Quotes on the Feast of St. John Bosco

"Every education teaches a philosophy; if not by dogma then by suggestion, by implication, by atmosphere. Every part of that education has a connection with every other part. If it does not all combine to convey some general view of life, it is not education at all." 

~~ G.K. Chesterton, 

The Common Man (thanks to Saint of the Day)

"There are plenty of ways to practice mortification! Just patiently endure cold, heat, sickness, troubles, people, happenings, and so forth."

~~ St. John Bosco

"Enjoy yourself as much as you like --  if only you keep from sin."
~~ St. John Bosco

When I Was a Pro-Choice Atheist ... Part 3

Opening with the same old thing ... Because I know that some of my friends' kids sometimes read my blog, I'll start with the same caveat I used in the last post: If you're young enough that your mother ever says, "That topic is a little too mature for you," please click away now or go ask your mom or dad to preview this post for you.

Part 1 of this series is here
Part 2 is here 

I finished the last post with this:

Arguments about the baby, a right to life, fetal pain ... they bounced off me when I was twenty years old and obsessed with working out the details of what 20th century sexual freedom meant.

Working out the meaning of freedom was clearly central to my position. Because I accepted premarital sex and birth control as givens, everything proceeded from those givens: "If I choose to have sex, and choose to use birth control but my birth control fails, the only way to remain free (i.e., to continue with my life as I have envisioned and structured it) is to remove the pregnancy from the picture." Period. End of story. If I did not have access to abortion, I couldn't do that. And anyone proceeding from the opposite premise ("You shouldn't have been having sex in the first place!") lost me. I wrote them off as religious fanatics. They lived an entirely different morality than I did.

And that leads to one of my main points: the abortion debate is often framed in religious terms (Nat Hentoff is a notable exception.) Arguing for a right to life, and for the dignity of the human person because he is created in the image and likeness of God ... got you nowhere with me. I didn't believe in God. (Note the "Keep your theology off my biology" chants at counter-protests during the March for Life.) It was just like when a Christian tried to convince me that Jesus was my Lord because the Bible said so. Whoa, I'd reply -- first you have to convince me that the Bible is worth believing in to start with. Such circular arguments struck me as ridiculous. If I didn't believe in your version of God, I wasn't going to accept your version of the way I should live my life.

I was not a Christian. You could not make Christian arguments against abortion and expect me to accept them. Since we were living out different moralities and had battling worldviews, I thought that my opponents on the issue would never understand why a woman might need an abortion. There was no point in talking to them.  I saw them as hypocrites ("Where's the Christian love?") and louts without compassion.

For many who hold a prolife position, it may sound absurd to characterize a pro-choice position as compassionate, but that's exactly what I (and many of my friends) did. We saw ourselves as the compassionate ones -- we cared about women. We cared about the fear that accompanied an unexpected pregnancy. We cared about the financial inability to care for a child. We cared about the health concerns that might make carrying a baby to term precarious or impossible.

But what about the baby, you say?

Indeed. What about the baby? As I've said before, the baby wasn't on my radar screen. (I hadn't yet examined arguments about the baby's development, though those kinds of arguments did eventually have an impact on me.) But it's important to understand that I saw my position as rational, loving, and supportive of women. I did not see myself as advancing the cause of killing babies. You may laugh at my self-deception, but that was where I stood. I felt compassion for women in crisis pregnancies. I now see it as a tragically misguided compassion that failed to take into account the third person in the equation (the first two being the mother and the father), but it was an honest and sincere compassion and I believe that is still where many people fall in the pro-choice spectrum. 

It's important to think about this when we who are pro-life talk to our friends who are pro-choice. To acknowledge that level of compassion and then build on it is much more helpful than labeling someone a murderer. Because -- and I realize that I'm sharing only my own past experience and I can't speak for all who are pro-choice -- once you condemn someone as a baby killer (or as a supporter of baby killing) they will stop listening to you. 

