• Home
  • Creative Workshops
  • Shop
    • Account
      • Orders
    • Cart
    • Art Materials
    • Cards
    • Classes
    • Commissions
    • Home & Decor
    • Notebooks
    • Watercolours
  • About
    • Blog
      • Beauty
      • Faith
      • Family
      • Food
      • Me Time
      • Writing
      • Work Life
  • Work with me
  • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Finding Joy

Words that uplift and empower | Creative Experiences and Art by Joy Adan

  • All
  • Art Materials
  • Classes
  • Cards
  • Commissions
  • Home & Decor
  • Notebooks
  • Watercolour
You are here: Home / Family / How we got our baby to sleep through the night

How we got our baby to sleep through the night

5 August, 2012 By Joy Adan Tagged With: motherhood, mum life 2 Comments

Could it be? Has my baby worked out how to fall asleep on his own and through the night??

I was going to wait a few more days before I started writing a post about Baby’s progress in the sleep department, thinking it was too soon to celebrate.
But I know too well how the cycle goes; you learn something new or achieve a milestone of some sort and in that tiny span of several days (or if you’re lucky a week or two) you see a momentary glimpse of award-winning parenting, and just as you prepare yourself for a victory lap around the stadium with your shirt over your head while the imaginary crowd cheers you on, your glory is interrupted with a mental leap, a change in your schedule, an unannounced visitor, your husband staying back at work, baby’s next immunisation shot or another winter bug. So I figure I’ll share what success we’ve had so that in a week’s time when we once again struggle to get baby to bed, I can look back fondly at this phase in his life and have a record that it did in fact happen.

What are we celebrating? Bub is finally managing 12 hours of sleep in the evenings. That’s right folks; I’ve had six glorious nights of not having to stumble out of bed for a 4am feed!! After four months of broken sleeps throughout the night (or really 7 months if you count the interrupted sleep suffered during the third trimester), this is quite a feat. Imagine my surprise when I woke up last Wednesday morning feeling refreshed. Refreshed? Holy cow what a great feeling!

How on earth did this happen??

Well to be honest I’d been waiting for Baby to drop his 4am feed by himself. So many parenting books tell me that by 3 months, most babies can sleep through the night, as if it’s something magical that suddenly switches on when they hit 12 weeks of age. So there I was, diligently getting up to feed my baby whenever he cried in the middle of the night, waiting for him to show me this skill he was supposed to have picked up a month ago. No such luck. It didn’t really occur to me that it was something I could help him achieve. Then we had a few particularly bad nights where he wouldn’t settle and seemed permanently attached to my boob (breastfeeding is wonderful and all, but good Lord it is exhausting, especially in the freezing hours of a winter night). Or he’d only fall asleep if he was rocked or swayed, and ever so gently put down in his cot. Either way we’d end up spending significant parts of our evening in his room with the lights dimmed while our dinner went cold. So I thought, “You know what, I’m over this. I reckon there’s a way to get him to sleep and I’m going to find out what the hell it is.”

The problem I’ve encountered with trying to work out the “right way” is that there seems to be two rather polarised views about how to get babies to sleep. One involves the “crying it out” method (advocated by the likes of Dr Richard Ferber and popularised in books by Gina Ford and Tizzie Hall) and the other was the cuddle, feed, rock or do whatever you need to get baby to sleep without crying method (Pinky McKay comes to mind). Both are the opposite ends of the spectrum and I’ve never been fully comfortable with either of them. We tried letting bub “cry it out” a few times (checking in every few minutes, patting him, saying soothing things when his cry escalated and he needed comforting etc) but quite frankly it all seemed rather insensitive and I could tell Baby was just getting more and more frustrated with every passing minute. I figure my baby can’t talk, and he’s obviously crying because there’s something he needs, and if that was me and I was crying but my mum and dad was just waiting for time to pass and wouldn’t pick me up to make me feel better, I’d be pretty pissed too. But on the other hand, I didn’t want to be forever tethered to my baby until he fell asleep in my arms.

