Experienced parents, please look at the picture on the right and tell me, Why does my 2 year-old do this? Just this morning, Maria sat down to color with a perfectly good red and green flip crayon – those of you who have used Handwriting without Tears materials will recognize these. I returned 2 minutes later and found half of the crayon in her mouth – she had bitten sizable chunks off either end and was rolling them around in... Read more
When she comes down with 101 degree fever the morning she’s supposed to babysit, as she lies shivering on her sickbed, she will text her 13-year-old best friend. Her 13-year-old best friend has no plans, because she’s 13, so she will happily say yes. Oktoberfest plans for tonight are still on! Some other reasons to hire 13-year-old sitters? Reason #137: She will call you Mrs. [Last Name], even if you live in the urban northeast where teenagers typically call adults... Read more
My husband sent me a link to this article at EPPC, “A Skewed View of Stay-At-Home Motherhood.” I found it interesting because I think that all the of the builders at one time or another would not have been considered stay-at-home moms by the census standards. I did a couple of hours of research a week for a DC based think tank while my baby napped, so I would not be considered a stay-at-home mom. I remember taking a class... Read more
In my typical big sister fashion, I was all set to write an authoritarian post on the subject of Halloween, but the more I turned over the words in my head, the more I realized that I am conflicted about this issue, that there is merit on both sides, and that the answer may be different by family or neighborhood. So, let me lay out some of the pros and cons that I see about celebrating Halloween, and I hope... Read more
…Is that when someone asks you, “What did you do today,” and you really got none of your very-important-tasks done, at least you can still say, “I was growing my baby.” 🙂 So, on this Wednesday afternoon, I will try not to pay attention to the un-vacuumed, un-mopped floor or the fact that I have not pre-prepared the carrot soup for dinner, and focus on this wonderful reality 🙂 Read more
For the healthy arrival of Claire Marie.Born on the Feast of St. Francis, Sunday, October 4th at 11:37 pm, as predicted over 1 month ago by her elder sister Gianna!She was the perfect weight and by far my smallest baby–8 pounds 3 ounces, 20 inches long.We are all home, recovering, and enjoying our first day together as a family. Joanne, congrats to you on your near perfect weight guess! Read more
I cannot believe how much time I spend on the very simple maintenance of my children’s growing protein appendages. That’s right, I am talking hair and nails here, People. It is crazy. I think it is the 20-month old boy that is putting me over the edge. He has to be held down bodily for finger nail cutting and he wigs out every time he hears the sound of our home clippers coming within an inch of his head. Seriously,... Read more
My family got to spend a wonderful afternoon picking apples with the (very pregnant) Red and her children last week. Like B-Mama, this is one of my favorite activities, and it is great fun to share it with good friends. The funniest part was these two little guys, born three weeks apart, both of whom toddled through the orchard without complaint and happily munched on apples. I suspect that they were having a (non-verbal) man-to-man chat — Leo attempted to... Read more
It’s been awhile since we’ve done one of these over here at Building Cathedrals, so I thought I’d give it a go again. Here are the top 7 quick bits in my life on this beautiful fall Friday morning: 1) Autumn is officially here. Tomorrow promises great fun as our family heads to a nearby apple orchard to participate in their annual Apple Harvest Festival. We’ll be taking in our loot of apples, donuts, hayrides, and folk music. Way back... Read more
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