Especially if they've had an abortion themselves or they love someone who has. 

~~~~~

Part 4 is here.
Part 5 is here.

Head Over to As Cozy As Spring for a Book Giveaway

Jennifer has a review today of Women, Sex and the Church, by Erika Bachiochi.

Not only does she offer up a great review, she's also offering the chance to win the book. Head over to the post (linked above) and leave a comment for her, and you'll have a chance to win!

My Souvenir from the Musical

The kids love to sign each other's t-shirts. Since I was wearing a sweater I'd prefer to keep signature-free, I let them sign me:

Pardon Me While I Indulge in Some Post-Performance Letdown ....

Or is it elation?

If you've ever been in a play, helped with one, directed one, or been a mom who was recruited to act as if you know what you're doing, then you know what I mean. You're tired, you're happy, you're proud and you're ready.

Last night when I went to bed, the only things left on my Youth Choir Musical To-Do List were, "Return costumes to Mr. H. [who did a load of work himself] ... turn in receipts ... have glass of wine."  

Because in the preceding weeks/months, I had successfully crossed off:

• Pretend to be a choreographer

• Dream up goofy moves (with enormous help from my daughters) for eight songs and 32 kids

• Teach goofy moves to 32 kids in record time due to scheduling blip 

• Add Waiting for Guffman to Netflix queue 

• Pray with my kids every night for success of show

• Have dream that stage is unavailable on show night and that we must perform the musical in my dining room. 

• Thank God for showing my kids how He answers prayers (i.e., the day we prayed before we headed to Goodwill that we'd find the right supplies ... and we found exactly the right fabric for two "Joseph's-Coat-of-Many-Colors." Two of them. We found the goblet. We found the 17 ball caps we needed. We found fabric for all the brothers' hats ... God and Goodwill are good.) 

• Marvel at how lovely people are: great kids, great families, great moms and dads who come bearing peanut butter sandwiches, stage make-up, and a willingness to do whatever tasks we assign them

• Thank God  for success of show. He always comes through. 

And so did these guys:

                                                     

                              

When I Was a Pro-Choice Atheist ... Part 2

Because I know that some of my friends' kids sometimes read my blog, I'll start with the same caveat I used in the last post:

If you're young enough that your mother ever says, "That topic is a little too mature for you," please click away now or go ask your mom or dad to preview this post for you.

~~~~~

In Part 1, I said:

The bottom line for me was that a woman should have the right to decide for herself what to do with her sexuality, her body, and -- if her contraception failed -- her pregnancy.

My pro-choice position arose from what I saw as a civil rights issue. Women, I believed, must have as much freedom and autonomy as men do. Anything else was unjust.

I still believe that. But I have a deeper understanding now of what authentic freedom is.

Back then, I thought of "freedom" as "the right to do whatever I want, whenever I desire, with whomever I choose, however I choose it." That was the male modus operandi (or so I thought) and in order to gain equal footing, women needed the same choices and the same freedoms.

I took exception to traditional notions of gender roles. Why were women perceived as sexual gatekeepers, while men were never blamed for constant conquering, since boys will be boys? The many derogatory names for sexually active women had no counterparts in the male world. I found the assumption that women were somehow more naturally virtuous grating. I felt no more virtuous than the guy sitting next to me in my History of Film class. Why should we not all be allowed the same freedoms, without the name calling? (And not just in the sexual arena, of course. The same was true in the work world. Ambitious women were -- and still are -- called names quite different from the cheering labels ambitious men receive. )

When the abortion question was framed by these parameters, it made sense to me to be pro-choice. It was about rights and freedom. It was about independence. It was about getting out from under the constraints of being the sexual gatekeeper. I wanted it all ... or at least, I wanted the freedom to choose whatever part of "all" I wanted, in the same way I saw men choose. I wanted control.

Notice the "I, I, I" of my definition. It was all about me and what I wanted, just as (I noticed, little by little) the men I held up as my models of social and sexual freedom tended to make the world all about them. 

But what about a higher ideal? What about those people -- men and women -- who approached the world from a different perspective? What of the human beings who, before considering themselves, considered their responsibility (to themselves, their ideals, and other people) rather than proceeding from an assumption of the right to unrestrained action?

When I met people who lived their lives in that way, when I began to see the possibilities of that kind of world, my views began to change.

And do you see how, in all of my previous musings, I hadn't yet even dug into the territory of the reality or nature of the baby? And that's why I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all argument to the pro-life position.*  Because until we know why the person we're talking to is pro-choice, we can't know how our reasoning will be received. Arguments about the baby, a right to life, fetal pain ... they bounced off me when I was twenty years old and obsessed with working out the details of what 20th century sexual freedom meant.

I had to start at a much more foundational place of basic human ethics and responsibility.

~~~~~
*That's not to say there aren't steadfast truths -- abortion is intrinsically, objectively wrong. There is a right to life.  But I do believe culpability can vary wildly within individual circumstances of abortion in a confused and murky world.