Then I stumbled across a book by Beatrice Hollyer & Lucy Smith called “Sleep – The Easy Way to Peaceful Nights“. I started reading it last Saturday and my husband and I started putting it into practice last Sunday night. By the third night we managed to drop his usual 4am feed and he didn’t need breakfast until 7:30am. I thought, “This is a bloody miracle! If I’d known to try all this a month ago, I would have.”

Needless to say, I really recommend this book (I found it on the Google Play store for AUD$10.99). Why? Because for the last six nights, I’ve been putting my baby down in his cot wide awake, and he’s managed to fall asleep with minimal or no intervention. Generally, we check on him before we go to bed ourselves, and don’t hear from him until 7am. Below is the main stuff I got from the book… if you can get your hands on it, read it.

  1. Baby can learn the skill of falling asleep by themselves (believe me, I was very skeptical of this before but it’s true).
  2. We can set up the stage for this by giving them the opportunity, making them relaxed, giving them assurance when they need it.
  3. Only feed baby when they’re truly hungry.
  4. Learn to recognise baby’s “core night”, then extend it so they are sleeping 10-12 hours through the night.

1. Baby can learn the skill of falling asleep by themselves

“Learning to go to sleep by herself is a crucial step for your baby. It shows her, from her earliest days, that sleep is something she can manage on her own. She finds she doesn’t need a parent to ‘put’ her to sleep, and that’s a big boost to her independence. And it means that, when she half-wakes, everything around her will be the same as it was when she went to sleep. To go back to sleep after reassuring herself that nothing has changed, she can simply repeat the way she went to sleep in the first place.”

I remember a midwife telling me this during one of my antenatal classes and it all seemed great in theory, but in practice it was impossible. I’d put Baby down and he’d wail incessantly, like we were torturing him or something. But as the weeks have gone on and he’s gotten older, I’ve noticed he’s starting to get a bit more independence so I thought it was ok to test if the theory was true. Maybe he really did have the ability to fall asleep by himself, but I wasn’t giving him enough opportunity or preparation to do it. Instead I’d just gotten into a habit of helping him fall asleep (with feeding, rocking, swaying, lullabies, white noise – whatever worked) because they were “easy”. But it did mean he needed our help to fall back asleep in the middle of the night or whenever he stirred during the day. The sooner he learnt he could fall asleep on his own, comfortable in his own cot in his own room, the sooner he was confident with getting himself back to sleep when he would stir in the middle of the night.

To be honest it was all a matter of changing our attitude. Instead of feeling like we were abandoning our baby to cry, we approached it as though we were letting him learn a skill he’d need later. And I guess because we were more comfortable with this approach it’s worked…

2. We can set up the stage for this

“When a baby cries, we assume he needs our help. And sometimes he does. But sometimes he doesn’t. There is a cry that says: ‘Help me sleep.’ It comes from a baby who is uncomfortable, or who needs reassurance. But there is also a cry that says: ‘Let me sleep.’ It comes from a baby who feels his parents’ presence so strongly that he can’t relax… Instead of being reassured by his parents’ attention, this baby is over-stimulated by it.”

The thing I liked about Hollyer’s approach was that I’m allowed to comfort my baby when I believe he needs it. There are no hard and fast rules about how many minutes to wait before going in to pick him him up; it was a call I made myself by learning to listen to his whimpers vs cries and decipher what he needs.

The first step, though, is getting baby relaxed and ready for bed. One thing every writer on this topic of night-time sleep agrees on is that following a bed time routine is critical, so that baby has cues that say it’s bed time. Our routine is loosely based on the one from Gina Ford’s “The New Contented Little Baby Book” simply because we started it when Baby was 2 weeks old and it seems to be working. It was comforting to read in Beatrice Hollyer’s book that timing doesn’t matter as much as the actions / cues in the routine. So our night time routine can start anytime between 5-7pm, so long as we follow the same steps each night and he’s in bed at a decent hour (for us that’s at 7:30/8pm).

