When I first saw a pair of Crocs back in 2005, I was certain I had never, ever, ever seen a more hilariously and hopelessly ugly pair of shoes than these gaudy Swiss-cheese clown-shoes. My New Years resolutions for 2006 were to lose my first-time pregnancy weight and to wait out the Crocs trend come hell or high water. Our generation has seen a memorable progression of waterproof footwear. Before I was born, if I’m not mistaken, summertime footwear options... Read more
Having trouble reigning in the potty talk in your home? What is it with the potty (and what goes in it) that makes it so fun for kids to talk about?? I heard a great solution/natural consequence from a friend the other day–when potty talk gets out of control, have the kids sit in the bathroom and talk to the potty. I thought the whole idea was rather brilliant! We have only had to employ this consequence once, but I... Read more
My daughter was up several times during the night with a fever and bad dreams, so I was exhausted this morning when my husband left bright and early for work. Hoping to sneak in a few more minutes of shut eye, I asked my oldest to get some breakfast for everyone. We usually have cheerios for breakfast, but when he innocently asked if they could have toast instead, I said yes. When they asked if they could watch Cyberchase, I... Read more
Last night, our toddler had a melt-down of epic proportions. The cause: She wanted to go to Mass with Daddy, but Daddy was only taking her big brother – he likes to sit in the front row when Daddy is the lector, and can be trusted to do so…whereas she cannot, at least not yet 🙂 In any case, evening Masses don’t usually go splendidly with our younger children, so we split up for Mass yesterday. Lesson learned: Never split... Read more
Today we heard the gospel of Martha and Mary. It is a story we all know well. We know that Mary sits at the feet of our Lord and listens while Martha works to prepare the dinner, and that Martha complains to Jesus that Mary is not helping her. We know that Martha is chastised by the Lord. I think that priests must get a little nervous when it is time to preach on this gospel. So many well intentioned,... Read more
A friend of mine who is a stay-at-home-mother of three young children recently confided in me that she had read an article in NY Magazine that was causing her to lose sleep at night. The article’s thesis, she explained, was that people without children are happier than people with children. RED FLAGS. Elevated blood pressure, curiosity… I had to read this article. I had to see what was bothering her, how the article defined happiness, what this new piece of... Read more
Last week, my parents took my daughters for a three day visit and this week they took the older boys. With two grandchildren in tow, my parents did educational/fun/touristy things around New York City, things that I never could do when I lived there with four kids under four, things that I didn’t really do as a kid in New York either, we were too busy living our real life to be tourists in our own city! The children had... Read more
Dear Mr. Incredible, On Monday morning, you got the kids up and fed them breakfast while I laid in bed. When I finally dragged myself out, you were surely late for work, but didn’t say a word about that or the fact that I forgot to wish you happy birthday. When you called to see how things were going in the afternoon, instead of saying a cheerful, “Happy Birthday, my love,” I said, “The baby threw up and I can barely... Read more
Dear friends, Here I am once again, asking for your parenting wisdom. I have been asked to give the “Christian Parenting” talk for a Baptism Prep class at our parish, as the woman who usually gives the talk will be out of town this weekend. Yes, that’s right, I have exactly 5 days to prepare the talk 🙂 In my college days, this would have been a world of time in which to prepare a presentation, but in my mommy-brain-I-drink-plenty-of-coffee-and-am-still-foggy... Read more
The kids were playing outside today with neighborhood children here in Oxford, our most recent stop. All three of my children and a very sweet four year old neighbor boy (who, incidentally, has not yet gone off to school) began a game of making underground “houses” by digging wide holes into the ground, about 6 inches in diameter and an inch or two deep, one for each child. Their holes were in a rugged area on the edge of a... Read more
Building Cathedrals
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