~~~~~

Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Quick Reviews: Books Worth Reading from 2010 -- The Mom Edition

Small Steps for Catholic Moms by Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss

I had the honor of peeking in on this one last spring, pre-publication, but then my endorsement got lost in cyberspace! Ack! If you find said endorsement floating around out there, you'll see that I heartily recommended Small Steps.

It encourages us -- busy mothers -- to use our minds, our , and our hands -- every day, in  small ways, in the pursuit of our vocation. A heartening, schedule-friendly book that will boost a mom's spirits on the bad days and help her to fly even higher on the good ones.

The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul

She's The Original Dot Com Catholic Mom! Lisa Hendey was the Catholic Blogging Mom before Catholic Blogging Moms were cool. Who doesn't need to sip a cup of coffee and some of her wisdom?
 

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle's newest book, A Catholic Woman's Book of Prayers is another great "take along" book. Substantial, prayerful, but slim and easy to keep in your purse. You can always count on Donna-Marie when you need a Mom-Boost.

On the Feast of St. Francis de Sales

From last year's post (and the year before ... some posts just can't be improved) on St. Francis de Sales:

~~~~~~~~~~

Quotes from St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of writers:

"Every moment comes to us pregnant with a command from God, only to pass on and plunge into eternity, there to remain forever what we have made of it."

"Oh what remorse we shall feel at the end of our lives, when we look back upon the great number of instructions and examples afforded by God and the Saints for our perfection, and so carelessly received by us! If this end were to come to you today, how would you be pleased with the life you have led this year?"

"Some say it is unreasonable to be courteous and gentle with a reckless person who insults you for no reason at all. I have made a pact with my tongue; not to speak when my heart is disturbed."

"Lord, I am yours,
and I must belong to no one but you.
My soul is yours,
and must live only by you.
My will is yours,
and must love only for you.
I must love you as my first cause,
since I am from you.
I must love you as my end and rest,
since I am for you.
I must love you more than my own being,
since my being subsists by you.
I must love you more than myself,
since I am all yours and all in you.
Amen."

And, look at this!

Daily de Sales!

I peeked ahead to my birthday, and found this incredible quote:

"You recognize thousands of imperfections and failings in yourself, contrary to your desire for purity and perfect love of God. In reply I say that it is not possible to avoid all of these. While we live on this earth, we have to put up with ourselves, until the day that God takes us to Heaven. Meanwhile, we can do no more than to keep a close watch on ourselves, and be patient. How can we correct in one day defects that we have contracted by our prolonged lack of diligence? Sometimes God has healed a person in an instant, without leaving a trace of his previous spiritual sickness. But in so many others He has left the scars of their conversion, for the greater benefit of their souls." (Letters 277; O. XIII, p. 19)

When I Was a Pro-Choice Atheist ... Part 1

Today is the annual March for Life.

I've been sitting here trying to decide what to write. I think I know where this may go, so if you're young enough that your mother often says, "That topic is a little too mature for you," please click away now or go ask your mom or dad to preview this post for you.

I was pro-choice for a long time. I attended rallies, manned tables to gather signatures, marched in marches. I remember asking Bob Kerrey, when he visited our college campus, about his thoughts on abortion (I was troubled that he was too pro-life at the time; funny that we're now on opposite sides of the fence.)

I was pro-choice from the time I was a teen until I was 30 years old. The bottom line for me was that a woman should have the right to decide for herself what to do with her sexuality, her body, and -- if her contraception failed -- her pregnancy.

The contraception was taken for granted. It made sense. To delay or prevent pregnancy within a marriage, to prevent pregnancy outside of marriage .... if one was going to have sex, one needed reliable contraception, and if one's reliable contraception failed, one needed access to safe and legal abortion. Because we'd already decided that the sex would happen. We just needed to deal with the consequences of the sex.

And this leads me to a moment I vividly recall -- considering one of the consequences of sex. A child. I remember sitting in the little rental house in which Atticus and I lived at the time. I can see the ugly, green carpet on the living room floor. I remember saying to Atticus, out loud, for the first time, testing the words: "I don't think ... that people ... unless they're ready to deal with the possibility of getting pregnant ... unless they're ready to deal responsibly with a child ... should have sex."

Monumental. Those words represented a seismic mental shift. It seemed, given my background and former philosophy, almost savage and primitive, uncivilized, to say -- to even think -- such a thing. And yet I had come to believe it.

I was no longer "just" pro-life. To be pro-life had come to mean to me that if one became pregnant, one shouldn't abort. This new belief was bigger and scarier than that. I was saying that only married people should have sex. I still believed in contraception -- I was several years away from becoming a Catholic -- and was proceeding from the premise that if two people were married and their contraception failed they would at least have each other and some stability to offer their unexpected baby.

This new perspective felt so unbelievably old-fashioned, prudish, silly and impossible that I couldn't believe I was embracing it. And yet it made sense. A new kind of sense that scared me.

It made sense -- it mattered -- that if a new human being was created during a sexual encounter, the two people who created that being had a responsibility to it.  It was suddenly about more than the sex.

And yet, in this world in which a March for Life must exist, the arguments often  come back to sex. We have a right to child-free sex, we think, and if the sex ends up cheating us by producing a baby, then we have a right to revert to the child-free part of that equation.

That's the fight: not whether or not the baby is human, or fully formed, or viable or any of that. Usually, it's about the sex.

This is not to minimize the pain of abortion. An abortion takes not only the baby's life but the life of the mother's soul. And that's a part of the deal that so many don't want to talk about.

(to be continued ....)