  1. Give bub half his night time feed (ie offer one breast)
  2. Bath time and massage (normally this is with his Dad)
  3. Swaddle bub give second half of his feed (ie offer other breast) in his room with the lights dimmed while Dad says a bedtime prayer (before, I used to feed Baby to sleep and the routine ended here. Last Sunday I started adding the following three steps)
  4. Burp baby and sing a song/lullaby while he’s in my arms (usually he’s staring at his lamp while this is happening and often he’s babbling away too)
  5. Tell him it’s time to go to bed and go to sleep
  6. Put him in his cot, give him a kiss and say “Goodnight. Mamma and Dadda love you!” and turn off the lights

We’ve done this exact routine every night for the last six nights. The first two nights he protested, and I let him protest until I could hear that his protests were turning into “real cries” and he was working himself up to a point he wasn’t going to calm himself down. Because we don’t use a pacifier, our first step when this happens is to turn on his lullaby music. If that doesn’t calm him, we turn to white noise. If that doesn’t work I pick him up and check if he’s hot/cold, and try to calm him down in my arms, and when he’s calm I say, “Ok, time for sleep now,” and put him back in his cot and turn the lights out. We’ll repeat that cycle of settling options until he’s asleep (after two attempts I check his nappy, then put him down in the same way).

On the third night he barely put up a fight – I turned out the lights, left the room, heard him toss and turn for a few seconds and then he was practically snoring. The same thing happened tonight. It’s amazing because he’s done it all on his own – the only difference is we’ve given him a chance to do it. Having said that, I think the fact he’s managed to catch on so quickly means he was genuinely ready. Some babies simply aren’t at that stage and will protest wildly and sob the moment they’re put down. Getting them to fall asleep on their own is the goal, and there’s no foolproof recipe to achieve it because every baby is different. I’m sure in a week or two something will change and he’ll start putting up a fight again.

3. Only feed him if he’s really hungry
Hollyer spends a chapter talking about the relationship between food and sleep, which is well worth the read. I fell into the same trap she did; offering the breast whenever baby was unsettled because it was the easiest way to stop him crying. The result was he was never really hungry enough to take a good feed, or he would fall asleep while feeding. The basic idea is to feed baby often throughout the day (for Baby that can mean every 2hours or every 3 hours, depending on his mood. My GP said during the day, maximum 4 hours since the last feed began but he never seems to last that long unless he’s had an unusually long nap).

Try to limit feeds at night by using other methods of settling baby if they wake up. Once baby shows they can make it through longer periods in the night without needing food, that means they’re ready to start learning how to sleep through and it’s time to keep night feeds to a minimum. So if they wake at 3am, try to get baby to wait until 3:30am or even 4am until you feed them. They might surprise you and fall asleep before you get to that point. If baby bottle feeds, Hollyer says trying offering sips of water first, rather than milk, and eventually baby might realise it’s not worth kicking up a fuss for just a few sips of water.

For us it meant that hubby had to do the settling for the first few nights because Baby could smell his milk on me the moment I walked into the room. Our general rule is to keep the lights off or dimmed (we usually use the hallway light instead of turning on the lamp in his room), keep him in his cot, tucked in for as long as possible – this way he knows that it’s not time for a feed and waking up in the middle of the night won’t be rewarded with a attention or a feed, unless he genuinely needs it. If his cry progresses from an annoyed, sooky whimpering to sounding desperate and hungry, I’ll pick him up and feed him (still swaddled) and I only change him if I hear or smell a poo.

