pillow for her doll

Yesterday we just took some down time. I needed it and the kids were being little devils, really. I struggle with this. It's always a balance.... give rewards, give consequences, focus on the positives, actively ignore... blatantly ignore. I took the "pool privilege" away because I knew that would be an attention getter. However, it never really worked. Maybe they knew that secretly, I wasn't really up for it anyway. I finally just went out to the garden and got some work done, authorizing the six year old to make lunch for her little brother. I know that sounds a little harsh, but she was totally up to the task. In fact, oddly, it was a turning point. She LOVED being in charge and making him his requisite peanut butter and honey. She became the "little mother/boss" for better or for worse. I could hear them through the open windows, but I vowed not to go back in unless it came to blows. And... THEY HANDLED IT AND DID BETTER WHEN I WASN'T AROUND! I swear it.
So in the afternoon, she asked me to make up the pillow for her doll. She had already gone through my scrap bag this weekend and picked out the fabrics she wanted. Then she showed me the size she had in mind. I sewed it up, and she stuffed it. She cut scraps from my scrap cotton quilting batting and stuffed it through the hole until it felt right to her. Then she gave it back and I hand sewed it up. She probably could have done that last task, but she's a bit like her mom... always in a hurry to have that finished product. So... we'll see how today goes. Being a parent has more ups and downs than the Blue Ridge Parkway.
P.S. One last little tidbit that I can't resist... The fabric that she picked for the back of this pillow is the one that I used for the backing of her sixth birthday quilt. It' s an Alexander Henry print that I bought at my favorite quilt shop (now closed), intended for her twin quilt backing, when she was just over one year old. What warms my heart is that she loves the fish now as much as I knew she would when she was so very little.