~~~~~

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Quote for a Sunday

 "God, in his mercy, does not tell us everything our yes will mean. Most likely, Mary did not understand  everything her yes would mean. She had much to ponder; however, she still gave God permission to work in and through her life as he saw fit. Like Mary, we don't have to know everything our yes will mean; we just have to yield ourselves, trusting God." 

~~ Kimberly Hahn, quoted in Through the Year With Mary: 365 Reflections

Lord, let me say “yes” without counting the cost. 

Then, help me to bear the cost for Your sake.

Do Ya Think We Rely a Little Too Much on the Internet?

I laughed so hard when Anne-with-an-e told me this:

Anne: Mom, last night I dreamed that you couldn't eat pizza because the internet told you that you couldn't. You were on the computer and you got a message saying, "Error ... you are not allowed to access this food."

Me: Huh? 

Anne: In my dream. You told us that you did not have access to eating pizza. Then you got on the computer and Googled, "When can I eat pizza again?"

Poetry Friday: Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House

Aaaaahhhh, Billy Collins.

It's been awhile, and I just needed a fix. 

Happy Poetry Friday!

Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House 
by Billy Collins

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,

and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven

(Read the rest of the poem here.)

The round up today is at A Teaching Life.

Why I Save Old Writing Magazines

Because sometimes one just needs a brainstorming session:

Anne-with-an-e craved just such a session to ignite some new story ideas. She found a list of writing warm-ups in an old issue of The Writer.

The timer started ticking and Anne pounded out a list of settings. Here's what she came up with. Have fun with yours!

1. A secret (government?) lab

2. An assisted living home

3. A hospital

4. A mental institution

5. Another planet

6. The future

7. 1940’s Europe

8. A submarine

9. A bakery

10. Another country

11. Pioneer times

12. The Great Depression

13. A pizza parlor

14. An ice cream parlor

15. Early 20th century

16. A forest

17. An island

18. A grocery store

19. The year you were born

20. The Civil War

21. A factory

22. A farm

23. A vet clinic

24. A school

25. A zoo

26. An operating room

27. An old attic

28. A mechanic’s shop

29. An apartment shared by two best friends

30. A convent

31. A monastery

32. A church

33. The 1700’s

34. A photography studio

35. A mansion

36. A castle

37. A national landmark

38. Your family’s vehicle

39. A classroom

40. A fancy restaurant

41. A family reunion

42. Backstage before/after/during a play

43. An alien spaceship

44. A big city

45. A writer’s house

46. A ship/cruise ship

47. A historical event

48. Your grandparent’s house

49. A back/front yard

50. A police station

51. A TV/movie studio

52. A space shuttle

53. A scary basement

54. A newspaper printing place

55. An abandoned warehouse

56. A kidnapper’s hideout

57. An orphanage

58. A tenement apartment

59. A subway/train/bus station

60. A courtroom

61. A small town

62. A poor village

63. A haunted house

64. Prehistoric times

65. Another universe

66. A quarantined town

67. The cell of a wrongly convicted criminal

68. An animal shelter

69. A Native American village

70. A doctor’s office

71. A counselor's office

72. A microscopic world

73. A cave

74. A jungle

75. The ocean

76. An opera house

77. A marine biology station

78. A politician's office

79. Hollywood

80. A residential treatment center

81. An apple orchard

82. A gold/silver/jewel mine

83. A movie theater

84. A desert

85. The Savannah

86. A knitting club

87. A book group

88. An artist’s studio

89. A shoe store

90. A park/playground

91. A fast-food place

92. Heaven

93. An old house in the British countryside

94. Jumanji (haha, fanfiction!)

95. The roof of an old building

96. A skyscraper

97. A garden

98. A waiting room

99 .An epidemic

100. An earthquake

101. A flood

102. An avalanche

103. A video game

104. A parking lot

105. The Pyramids

Have You Seen This Little Girl Spin a Yarn?