4. Learn to recognise baby’s “core night”, then extend it so they are sleeping 10-12 hours through the night.

I remember my sister mentioning the concept of the “core night” a while back, but neither of us really knew what it was. Basically it’s the time when baby decides to sleep longer than usual. Instead of waking every 1-2 hours you might find they sleep for 3-4 hours. Those hours might might be 10pm-1am or 7pm-11pm or 3am-8am. Whatever the timing is, those hours are your baby’s “core night” and you should treat it as their night’s sleep. Once you can recognise a core night, the rule is never to feed the baby between those hours ever again. If baby wakes in those hours, try everything else possible to settle him first, and only when he absolutely won’t settle, offer a feed.

When Baby 2-3 months old, he would fall asleep at approx 7pm, we’d offer him a bottle feed at 10:30pm, he’d wake some time between 12am-7am at which point I’d breastfeed him, then he’d wake at around 7:30/8am to start his day. I can’t remember when we stopped waking him for the 10:30pm bottle feed – I think we were just tired and couldn’t be bothered and would wait til he woke up himself. So his core night started from around 7pm until 130-2am, at which point I’d breastfeed him. Then he’d wake again at around 4/5am, then again at around 8am to start his day. Eventually he dropped one of the middle-of-the-night feeds and I only had to get up once; sometimes at 2am and sometimes at 3:30/4am.

Last Sunday we decided to test this “core night” theory and try to extend his “core night” by settling him with music when he woke, rather than feeding him immediately. That night he fell asleep at 8:30pm woke at 3:30am. My husband went to his room and turned on the lullaby music for 20 minutes. Baby fell back asleep. He woke again at 430am, so I got up and turned the music on for 30 minutes. He was doing a quiet whimpering cry that whole time while I busied myself in the kitchen and put dishes away. At 5am he started crying desperately so I fed him; but I was impressed because we’d managed to push his feed from 330am to 5am. The next night he woke at 5am and I turned the music on, and he fell back asleep until 6am. By the third night he slept from 730am – 7am on his own.

***

I haven’t read the whole book yet, but I did want to report on Baby’s excellent progress this week. Even though we interrupted the routine on Friday night because we went out to dinner, my husband managed to get him back to bed at 10pm without me needing to offer another feed, and he slept through until 730am on Saturday morning. I’m crossing my fingers that his immunisation shot (which he’s due for this Thursday) doesn’t stuff all this up. 🙂

To all the parents trying to get a full night’s sleep – all the best! It can be done… it’ll take a bit of time, but it is possible!!

Related

Hi

Joy Adan

I'm Joy. I'm a 30-something, storytelling, coffee-drinking, book-devouring, ocean-obsessed freelance writer, brush lettering enthusiast, speaker and content producer. You'll find some of my stories and art here, along with my advice about attempt at balancing the creative career + family life hustle.

Don't miss a beat - subscribe below and join me on this crazy adventure!

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

DON’T MISS A SINGLE POST! SIGN UP HERE:


Thank you!

You’ve joined Finding Joy’s mailing list. No spam, only love. I promise. 



Like what you see here?

Please keep this writer going. <br> Show your support:

Buy me a coffee!

As seen in

Essential Baby

Practical Parenting

The Catholic Weekly

2017 Bupa Blog Awards Nominee | Celebrating Health and Care

Find more like this

Tagged With: motherhood, mum life

Categories

Recent posts

  • Catholic Quotes to save on your phone
  • Inktober Prayer Prompts
  • So much to (un)learn
  • Simbang Gabi – The Best is Yet to Come
  • So blessed, I can’t contain it

Instagram

joyadanwrites

🇵🇭🇦🇺 #Writer, #brushcalligraphy #artist, speaker, podcaster, book hoarder. Mum. #Lettering, creating & stumbling through life @findingjoyau

Finding Joy | Joy Adan
Ran the first in-person lettering workshop of 2022 Ran the first in-person lettering workshop of 2022 today! So so so blessed to introduce a group of incredible women (and their beautiful kids!) to @findingjoyau and the joy that comes with exercising our creativity. 💕

Oh yes... and I'm moving/switching up my Insta. You'll find me sharing more of my art/lettering/how-tos and all things making and creating over here 👉👉👉 @findingjoyau so give this lady a bit of love (and a follow). 

xoxoxo
Needing rest and recovery is a massive shame trigg Needing rest and recovery is a massive shame trigger for many people, myself included.

