Busy September: One Of My Little Helpers Has Gone Off To School

September has just passed and it was a very busy month. The older one, Pax, started kindergarten. That means I wake up at 5:30am to have my coffee, get breakfast started, lunch packed, he and his little brother ready and for me to get into the studio. It’s busy, but it’s not too bad. I kind of like waking up early to have my coffee before everyone wakes up (that’s my quiet time) and to get the day started. Since having kids, I don’t really know what it truly means to sleep in. 7am would be sleeping in around here.

Pax is enjoying school. He’s meeting new friends and doing a lot of different activities. I told him that kindergarten was my favourite school year. When I was going to school, we got off at noon. My grandfather would pick me up and take me along to dim sum with his friends. I have very fond memories of just being around him.

 

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This is a nice photo my husband, Christian, took of the studio last year. That’s a reproduction Saarinen chair my brother gave me. This is where Pax likes to sit and hang out. I told him that this is his chair when he’s in my studio.

 

 

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Here he is, all grown up, sitting on the Saarinen chair playing games on the iPad. He’s been hanging out with me since he was 2 years old here when I started Modern Coup. My studio is at my mom’s home, as I’ve mentioned before, so she’s been helping me take care of him while I work.

While it seems ideal to be able to take care of your children as you work, it does come with its challenges. Kids don’t really understand work, especially when you’re always accessible. They always want you to play with them or want your attention. Luckily, I have my mom and dad to take care of the boys to get some work done.

 

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Here’s another picture Christian took last Spring when I just came back to work after having our 2nd little man, Nol.

 

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This is Pax’s little hand (when he was 2 years old) grabbing a box of my rivets. He was playing and got frustrated somehow and threw 100 sets of rivets all over the place. Fun times!

 

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This is Pax’s little hand (at 3 years old) showing me the strawberry he and my dad grew. My dad made him a little garden to keep him entertained. Little people need to be constantly entertained.

 

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Pax used to love playing with play food. I would get daily meals that he would deliver to the studio. This is a Melissa & Doug Sushi Set I got him. Look at that salmon sushi…

 

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This is the whole box set. It even comes with wasabi, a dish for soy sauce, ginger and even a cleaver (left side) to cut up the maki rolls. I didn’t have such interesting toys growing up.

 

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Pax also likes picnics and he set one up for me on the floor. If you’re wondering what the green vegetable is in the bucket, it’s bitter melon. It’s a Chinese vegetable that tastes like it sounds…bitter. It’s an acquired taste and one that I really like. It was really funny that my mom found it as a play food item. Pretty rare.

 

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Here’s Pax and I in the studio taking a picture to send to his dad. I think he was about 4 years old here. People say he looks a lot like me. Christian says he’s almost exactly like me in personality, too.

 

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I bought him this MEC Fledging backpack for school. Initially, I was going to make him one, but I don’t think waxed canvas and leather is really something a young child could take care of. I wanted something I could wash when dirty.

It was actually not easy looking for a small size backpack for a 5 year old. There are many larger size ones for kids. Also, there are a lot of poor quality ones. They were cheap and they looked like they would last just a few months. I hate waste and the thought of a backpack ending up in the landfill in a few months bothers me.

 

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Here’s Nol dropping his brother off to school with me. He brought his lunch box and says he’s going to work. He thinks work is mostly break time, so he packs a lot of food.

Now Nol is the one going to the studio with me. He loves sitting on that Saarinen chair, too. He sits there and gives me a little smirk. That’s his  request to go on the iPad and watch his Youtube videos. It’s amazing how fast kids catch onto using Apple products. I think I was just playing outside with dirt at 2.

 

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