Small Steps

Mandy and I have made some progress towards our products for market. Our notebook covers are nearly all finished and are ready for the insertion of the notebooks. More bags have been completed and many more are ready for completion. We have made a formal application for a market stall and paid our money so we hope The Cut Cloth will be accepted. Other than this, progress has been frustratingly slow. Our problem seems to be that we are being distracted by other things - namely the impending arrival of a new baby. Somehow, some days, it is more fun shopping for nursery furniture than it is sitting at a sewing machine. On Friday we decided to go to a Baby Expo which is being held in Perth this weekend. It seemed like a good idea - all the retailers would be under the one roof and it would save us driving all over town. We arrived early thinking we would beat the crowds, but the crowds were well and truly there before us and were in far greater proportions than we could ever have imagined. Melissa works in the area of women's health and is always talking about the current explosion in the baby population. I had no reason to doubt her, but if ever I had my doubts they would have been well and truly quashed on Friday. As we entered, we were caught up in a seething tide of mothers, babies and toddlers, all spilling out of thousands of prams, pushers, strollers and baby slings in every conceivable shape and size. Well, the mothers may not have been spilling out of prams, but some of them looked as though they would like to have been curled up taking a well earned nap. I lost count of the number of times the wheel of a pram went into my ankles and, of course, I turned and gave all those pram pushers a smile/grimace and said "it's OK". Toddlers' balloons were popping faster than a microwave full of popcorn and I jumped with every pop. It has been a long time since there has been a baby in my life and I thought I might have entered a parallel universe, so unfamiliar was everything. We managed to bypass the breast pump sales ladies and those offering information on multiple births and caesarian sections and headed for the prams (yes more) and cots. In a short space of time we became even more confused than we were when we entered and decided to flee.
Mandy emerged with a look on her face which I can only describe as a mixture of disbelief, terror, bemusement, panic and horror and I could swear I heard a little voice next to me saying "ohmigod, what am I doing?" We headed for the nearest cafe for a restorative coffee (strong macchiato for me, fruit smoothie for the expectant one) and then headed for the safety of home and away from all those popping balloons and painful ankle crushers. Somehow the tote bags ready for their next stage and the familiarity of the sewing room was suddenly strangely comforting. So, it was small steps in the sewing room and even smaller steps in my new role. I did see a few grandmothers at the Expo and they did not appear to be at all fazed by my parallel universe. I think I have a lot to learn!