I've found this to be especially true within migrant families and communities I've worked with - rest was not an option for lots of people because it was literally a matter of work now to survive, otherwise you die.  

I know that the absence of that "threat to survival" puts me in a very privileged position. I also know that even though the pressure to survive at any cost might be gone, the expectation to overwork and overcommit still weighs heavily and still demands sacrifice - from women especially. Thankfully, I (and many in my generation) have the added privilege of better education - we now know that failure to rest when our bodies and minds need to rest leads to poorer long-term health outcomes.

So a few months ago I turned down opportunities to do amazing work with amazing companies. Instead, I decided to hit "pause" and put my health and my family first. The past 2-3 years have been a bit of a fiasco. I really had to make a call about where to spend my time and energy, and I knew that if I wanted to keep giving my best in anything - work, home or community - I needed time out before taking on new or additional challenges.  

It was (and still is) terrifying, and it took me a good few months to truly "switch off". Once I did I became so grateful that taking a break meant being able to slow down and breathe, to focus on home and health, to enjoy agenda-free days with my kids, to take the foot off the accelerator, to embrace creativity, connection and serving my community... you know, things that too often get chucked on the back burner. 

I share this because I want to normalise people taking a break when they need a break. It might just be a short break in a busy day or week, it might be a career break. Point is... we all need rest, and we should NEVER feel guilty for wanting some downtime or pausing to reprioritise, refocus or recover. 

No one else should get to determine what "success" or "productivity" looks like/means for you. 💕
Impromptu paint workshop with some little visitors Impromptu paint workshop with some little visitors today! Whipped out the watercolours and acrylics after lunch and just enjoyed some down time, playing with colour, experimenting with texture and stamping mint leaves... and discussing the fact pink is not an actual colour according to science (and then had to assure them that pink did still exist... But apparently it is just something our brains made up? What?!). 

Painting really is therapy for me. There's something primal and grounding about the activity that helps me enter a completely different space mentally and emotionally. And so it was nice to be able to offer this as a method of play and recreation (and to experience it myself).

Tip 1: Watercolours are a far less stressful way to introduce paint to little ones - find cheap non-toxic washable paint and don't stress about mixing all your colours - it's part of the fun. Embrace the mess. 
Tip 2: I have been reusing the same blue dollar store table cloth to protect our dining table for 4 years. We wipe it down with paper towels or baby wipes at the end of a painting session, and wrap it all up abd shake it off outside after a play dough session. It's getting a bit holey but it does the job. 
Tip 3: Use a clothes horse to peg up and dry paintings as kids finish them. It's pretty satisfying seeing all their pictures hanging up and shining in the sun.

🌞🖌🎨🙌🏽💕
To the woman wondering if she'll ever get through To the woman wondering if she'll ever get through her to-do list before the end of the day... you are enough. 

To the woman wondering if she's cleaning/working/playing/exercising/cuddling/learning/teaching/disciplining/guiding/supporting/giving/loving as much as she can/should... you are enough.

To the woman who can never keep up with messages and voicemails and always forgets to reply... you are enough. 

To the woman doubled over in pain because her body isn't agreeing with her and she can't access the support she needs... you are enough. 

To the woman who is run ragged... you are enough. 

To the woman who knows she shouldn't probably eat that/buy that/say that... you are enough. 

To the woman wondering if she should apply for the job when she doesn't meet all the criteria... you are enough. 

To the woman who wonders if her contribution to her home or her community will ever get the recognition it deserves... you are enough. 

To the woman who is tired of searching for a place where she is respected - not just for what she brings but who she is... you are enough. 

To the woman wishing days like this weren't so exhausting... you are enough. 

