(Don’t you just love alliteration?)

Both of my kids are nail biters. I don’t understand why, since it’s never been something I’ve done, except when too far from a good pair of nail clippers. I’ve been trying to wean them from the nail biting, particularly Claire, since it’s impossible to understand what she’s saying when she has a mouth full of fingers.

Our pharmacist recommended Thum, which you’re supposed to apply twice a day like you would nail polish. Easy enough, right?

Well, we’ve kept at it, despite evidence that it hasn’t deterred Claire much at all. Perhaps she has a taste for cayenne pepper, which is one of the ingredients.

Last night, the idiocy of this course of treatment was driven home to us. We applied the nail treatment and then told Claire it was time to go to bed. She burst into tears and started rubbing at her eyes.

Did I mention there’s cayenne pepper extract in this nail liquid? Well, you can guess what happened. Red, burning eyes and lots more tears for a good long while.

I don’t know that I can continue to subject my children to that. Surely, there’s a better way. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

In sewing news…

I almost finished a second pair of pants. This time, I decided to try a pattern for five-pocket jeans from Ottobre. Since I got away with making no alterations to the Jalie jeans, I thought I could do the same with the Ottobre jeans. Ha! Hubris, indeed. I learned a humbling lesson: I have fat thighs. I need to alter pants patterns to give me a little more room there–it probably would be a good thing with the Jalie jeans too. The thing is, I’m so used to pants fitting snugly there that I didn’t realize it was an “issue” until I started reading one too many fitting books.

The snug thigh area didn’t seal the fate of these pants, though. Ultimately, it was the “mom jean” styling. They don’t have front pleats, but on me at least, the waist did not sit an inch BELOW the natural waistline…no…it was more like an inch ABOVE it (nine inch zipper required, lol)…and they had far too much ease. Even though I’m a mom, I don’t want to look like this:

I always chalked up the dowdy appearance of some of the Ottobre outfits to bad styling in the photoshoots. I LOVE so many of the details on Ottobre clothing that I was willing to overlook pictures that suggested they would look just as dowdy on me. Boy, was I deluded.

I’ve come up with a new strategy for the future. I’m going to find a pattern for pants that is cut in a more flattering fashion and I’m going to apply the Ottobre details I love so much. These Ottobre pockets are just too wonderful not to use on something…someday.