Atticus sent me this link today. This little girl is priceless.  Her storytelling reminds me of the way my girls used to tell me tales that went on and on and on. And I listened, because they were so cute and interesting. This sweetie is, too.

I think my favorite part is the croc-o-deel. 

Edmisten, Inc. Is a Nonprofit Pro-play Group (or, "I Didn't Know I Was Part of a Movement")

I know that we homeschoolers can seem a bit on the fringe of "normal."  I know we can be weirdly different or differently weird.

On the other hand, sometimes we're cutting edge. Consider this article: Effort to Restore Children's Play Gains Momentum.

I wasn't sure: was I reading an actual news piece? Or something from The Onion? Some excerpts from the article:

"Ms. Wilson has embraced a growing movement to restore the sometimes-untidy business of play to the lives of children."
...

"But advocates are now starting to reach out to parents, recognizing that for the movement to succeed, parental attitudes must evolve as well — starting with a willingness to tolerate a little more unpredictability in children’s schedules and a little less structure at home."
...

“'I think more than anything, adults are a little fearful of children’s play,' said Joan Almon, executive director of the Alliance for Childhood, a nonprofit pro-play group."

...

"Ms. Rosker has also campaigned, although unsuccessfully, to bring recess to her son’s elementary school."

Hey, "Untidy" is my middle name. (And my Confirmation name is Recess.) My mantra is "a little less structure at home." 

I know I'm out of touch with the world of school when an article like this surprises me, but more than anything, it saddens me. No recess? At all? Of course I'm aware of the changes in the world that affect child rearing, and I know parents who seem ruled by their children's organized sports or activity schedules. They often lament it but seldom take steps to change it, as if it simply has to be that way.

It doesn't. We are free agents; we can choose our parenting methods. We can say no to constant structure. We can say no to pushing kids into growing up too fast, leaving play behind too soon.  We can say no to those nasty real estate agents on HGTV who act as if a home strewn with toys is akin to a toxic waste dump.

We once had a priest friend over and he sweetly labeled my living room (which at the time still housed the Little Tikes kitchen) a pleasant combination of "Catholicism, culture, and kids." I loved that. I want to keep it that way.

As long as there is a child in this house, there will be play and messes. Don't get me wrong -- like everyone else, I have my days when I just want everything picked up. I have been known to lecture that my organizational skills have allowed me to create "a place for everything so that everything may be in its place."  But, such organizational skills are meant to make clean up easier. They are not meant to forbid play.

And when my daughters have all grown up, I'll still embrace my messy house if it means my grandchildren are creating the couch-cushion-fort of the century.

Ramona's room, after she's been playing who-knows-what.

How I Spent My Saturday

With five teenage girls, 17 baseball caps, numerous pieces of fabric, countless bits of fun foam, a package full of ribbons, a can of spray paint, and a glue gun:

We have now handled the head covering needs of a number of Israelites and Egyptians. Fortunately for me (and the five teenage girls), only seventeen of our cast of 32 require headcoverings.

Can you believe I bought my first glue gun just five years ago? Though I sometimes long for the days when I didn't know glue guns existed, I do have to confess that it's a lot of fun to see these shows come together. And kudos to my girls and their friends for their hat-designing talents!

Poetry Friday: They've Got a Language All Their Own, Those Guys

I saw this poem the other day and it made me think of my refrigerator repairmen. Awhile back, we had to replace our fridge, which had abruptly decided to stop chilling. There was no cure available worth paying for, so I ran to the store, bought a new one (a discounted floor model) and had it delivered the next day before all our food spoiled.

A few days later, I noticed that cold air was escaping the seal at the top of the freezer.  I called the dealer and they sent a repairman. He was here a few minutes, said he fixed it, and was on his way. A few days later, I noticed that we still had cold-air-escapage. I called the dealer again.