To the woman who fears (or has been told) she is intimidating (instead of confident), outspoken (instead of articulate), too soft (instead of empathetic), power-hungry (instead of hard-working), lazy (instead of balanced)... you are enough. 

To the woman wondering what her worth is when so many are seen, recognised, paid and promoted before she is... you are enough. 

To the woman feeling uncertain, afraid, exhausted, frustrated, alone, restless... you are enough. 

To the woman who hopes and works hard for a better world for the future, wondering if we'll ever get there... you are enough. 

The world needs you, whether you're ready for battle or ready for rest. The world needs you, whether you're certain or still seeking. The world needs you as you are, because you are unique and irreplaceable. You are worth celebrating, today and everyday. 

You are enough. 

--- Tag a sister who needs reminding. ❤ xoxo

#iwd2022 #internationalwomensday #sisterhood
Yesterday marked the start of the Lenten season fo Yesterday marked the start of the Lenten season for millions of Catholics around the world. The road to our usual church was blocked yesterday due to floodwater, but thankfully some the rain eased and I could make it to morning Mass today. 

This week the skies are heavy, as are the hearts of many who have lost their homes and their peace - whether due to war or natural disaster. And so I pray. I pray because I know I need to ask for God's grace and mercy - I know I am so small and unable... but when He guides me I can see more clearly where to serve, how to help, where to channel my energy, time and resources... 

When it's all too much and I am unsure, this is the place I can return... knowing that the time I spend in His presence empowers me in a way no human eye can see.

If there is something you would like me to pray for, especially this Lent, let me know (you can shoot me a message too), and I'll bring it to our Father with love. ❤❤

#Lent #Lent2022
Went to Mass this morning after a very restless ni Went to Mass this morning after a very restless night. The Gospel was about a man who had brought his child to the disciples asking them to heal the child from convulsions that would often put him in physical danger. The disciples were unable. Here's part of the the conversation Jesus had with the father: 

"Jesus asked the father, 'How long has this been happening to him?' 

'From childhood,' he replied 'and it has often thrown him into the fire and into the water, in order to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.' 

'If you can?' retorted Jesus. 'Everything is possible for anyone who has faith.' 

Immediately the father of the boy cried out, 'I do have faith. Help the little faith I have!'" For the full Gospel, see Mark 9:14-29

Yes, this Gospel is a reminder that anything - and everything - is possible for anyone who has faith. But, as Fr Redmond pointed out this morning, it's also about believing that our faith has the ability and opportunity to grow. Faith isn't a one-off grace or gift we get once. It's a seed that is planted, it is something we can nourish and nurture. It is something that can wane when challenged or ignored. 

Simply put, faith is something we shouldn't take for granted. Faith required prayer, action and desire on our part.

That exclamation from a father desperate to do whatever he can to save his son is a prayer. It is a cry for help to God, asking him to increase and strengthen his faith. "Help the little faith I have!" he pleads. 

O Lord, that I may be humble enough to come to you and request the same when my faith is too small and I put limits on your grace. Help the little faith I have.

ID 1: An open page of a dot grid journal. The words “I have faith. Help the little faith I have” are lettered in pink ink. A pink Pentel Brush Sign Pen lies on an angle in top right corner. 

ID2: A golden tabernacle is in the centre of the frame. On either side are embroidered images from Bible stories.

.

.

.

#FindingJoy #JoyAdanWrites #PursuitOfJoy #PerfectlyImperfect #PracticeMakesProgress #CalledToCreate #CreativePractice #CreativeEntrepreneur #CatholicCreative #BibleLettering #Journal
Consider this permission to slow down. ❤ ID: Op Consider this permission to slow down. ❤

ID: Open page of a notebook with lilac hand-lettering that says “Don't rush to the urgent at the expense of the important”. A lilac @pentel_australia brush sign pen lies on top the page beside the writing.
I reckon this is one of my favourite lines in “S I reckon this is one of my favourite lines in “Surface Pressure”. It's one of many truths in the song, but I love this one in particular because people who know their worth & dignity tend to light up the room. 😉

Meanwhile, we've just ended 1 week of iso.. which we spent listening to the @encantomovie soundtrack on repeat and playing Super Mario and table tennis for hours on end. Thankfully, COVID symptoms were mild and shortlived, the boys maintained good spirits, and I managed to squeeze in painting as down-time over the weekend while everyone else slept. Now to declutter my desk and get back to business.......

