Turning track pants into football shorts.

July 01, 2016

Turning track pants into football shorts.

First track pants turned into shorts, proved a big hit

Alexandra was busy stitching a pair of shorts. The quiet kitchen was overtaken by the rumbling sound of a sewing machine. She paused and quickly inspected her sewing, before she stood up and walked towards the electric kettle, sitting neatly next to a window sill. She looked out of the window and admired her flowers, looking pretty in the warm sunshine. She smiled continuously, before she walked towards the fridge to pick up a carton of milk. She couldn't believe it was almost empty.
"Mmm can't believe there is a growing teenager around the house, constantly raiding the fridge and scanning for food while opening and closing cupboards and never closing them after," she said.
Memories took over Alexandra's mind. One such memory came floating into her mind, inspired by the almost empty bottle of milk, she held tightly in her hand.
"Typical Eh! there is barely anything in the fridge," she said as she poetically thought,
"The silent kitchen, many times was
interrupted by a loud noisy invasion of a tall, loud figure moving fast from one side of the kitchen to another in search of anything to eat, preferably something sweet while Daddy was busy cooking"
"Wait!" "Supper is almost ready," Daddy said.
John walked towards Daddy and said,
"I'm hungry Daddy."
"You have to learn to wait."
John was frustrated at Daddy's answer, as he quickly dabbed his dirty hands and grabbed a piece of cheese, Daddy had just cut. He wasn't happy.
"Daddy, my tummy can't wait," John mumbled as he chewed on cheese.
"You can't be hungry, you just grabbed a piece of cheese," Daddy said. John looked at his Daddy cheekily. He knew it was spaghetti for supper.
Alexandra's deep thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of her dog's feet running down the stairs full of excitement. She bent down and playfully rubbed her dog's belly before she achingly got up.
With tea in one hand, Alexandra slowly made her way back and sat in front of her sewing machine ready to finish John's shorts. He needed them for this evening. He was off to play football. The loud constant rumbling sound of a sewing machine was back again. It was a race against time. John's shorts needed to be done as fast as she could, in order to greet her young children coming back from school with Daddy. Her poetic thoughts quickly moved towards her youngest daughter Munequita.
"Yesterday it was confirmed, I am at borderline of yet another food invader in the kitchen. My eleven year old daughter has become as hungry as her older brother, joining forces together scanning for anything that is edible in the kitchen."
"I'm hungry Mummy."
"Wait!" "Daddy is cooking. Call you when supper is ready" Mummy said as she smiled lovingly towards Munequita. A hungry girl indeed she was, as she then ran up stairs and soon disappeared.
There was a knock on the door. It was John who had a good day. His face filled with excitement as Mummy handed him over his finished shorts.
"Thank you Mummy," he said.
He quickly kissed Mummy on her cheek and dashed up stairs to change into them. Alexandra thoughts quickly moved towards Daddy.
"I spoke to Daddy yesterday and said his snacks will need to become more filling. Supper will need to be done earlier to satisfy our growing children. I can't keep up with the demands of a growing teenage boy emptying cupboards and fridge and towering over Daddy asking for money for snacks and drinks. Poor Daddy he will be left with no money, as he got cross with John, while he nibbled on Daddy's food with dirty hands."
"Teenagers!" whispered Alexandra softly, not long before she heard the sound of a key moving noisily though the keyhole.
Her heart filled with excitement as she saw her children, Munequita and Thomas entering the door with Daddy. Alexandra's memories had overtaken her thoughts about her children.
"My teenage boy is still shooting up and my eleven year old daughter is about to follow. Both have big feet for their age. My boy's foot is nine and a half and you know what this means. The bigger the foot, the more expensive are his football boots. Our cheapest online costs 120 pounds.
"Help me Oh Lord! The Doctors have said, his foot is still growing."
I jokingly said to Daddy, "The more he eats, the more he will be left with nothing to wear."
John suddenly appeared, as he came down the stairs, wearing his newly sewn shorts. He was excitedly carrying a small pile of track pants.
"Mummy, you will be saving a lot of money. No more shorts to buy. I have decided to turn all my small track pants into football shorts. My pocket money will go towards my new football boots, track pants and tops," John said.
"Thank you Mummy."
"You're welcome... and when would you like me to cut and sew these track pants? I will need to measure them," Alexandra said as she carefully inspected them. Are you sure?" she said.

CONCLUSION

Measure and cut ready to sew.

Having teens around the house can be expensive. A few weeks back I spoke to my own growing children about earning their own money. I came up with an idea to ease the pressure of having to keep up to their own demands to want things. My idea was helping Mummy around the house with chores. I explained to them the importance of helping at home with the whole purpose of earning an incentive. They all chose money as an incentive, which I'm pleased. I particularly thought about my 11 and 14 year old children. They are both going through a growth spurt, physically and mentally developing. You can't keep up with the demands of growing teenagers. My children do want nice clothes, shoes and accessories and rightly so it is all about looking nice for their own self esteem. I believe if you want something nice, you need to earn it and this of course is an important life experience which starts from early age and hopefully it will continue into their own adult lives. Right now I am trying hard to teach my own children to value the little pocket money they earn. What are they going to do with it? Are you going to save it? or are you going to spend it? It is wonderful to see my own children, learning to think for themselves and trying to find other ways how to use their own money appropriately, and maybe learning to be practical at times. John found out a very clever way to save money. He thought instead of spending his pocket money on new football shorts, which cost roughly between 25 to 40 pounds, he decided to recycle his outgrown track pants and turn them into shorts. He was greatly inspired by a video on You Tube "Turn sweatpants into shorts"
Enjoy.