A Homemaker’s Diary

Remember my previous entries about crochet flowers. Well, I am certainly getting better at crocheting those flowers.

So since I am a practical person who love seeing things to be used rather than left hidden in the drawer, I decided to make all these felt hair clip.

I found a few tutorial online on how they make cover for the hair clip using felt. Being a meticulous person when it comes to crafting I decided to sew rather than just use glue.

I am using buttonhole stitch or jahitan insang pari to merge the top and the bottom felt. I think for those who have learned this stitch during Kemahiran Hidup lesson, you wouldn’t find it too difficult.

Oh, the big white rose is my personal favourite. I am selling this one (well, actually I have made another one) to a friend who has a daughter. Apparently she has been searching for such hair accessory to match her family Raya theme (red and white). Will need to post it to her soon because she wants to put the clip on her daughter’s head during Raya..cewahh!

I read this title in a friend’s status message in Facebook today.

It makes me wonder what do I want in my life..

At times I feel like I better go back to work especially when I find it’s hard to handle a handful son..but then that will be like lari dari tanggungjawab, let someone else take care of my son be it maid or nursery..eerr..what’s the point of having a child then..is it worth the salary that I will get at the end of the month..how much could I earn, RM3k? 4k? and how much nett amount will be at the end of the day? RM500?

I think deeply about the issue of working and realize that if I were really intend to work, I should have done that like 5 years ago, by now maybe I will be a manager or paling cikai pon someone who is earning 5-6k per month.

Then I realized that it is not my job and even responsibility to earn money. It is Hubby’s and he has been doing great job at it for the past 7 years that we have been married. I am a mother now, I asked for a child and Allah granted me one, so whatever I dream about life, it shouldn’t contradict with what I have to do as a mom, no matter what the society dictates and expect of women these days.

I am an educated woman. Some say it’s such a waste not to work because I have a degree. But raising a child makes me learn more and whatever skills I get from 4 years in University do not go to waste even if I don’t earn monetary rewards at the end of the month. I think I am a better mom because I have time to read, to research and learn more about my son, which I think I will not have time and energy to do so if I were to work like most mothers out there.

So, coming back to the main question, what do I want in life?

To live long enough to see the fruits of my labor as a mom, whether I am successful in my quest to raise a great man, who one day will raise children of his own, and hopefully will be a better parent than I am now.

I ought to update this blog, though lately I don’t really have the mood to do so..ini kalo tak kerana ads Nuffnang, memang malas tahap gaban nak update..heh!

Well, I managed to complete the first day of Ramadhan, even though around noon time when I gave Milo sejuk to dear son to drink, terasa sangat la kering tekak..huhu! Plus he seems to nurse more after sahur till he woke up at 1pm..very challenging for me, padahal dah minum 2-3 gelas air mineral masa sahur.

Not to mention the amount of shouting and reprimanding that I have to do..yang panjat grille, amik selipar kat luar campak atas karpet..yang nak main bola atas tangga..aduh, sungguh mencabar. At 4:30pm tu rasa macam nak je pegi minum air kat dapor, but then sayang pulak lagi 3 jam nak berbuka.

As usual I won’t be cooking during fasting month. Kasi can la macik2 yang nak cari income lebih kat pasar ramadhan tu..haha!

Anyway, I have made decision to take a year (or maybe a year plus) break from the wedding and craft business. While taking care of the feverish son two weeks ago, I realized that it doesn’t make any sense for me to pursue whatever that I am doing at the expense of my family. My sole responsibility is to raise the son (not that I will have any other child), educate him and give him the best that only a mom could give - undivided attention, love and care. He is my greatest investment dunia dan akhirat.

In my personal view (and based on books that I read), raising a son is tougher emotionally. The make up of their mind and heart is way different from girls. I hope one day, my daughter in law will thank me for making this decision. I hope I could raise a man as sweet as Nick in the movie Picture Perfect..haha!

Happy fasting, people! I plan to buy kuih keria tomorrow..heh!

I have been bitten by the crochet bug these days…except for the few days of my down time since I got high fever and terrible sore throat after nursing dear son back to health.

This one was crocheted using DMC Babylon No. 10, which is slightly thicker than the normal thread you will use for sewing. Tell you it was such a challenge, harder than the normal thicker yarn.

Last weekend I spent some more money buying materials in Daiso - embroidery floss, felt, hair clip and even needles. Hey, you got to have needles with bigger eye so that those yarn can pass through..heh!

I have tried sewing buttons on top of all the 5 petals flowers that pass my standard..now it’s time to turn them into embellishment on cards. I have also found easy instructions to crochet butterflies and heart, would make perfect decoration on cards, tags or bookmark.

I have been spending many hours of waking time after son sleep at night, browsing through Ravelry - a community site, an organizational tool, and a yarn & pattern database for knitters and crocheters. Some of them are kind enough to share their patterns, or at least quote where they get the pattern. I mostly check out the flowers they make. I have no intention to crochet anything else like sweaters, hat or whatnot.

Well, that’s basically what I have been doing during the time I am not updating this blog, for those who wonder..heh!

Gosh! It’s been a while since I last updated this blog. Many things happened in the month of July. We went on a vacation, dear son has been sick, bla bla..and July seems to be a month we got money coming in, payment from project, income tax refund, NCD refund from the old car, Hubby got some money from his company..Alhamdulillah!

As the Hari Raya is approaching, amazingly I have no strong feeling to spend on anything, no new baju kurung raya as I won’t be wearing baju kurung as often as I could, kuih raya pon rasa macam malas nak beli (boleh tak gitu?)

The point is those kind of preparation (tempah baju, kuih raya, balang kuih, langsir raya etc) is meaningless as it is not practical. We will only wear baju kurung/baju melayu for say like 1-2 hours, and on the morning of Hari Raya, we will be eating ketupat, rendang, and whatever heavy dish like nasi, lontong and whatnot. So those kuih raya will be like penghias balang je..

Well, that’s what I feel for now la..in years to come once the son is older, if he wishes nak baju raya 3-4 pasang ke, nak kuih raya 4-5 jenis ke, I’m sure I would be happy to indulge in the spirit of Hari Raya for him..err Hubby, what say you if we go to Aquaria on the second day of Raya like last year..we make it our yearly visit..haha!