Funky Diva Chic Jewelry by Jenifer Long Designs

It’s Sunday and it’s very quiet around here. My husband is in the garage staining the bathroom door that he refinished. It’s going to look so nice. He is a great handy guy. Knows how to do just about anything and what he doesn’t know he figures out.

I have found out that my jewelry is a hit at Jane Currin Jewelry here in Portland. I’m really excited about that and have much to do to build up more stock for consignment there. Have to take some things in again this week. It seems my rings are very popular as well as my wire designs. I think that I will adjust my price points and see where it leads. Christmas is coming up and I must  be ready.

We have another child who has come back home again so I have been forced to move my studio yet again. This is a real pain. I just get everything settled in again and then must move it back out into the garage. It is a bummer sharing garage space with my woodworking husband. Sawdust is everywhere. I just had an idea though. I think I may put up curtains to separate the two different spaces. I think that this will cut down on the sawdust in my jewelry and beads. I get tired of dusting everything off. I’m going to go get some cheap fabric and put it up in between his space and mine. It will be like having a separate room and should work. Why I haven’t thought of this before is beyond me. Does anyone else deal with this out there?

One of my daughters (the one that is living with us) is going to look into starting a Tshirt business. That might be something she will enjoy doing. We have told her that she will probably have to work long hours to accomplish this.  She seems to understand this but I have seen her become immobile when she has been forced to work long hours in the past.

Some kids these days don’t seem to understand the idea of hard work and responsibility. I know that it’s our fault as parents but we have tried to instill the values of hard work, persistence and the benefits this ethic has.  It’s lost on two of our children though. My step-daughter feels that she can’t work more than 40 hours in a week and my biological daughter feels that she can wait to find that one perfect job instead of settling for less so they can pay their bills. I don’t understand this; as my bio-daughter has watched me working 2 jobs and more while she was growing up and knows that I took jobs that were less than I wanted so that I could provide for my family. My step-daughter grew up with a mother who seems to think that everything should be given to her so I can understand why she is the way she is.

We have given our step-daughter an ultimatum. She has 6 months to get her stuff together and move out. She is 21 years old after all.  My biological daughter is moving into her mother in-law’s house with her family until she gets her stuff together. She and her family lived with us for 6 months and just seemed to take advantage of the situation.  We tried to instill that she needed a job and she wasn’t doing anything about it. We even told her that she would have free babysitting for our 4 yr old granddaughter when she was working. It didn’t make a difference so we told them it was time to leave. They were able to survive for about 4 months on tax returns but now are finding they can’t make ends meet (she still is not employed). Will she and her husband ever learn??

It’s interesting how life is and what we must do to make it through and be good role models for our children. It’s hard to be that strict parent who sets limits on how much we will give and take. I think that “Tough Love” is necessary at times. It is hard to watch your children have growing pains psychologically though.  I do feel it must be done or we will have the kids taking advantage of us the rest of our lives.

I know I don’t usually post things about family life but thought this might be a story that others are living. You aren’t alone in dealing with adult children who move back in. Between my husband and I we have 8 children. Only 1 is under the age of 18 now (my son) and outside of the two daughters the rest are thriving on their own. How is it that children raised in the same family with the same values can be so very different? It’s something I ask myself often. How could I be a better role model? How could I have instilled things differently?

I don’t know that I will ever find the answer. I just do what I do best, and that is to show them by example how to work hard for what you want in life. If that means working 2 jobs or more, you just do it. If that means working your way through college, then you do it. I did it and so can they. It’s not impossible, it’s just hard.