture making baby clothes. But my greatest luxury and gift to myself is going to the movies all by myself!

source(s) of inspiration: My mom is a great source of inspiration to me in my parenting. She raised three girls who were just a few months shy of four years apart in age. The fact that she made it through without needing to be committed gives me hope that I can do the same. For my sewing inspiration, I pour through magazines when I get a chance or go window shopping for new ideas for my baby line. 

best MakeShift moment: There have been many, but the one that sticks in my mind the most is when I was in a store last December trying to find a last-minute Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. I was particularly stressed out about finding the perfect gift and was in a nice gift store in midtown. I had wisely strapped Elinor into the stroller before heading in, since I knew that I wouldn’t be able to afford the damage that she was capable of inflicting. But the stress over making the perfect choice was keeping me there longer than Elinor’s capacity for patience, so I handed over my wallet. She had a wonderful time emptying out every card, receipt, coin, et cetera, all over the floor. The store clerk was horrified, but really…did she want the alternative? It kept Elinor busy, and I got over the embarrassment that is my messy wallet. 

contact laura about Home Grown Baby Clothes and Toys: laurakendrick@yahoo.com

HomeGrown Baby Clothes and Toys

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