This time, they sent two guys. And I have to tell you, these guys bowled me over.

They looked at the door. They talked (in a language all their own). They investigated. They questioned me. They tried this. They tried that. They moved something. They checked to see if the fridge door was doing the same thing the freezer door was. (It was.)  They talked a bit more in their secret language:

"What if ... ?"
"No."
"Yeah. But, hey, it could be that it's ..."
"I was just gonna say the same thing. Try that."
"Okay."
"Do you think ..."
"Yup."
"Left?"
"No, right."
"Up."
{Grunt.}
"Yeah."
{Grunt.}
"Uh-uh. Try to ..."
"I know! Yeah!"
"That should do it!"
"Only if ..."
"I know. But if we ..."
"Yeah. That'd work."
{Grunt.}

And after proper investigation, patient toil, and the application of techniques I did not even know existed and could never imitate, my refrigerator and freezer doors worked perfectly.

There is something exquisite about watching a master at work.

Gary Johnson knows it, and gives workers of all kinds their due. Be sure to click over and read the whole poem.

Good Workers

by Gary Johnson

Let us praise good workers (you know who you are)
Who come gladly to the job and do what you can
For as long as it takes to repair the car
Or clean the house – the woman or man
Who dives in and works steadily straight through,
Not lagging and letting others carry the freight,
Who joke around but do what you need to do,


(Read the rest of the poem here, at The Writer's Almanac.)


Laura Salas has the round up today at Writing the World for Kids.

I'm channeling Corky St. Clair

The last time I directed the youth choir musical, I did the same thing. (In that post, though, I elevated my delusions to a Stanislavsky-esque level. I think I'm a bit more accurate with the Corky comparison.)

Last night, after making a couple of signs we'll be using as props, I showed them to Anne-with-an-e and Atticus.

"How do these look?" I asked.

"They look fine," said Atticus.

"They look fine," said Anne.

"Really?" I asked. "Because I think they look a little sloppy. Do you think they look sloppy?"

"They look fine," said Atticus.

"They look fine," said Anne.

"Hmmmm," I said. "Because I'm thinking of letting my Ocd side kick in, and redoing them, so that they'll look perfect."

"Karen," said Atticus, oh-so-patiently, "this is not a Broadway production. It's a church play. No one's expecting perfection."

Yeah. So. Okay.

I left the signs and moved on to making sure my glue gun still works. We have Pharoah-hat-making techniques to perfect, you know.

Books Worth Reading -- 2010: Mare's War (Win a book!)

If we didn't already have this book, I'd be entering in the next ten seconds. We love Tanita Davis. Fortunately for you, I already own it and so will remain here to blog about how you can get it. For free.

You can win a free copy of Mare's War  just by being one of the first 25 people to leave her a comment and drop her a note. And, if you miss the "first 25" deadline, you'll still have a chance to win through some additional random drawings.

Go to this post at Tanita's blog to get all the contest details.

And the other day she announced the new unit study she put together to accompany the book. I had the fun and privilege of getting a sneak peek at her ideas.

And what timing -- Just as I was thinking, "Anne and Betsy would love to do some of this stuff," Ramona approached me with her latest request. She was remembering some of the World War II books we read aloud a few years back. She doesn't remember them in detail, and wants to hear them again. She has already presented me with Snow Treasure and Twenty and Ten.  So, I know what period in history we're going to revisit. I'll be looking for some other suggestions, too, to add new stuff to my older girls' reading lists. 

Enough about me! Go enter the contest!

And, just for fun, and because I love this 31-second clip, you can go here to hear Tanita talking about her name.

Poetry Friday: The Vocabulary of Sickness

I've been sick with ickiness all week. Last night it broke, I think, and the attendant conversations prompted this poem (though I use the term loosely and with apologies to all true poets.)


The Vocabulary of Sickness 
by me

"Something broke
in my head,"
I said
to my family,
as I stared
into space.
"Oh, no!" they replied,
staring intently
at my vacant eyes.

"No! In a good way!" I clarified,
returning to firm ground
and shaking clear
the broken parts.
"The cold,
I mean,
or this flu,
or whatever this is,
is breaking.
That's what I meant.
When I said 'broke.'"

"Oooooh," they said,
breathing
a collective sigh
of loving relief. 
"Good." Nodding.
"That is good."

