There is an important conversation about Postpartum Depression going on over at Faith and Family. I have not listened to the podcast yet, but I did read Kate Wicker’s post and I really agree with her advice. I have had postpartum depression to various degrees after every single pregnancy, so I am beginning to feel like a bit of an expert on the matter. My wise OB offered prozac, but encouraged sleep, diet, exercise and B-vitamins first, and I find... Read more
-band-aids are a necessary item at all times (even in a mom’s purse!) and you can never have too many -cereal is a food group -the couch, and any part of it, can be instantly turned into a jungle gym -worms are the coolest and holding them is a MUST -tables are for standing and sitting -toilets are optional, so are clothes -balls are household decor -rough play can be a way to show affection -hair makes a great napkin... Read more
Dear readers ~ I wrote the following post for our church’s mothers’ group (St. Anne Society), and thought that I would share it with you all as well…Enjoy! Like many of the members of the St. Anne’s Society, I spent my childhood moving from one place to another, and I am also a transplant to Texas. Our closest family members (my parents) live over 800 miles away, and we have family living thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean in... Read more
There was a time when living the liturgical year was the primary theme for my home school lesson plans. We had a magical year, our first year of homeschooling, when I was happy and flexible and it was all just one great preschool jumble of crafts, living books and time outdoors. Those days have passed, and I find that these days my desire to keep the older ones “on track” and the littlest ones from “eating glitter,” we have not... Read more
Help me give my children the best – not of trappings or toys, but of myself, cherishing them on good days and bad, theirs and mine. Teach me to accept them for who they are, not for what they do; to listen to what they say, if only so they will listen to me; to encourage their goals, not mine; and please, let me laugh with them and be silly. Let me give them a home where respect is the... Read more
Leo got a “baby einstein” video for Christmas from an uncle. He asked to watch it this morning, so I put it on, thinking it would keep him out of trouble while we did school work. He watched for about a minute, and is currently back at work removing all the q tips from the box in the cabinet below my bathroom sink, while four school age children have abandoned lessons and sit slack jawed in front of a screen... Read more
Just back from my run, and I noticed that several houses still have Christmas wreaths on the door, slowly turning brown and confusing the crocuses which are popping up on the lawns. My wreaths are off the door, so you cannot see them from the street, but my dirty secret is that they are still lying on the ground beside the door! So, in this third week of Lent, join me now in throwing away your Christmas wreath. Get up... Read more
So, I have been spending some time on FaceBook after realizing that my kids already have friends who are using facebook daily. While I am not ready for my kids to use it, I think that if I get to know it a bit, I will have a sense of the possibilities and pitfalls of this social media thing. We have some helpful computer rules in place already, my kids only visit one website that I trust and play games... Read more
For your meatless fridays this Lent, consider these bean soup mixes. While they cost more than the dry beans at the grocery store, you will be supporting something worthwhile, calling to mind the fig tree in this Sunday’s gospel who just needed one more chance, patience, nourishment and careful tending to bear fruit. When we go without meat or eat lower on the food chain, we are stewards of the environment, and through this project we can be stewards of... Read more
For a refresher on the difference between contraception and NFP, click here to view the full text of this excellent document put together by my lovely, recently-married, hoping-to-be-a-mom, passionately-Catholic, darn smart friend. Thanks, Mrs. C., for keeping my brain sharp on this fundamental truth. Read more
Building Cathedrals
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