The baby was up most of the night crying and has finally crashed, so I was so thankful to feel comfortable calling neighbors to give my bigger kids a ride to swim practice this morning. My turn will come again, and for now it is a happy and humble reminder that I can’t do it all every time, and I don’t have to. A few extra minutes of quiet in my pajamas with coffee this morning are gold! Read more
Happy 4th of July, dear readers! America the Beautiful Words by Katharine Lee Bates, Melody by Samuel Ward O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! O beautiful for pilgrim feet Whose stern impassioned stress A thoroughfare of freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine every flaw,... Read more
We had just picked up my (7 year-old) son’s friend and were on our way to day camp when, from the back row of the minivan, I heard this from said friend: “In middle school, we get to do sex things.” My heart skipped a beat as I tried to process what I had just heard and form an appropriate response. “No, STOP TALKING!” was all that came to mind – I had three other pairs of young ears to... Read more
A happy Feast of the Sacred Heart to all of you! For those of you who are history enthusiasts, here is a brief history of this beautiful feast day, taken from this website: “Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus goes back at least to the 11th century, but through the 16th century, it remained a private devotion, often tied to devotion to the Five Wounds of Christ. The first feast of the Sacred Heart was celebrated on August 31,... Read more
Today in the car the boys were discussing their future professions. Dash (5): “I want to be a butterfly farmer.” Jack-Jack (4): “I want to be a chef.” Incredibaby (2): “I want to be a doctor. But the kind that doesn’t give shots and gives lots of lollipops.” The baby paused and added, “And Mommy will clean.” I asked in a rather higher than usual voice while suppressing all sorts of snarky comments in my head, “Mommy will clean?!” To... Read more
I’ve always been slightly annoyed by those websites that calculate a projected income for the stay-at-home mom. You enter the time that you spend on certain jobs around the house and caring for your family each week, type in your zip code, and voila, out comes your projected yearly income. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the idea is clever and the point is well-taken: as mothers who stay at home we work very hard and are, essentially, the managers... Read more
Many of us are encouraging our children to continue reading throughout the summer months, and this task is made easier by the myriad of summer reading programs sponsored by local libraries and bookstores. These programs usually offer incentives for children who read a certain number of books or pages, such as a free slice of pizza or a special book. My son’s elementary school is asking each student to read at least 20 minutes a day for a minimum of... Read more
And I don’t mean the TV. Over the past year, and now with four children, we have seen our family expenses ballooning but are more in need now than ever of an extra set of hands. We don’t have the income now to cover the amount of daytime help that I need for sane summer months… unless the help costs only $3-4/hour. So, at the Feast of the Ascension Mass a few weeks ago, I started recruiting 12 year olds... Read more
Friends, we started paying our 6-yr.-old an allowance of $1/ week when she turned 6. I put no guidelines on how she spent the money, but rather, used the first six months as a sort of test period. Well, she spent it all on ridiculous things like silly bands, temporary tatoos and sticker albums. All of it. I think the most she ever saved was $4. I wanted her to have the freedom to make mistakes … well at least... Read more
My kids want a pet. As someone who requested a horse for every single holiday, be it President’s Day or Christmas, for about 12 years, I can understand their desire. As a mom with many bells to answer to, I can understand my reluctance. I have an easy excuse for saying no to cats and dogs as my son and I are allergic. We have any number of insects in cages, nets, bags at any point in time. But the... Read more
Building Cathedrals
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