I need a hobby. Or at least I think I should have one. These days, I spend most of my time waffling between bored-out-of-my-skull-if-I-have-to-read-hop-on-pop-one-more-time-I'll-lose-my-mind and totally overstimulated by all the activities, noise, and craziness that I love about my kids. Perhaps a real hobby would be just the refreshment and mental stimulation that I need.
Here are my current not-real hobbies: checking Facebook, checking Instagram, reading blogs on my phone, checking my email, pinning things on Pinterest that I will never do, watching the Bachelorette, stalking Jimmy Fallon, and cooking food that my children will not eat.
Let's explore some other options. Anything I choose as a real hobby must adhere to the following standards:
1. It must be cheap. Above all else.
2. It must be quick to start and stop. I have to be able to drop it at a moment's notice when a small person has put poop in a place it shouldn't be or is painting the furniture or something.
3. I should like it.
4. It shouldn't take up too much space. I cannot devote an entire room to my love of taxidermy or furniture re-upholstery.
So here are the things I'm considering--let's see how they measure up:
1. Sewing. This is a good option. However, it is not really cheap. It can be, I suppose, depending on how you do it. It's not always quick to start and stop, but it's not the worst. I think the hardest part about sewing is that I'm not good at it. I have only ever sewn three things in my life, and I just did those last fall. The three things I made were all basically rectangles, and it still took me over a million hours. And I spent a good portion of my "sewing" time breaking needles, losing thread, and teaching my children four-letter words.
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| I made this. It is basically a giant rectangle with some small rectangles and buttons attached to it. It took me 26,000 days and an equal number of tears to finish it. |
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| I made that crib sheet. I also made that cute baby...not with my sewing machine, to clarify. |
3. Napping. Too bad I have a curse which does not allow me to actually fall asleep during the day, no matter how tired I may be.
4. Blogging. Cheap? Check. Quick? Check. Fun? Check. Good for small spaces? Check. But if it is my only real hobby, then what will I ever have to write about? I just have to wait for my kids to do something insane and then chronicle it. With four of them, there's a good chance that will happen sooner rather than later, but still.
Hobbies are hard to find and do with kids around. Inevitably, I get started on something and someone has their pants stuck on their head or they've locked themselves in the van with the keys inside. Hmmm...now that I think of it, maybe that would be a good time to get some hobbying done.
Hang on. I think I hear them honking.
What about digital scrapbooking? You can subscribe to a handful of blogs that have freebies for the paper, alphabets, title, and embellishments. You can use GIMP, which does pretty much everything Photoshop will do except it's free. It's easy to start and stop and you only need your computer. You can keep it in digital form or print it and put it in an album (that part does actually cost money but it's not insane). And then you've made it easier to remember lots of things you might not otherwise remember. Or at least that's the case for me!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea! I played around with it for awhile and got good and overwhelmed. But you're right about the freebies and the lack of space needed! I should look at that again.
DeleteI can get you started with some of the freebies too, if you'd like. :) I've been saving them for a couple years now. And it's so much easier than paper scrapbooking! I've actually been able to keep up with both of the boys' scrapbooks this way and actually just had some pics printed for Ryan's book in time for his birthday party.
ReplyDelete