And later when
my children asked again,
"How do you feel, Mom?"
I said,
after a searching pause,
"I feel ...
as if
I might
feel better ...
tomorrow.
If
that
makes sense."

"It does!" said my oldest.
"I know just what you mean!"

"Yes!" said my middle, "yes, so do I!"

"Poor Mommy," said my youngest. 

And so it goes
with
everyday
sickness.
Broken.
Breaking.
Broke.
Better.
Maybe.
Tomorrow.

Poor Mommy is rich
in worried looks, 
tender sighs,
a soft pillow.

Tomorrow is here.

 ~~~~~

The Poetry Friday round up is at Live. Love. Explore!

Quick Reviews: Books Worth Reading -- 2010 (The Doubter's Edition)

A Doubters Novena: Nine Steps to Trust With the Apostle Thomas, by Mike Aquilina and Christopher Bailey 

Reading an Aquilina book is, for me, like taking a class from a favorite professor. I always learn something, always enjoy the presentation, and I always close the final page edified. 

As Bailey and Aquilina teach you some history and guide you in prayer, they will also help you take heart in the doubts and faith of the apostle who said (as they quote JPII as noting), "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." (Jn 11:16)

When's God Gonna Call Me Back? Reconnecting With Your Creator, by Marge Fenelon

I really appreciated the honesty of this book. Fenelon allows the stories of those who have drifted away from or actively left the Catholic Church to be simply and directly told. She lets her contributors vent, explain, remember, commiserate. She carefully but charitably shares the unflagging teachings of the Church, includes supporting Scriptures as food for thought, and offers questions for discussion. If you struggle with the Church, or know someone who does, this book may offer some much needed and charitable kindness, support, and information.

Relevant Radio and the Liturgical Year

I'm on Relevant Radio's Morning Air show today (Monday, January 3rd, 7:30 a.m. central time.) We're chatting about the liturgical year so I wanted to pull together a few of the many wonderful resources that are available to help us observe and celebrate:

• for Advent and the Christmas season: O Night Divine 

• Alice Gunther's liturgical teas, spoon saints, and every other craft she's ever done

• CatholicMom.com

• A Continual Feast, the book (by Evelyn Birge Vitz) and the blog (a family affai

• Catholic Culture

• Ann Ball's Catholic Traditions in Cooking and her Catholic Traditions in the Home and Classroom: 365 Days to Celebrate a Catholic Year

• Catholic Cuisine 

• Catholic Daily Planners

Observing the liturgical year doesn't have to be complicated or intimidating. Sometimes links such as the above sites and books can be overwhelming if you're just dipping into such efforts.  We have worked our way slowly into many of our observances, incorporating things that we like, discarding what we don't, hanging onto activities and ideas that work for us. But some things will always be beyond my desire and/or capability, and that's fine, too. Choosing what's doable for your family is key. Sometimes what's doable is a sumptuous feast. Other times, it's as simple as a candy bar, a prayer or reading a short bio on a child's saint/name day.

Happy Tenth Day of Christmas!

(Image thanks to ImageChef.com) 

P.S. Jennifer, in the comments, mentioned Women for Faith & Family, another great resource. My list above is just a sprinkling, off the top of my head -- feel free to mention your own favorite resources in the comments!

Quick Reviews: Books Worth Reading -- 2010

Starting with just a couple, and I'll keep adding to this series of posts:

I received a review copy of Catholic Controversies, by Stephen Gabriel. This is an impressive collection of essays. Atticus and I have both been reading it; we find ourselves pointing out interesting and illuminating bits to one another. A variety of authors address difficult and commonly misunderstood doctrines of the Catholic Church. Evolution, Galileo, the Inquisition, the Protestant Reformation, women and the Church, natural law, stem cell research -- solid,fascinating, readable apologetics on these topics and many more. I'll be using this one with my daughters.

Walking Together : Discovering the Catholic Tradition of Spiritual Friendship, by Mary DeTurris Poust, was a Christmas present from Atticus. I read it yesterday and found it so touching and encouraging. If Mary DeTurris Poust did not have such a clear personal understanding of what a spiritual friendship is, she may not have been able to write such a lovely book about it. Interweaving accounts of saintly friendships with her own experiences (including a lovely tribute to her mother, who was also her dear friend), DeTurris Poust has written an uplifting book that will lead you -- if you don't already have such cherished soulmates -- to seek out what she describes. Though Mary and I have connected briefly online professionally, Walking Together made me want to invite her over for coffee and get to know her much, much better.