It's a Mei Tai of Time!

Summer vacation is quickly approaching! Dave only has 2 weeks of school left before he is off for the summer! I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to this time of year! I get help during the day, I can leave sans children whenever I need something, get a few things on the Honey-do list accomplished and.........relax. Spend time with the family....and of course look for free or very cheap educational and entertaining things for all of us to do!

I have found some great things around the island to do, one of my favorite though is hiking. I suppose that would not be very creative seeing as I live on an Island with lots of mountains, waterfalls, lush foliage. Even though it's something I love to do, it's not something we've done a whole lot of since the kids have been born. But now seems to be the absolute best time to get a little of that in!

Jonah being 4 can walk on his own, Ellie can be put in the hiking backpack carrier and now that I have been broken into the land of Mei Tai......well now I can carry Gracia!

Previously I had made 3 other Mei Tais, and though they work, I wanted something better something fancy......something......Babyhawk~ish. But to be honest, I want something I can try out first and I do I have $80 to spend??? Not really. I could make it happen however, being that I am such the DIY Queen that I am...could I justify buying one when a little foot peddling and finger stabs added to a few hours would get me the same results (hopefully)? Nah....I gave in, got out my scraps and tried making one for myself.

It really doens't take very much material, Mei Tai's are fairly inexpensive to make. I would say I spent between $5-7 to complete the entire carrier. It took about 2 hours start to finish (cutting included) and then some patience to wait until sunrise to stick Gracia in!

And the results????
I think it looks and feel great! I have not worn any of my children on my back very often. I like wearing them so they can see my face, or having them infront but that isn't always the smartest place for them to be! Like while cooking, the back would be heavenly! And while I can back carry my 4 year old and 3 year old....I am not comfortable doing that with an 11 month old!

The same idea with hiking, the back seems to be the smartest, safest place for Gracia to be making your hands free for gripping and grabbing!

So the last few days I've been practicing getting her in and out of the back carry. She isn't a huge fan of the Mei Tai yet, primarily because she's always been able to see out. With my rings slings she has loved the kangaroo carry as well as the hip carry, she can see the world that way! But she is getting used to being on my back. This morning she had a great time leaning around to smile and talk to me.

With any new baby carrier it's important not to give up the first few times something doesn't go right. There is always a learning process and time for both parent and baby. It's really important not to get frustrated when your child doesn't want to be in the sling, or when you can't quite get that position or time quite right. Life is just like that isn't it? You just gotta come back to it again another time or day and try again!

Thankfully there are so many instructional videos on the web I sat last night and watched a few to see exactly how to put her in there. It is a little tricky, especially when she is wiggling. It's not quite rocket science but I would be lying if I said it was easy at first. I think it will be easy after doing it for a few days, but anything worth it is going to require a little effort! So for us, learning this new carrier is totally worth it!

And the idea that I used scraps and got a little creative juice of out my system was also totally worth it!

Thanks for reading~Tia