ID: An open page dot grid notebook lies on a wooden desk. The left page is painted with blue, gold, brown and green watercolour flowers around the border. In the centre is navy blue lettering, with the words “I move mountains, I move churches, and I glow coz I know what my worth is.”

#ink #handwriting #catholiccreatives #qotd #pentelbrushpen
Flashback to this nugget of wisdom. ❤ Wherever y Flashback to this nugget of wisdom. ❤ Wherever you are, whoever you are, may you rest in the knowledge that not only are you made to love others, you are made to receive and worthy of being loved also. 

Image: Framed image of the quote “Love is, therefore, the fundamental vocation of every human being. - St John Paul II - Familiaris Consortio” lettered in blue foil and sitting on a wooden shelf surrounded by green plants. 

#LoveIs #Vocation #Calling
#StValentinesDay
Have had the best kind of whirlwind week of weddin Have had the best kind of whirlwind week of wedding bliss!! Big big love to my Toasties @kate_samways @sammyjkerr and cuzins4lyf @philipjamolin @simmyyyy 

You both chose parts of John 15 for your ceremonies. ❤ Praying you always remember that your love for each other comes straight from the same Love that powers every good thing in this universe... that whenever you hear music that moves you, marvel at the mountains, feel the sunshine on your skin, ride the waves, or stop in awe or wonder, you remember that a spark of those beautiful things isn't anywhere as big and powerful as the spark that brought you to the one you chose to enjoy your days with. And that through every magical moment, big or small, joyful or sorrowful, that your love for each other remains powerful and complete. 🥂💕🥰💕❤
“Without God, we cannot. Without us, God will no “Without God, we cannot. Without us, God will not.” - St Augustine

Been reflecting about this one a lot over the past few weeks... about the agency we too often forfeit or conveniently forget when change demands effort and intention. We're invited to be co-creators, to be cooperators... but that in itself is both power and a responsibility (yep, just got all Spiderman on you, whoops) 😝.

I lettered this one while watching the morning surfers at Flynns Beach. The waves came in fast, strong and big that day. And the thing that kept popping into my head was the determination of the surf students as they made their way out. We can't control the waves... another power beyond us does that. But we do have to consider when we start kicking or when to jump on the board if we want to ride the waves. 

🌊
I made a thing! Finally unboxed and turned on the I made a thing! Finally unboxed and turned on the sewing machine I bought during the last lockdown. The first thing I did was “fix” a fitted sheet (by sewing a seam on the wrong side, but I mean it still fits on the bed so... It's technically fixed). And because I'm an impatient person, I jumped right into making a half-circle skirt with remnant fabric (thanks Google) and then stuffed it up by adding a pocket without really planning ahead. Because why would I even bother making clothes if they don't have pockets??

You know my love for imperfect things (the pocket kinda faces the wrong way and there's a random seam next to the pocket that makes it bunch up) 😂 but WHATEVER. It fits (*just*😝), the pocket is functional and I am wearing it today because I can. Lol. 

#WhatAmIEvenDoing #SewWhat
Load More… Follow @joyadanwrites
  • About “Finding Joy”
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • My Account
  • Cart
  • Terms of sale
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

KEEP IN TOUCH - SUBSCRIBE BELOW

Thank you!

You've joined Finding Joy's mailing list. No spam, only love. I promise. 

Copyright © 2022 · Joy Adan · 22 657 108 897