The War on Women

Took another sick son to the doctors today. After his assessment, the pediatrician asked my son, "Which do you prefer, liquid or pills?" The child look back at him, thought for a moment and said, "What color is the liquid?" (because if it were the yucky white augmentin he did NOT want it). I was thinking about his response to the doctor. He did not respond or make a decision immediately. He gathered information first, considered the information and then gave his answer. To me, that is a wise way of forming an answer, and seems plausible that most people would want to do the same thing. But I know most people are not doing this same thing. Because they really do not want too much information, just certain information. They want to hear that birth control pills prevents ovarian cancer. They do not want to hear any negative effects from the pill. They want to think the "procedure" will allow them to get on with their life as it is, they certainly do not want to see a picture of the living baby inside their belly on a screen!  Too much information is too much information. Too much to have to then decide. Better to not know what is going on, get things over with as quickly as possible and go about business as usual. And then stay very very busy with a lot of noise and distractions or maybe even parties, to never have to think about it.

What Not To Do In the Line At A CVS Pharmacy

 Late Friday afternoon, I went to pick up my son's antibiotic.  Everyone else in all of Harrisburg must have been sick because the line for prescriptions was backed up way into the next isle. Two of the three cashiers were preoccupied with insurance or prescription problems which left only one cashier to handle all of these people. She had to mix the meds, verify with the pharmacist and then check everyone out. She was very busy and the line was getting longer. Two toddlers were chasing each other and were knocking stuff off the shelves, a lady kept coughing, another lady was having a conversation on her cell phone. Not pretty. It was just one long line of people, annoyed it seemed at not only the wait but the whole world. All crabby. The  person who started the line left a wide space in front of the register, and waited a little back in the isle. I guess to allow for privacy and everyone after that just followed suit, and too waited away from the register. There was a huge gap between the line of people and the check out. Well, some guy in a business suit came to the pharmacy by way of another isle and was not aware of the people line or unwritten pharmacy etiquette, and as soon as the customer got her medicine, he went right up to the lone cashier and said, "I am here to pick up a prescription for Miller." The crowd went wild!  Suddenly everyone had energy and it was aimed at this guy. Loud grumbling. The cashier said, "Sir, the line is there." And the poor guy innocently turned around to see a mob behind him and realized what he did. He just bowed and said, "Oh, I am sorry, I am sorry.."  and kept backing up.  He never went to the end of that line. He probably ran.

 

 

What Is It About The Hunger Games?

I tried to read at home. I saw the dust on the piano. The fingerprints on the window. I heard the dryer finish. The door bell rang. Endless distractions, that distracted me from reading! I devised a brilliant strategy...I would read while exercising at the gym. I go faithfully, 5 times a week, at a time when the gym is least crowded and I can use a cardio machine for 70 minutes. And read. So happily! In the past 2 months I have read Uncle Toms Cabin, Catholicism, Jane Austin, The Lives of The Saints.  I am very happy with the arrangement. I smile and wave to the other people in the gym, they smile and nod back, we say how are you? we say good how are you? and I happily open my book and read. Loving everything about this! Well, my youngest son is bookish like me. But he is not bothered one bit by the dust and reads books at an incredible pace, going through one book after another. He wants to read The Hunger Games. In our house we try to shelter our kids as much as possible from the world. We try. They watch less than an hour of TV a week! and have never seen stuff like MTV, it's blocked. The Internet has so many parental controls sometimes even simple searches are hindered. We research movies before they watch them and also controversial books. When we read the reviews for The Hunger Games, most of the recommendations were against young children reading it. I had to read the book myself to decide. So yesterday, I got on the same EFX machine I got on 3 other days this week and opened The Hunger Games. A friend of a friend I met at a party last Saturday came up to tell me about how much she loved this book, all 3 books in fact.   My husbands basketball buddy came up to tell me how he read this book on a plane, an old play group mom came to tell me how her sons pipe broke and when she read the books, a woman I never said one word to came up to me and told me how in her native India she only read British books so this book was different for her, my husbands partner told me how his wife read the book while doing a missionary trip in Haiti.  This was the strangest thing!  All totaled 8 different people came up to tell me about their experiences with The Hunger Games. None of these same people said more than a few words to me while I was reading all my other books. And now all of a sudden they want book club discussions. So strange! I could not explain this herd behavior and thought about it all night....what is it about The Hunger Games?

I Can't Even Make This Stuff Up

 Yesterday in school, the 4th graders were working in groups and my son said to the kids in his group, "This problem seems impossible!" And his friend next to him said, "Nothing is impossible when you don't try."  My son said, "What does that mean?" The response, "Just that, nothing is impossible when you don't try."  My son said, " It doesn't make any sense, do you mean everything is impossible when you don't try?"  And the kid said, " No, nothing is impossible when you don't try."  The teacher was making rounds checking on the groups. The group told the teacher the quote and asked what that meant. And the teacher said, "Oh, always do your best." My son was confused about this all day, and came home and told me.  I had the same reaction as he did, and the same confusion. Then last night the baseball coach was giving a pre game pep talk and my son asked the coach in the huddle what he thought that meant.  And the coach said, "Yes. Just like he said, never give up."

What Happens When Kids Go To The Dentist Alone

That was yesterday. I found out they didn't have school at 10pm the night before, when they were all making plans to have friends over. I told them they had dentist appts I couldn't cancel, so the friends would have to go home by 3:30. The friends were not gone by 3:30. So now, I would have to just drop them off at the dentist, it was only a cleaning anyway, I would go back home with the kids that were still there, and they can call me when they were done. There were about 8 10 yr olds playing baseball in the yard. And the older kids who were embarrassed that their friends went to the dentist and left them to wait, were trying to be invisible in the garage. When I arrived at the dentist, it is only 3 minutes away, the boys were waiting. The 12 yr old ran into the van. Something was up. Then the 13 yr old said I have to go in the office, they want to talk to me. He came in the office with me and was laughing, mostly I think because he knew his brother was scared and hiding in the van. He was laughing and taking pictures of the ceiling with his phone. I have a pleasant relationship with the staff and they know our family well. They run a tight schedule. Methodical. All business. Drill, fill, bill. Serious. I stood before them and pointed my finger up to the sky. They didn't say a word, but looked up too. And burst out laughing. On the ceiling was my son's sticky spider prize, that he threw up in the air and stuck to the ceiling.  Just dangling by 4 legs.  So out of place in this sterile office, they HAD to laugh.

Wordless Wednesday

Airbrushing ... how do you think this affects us?

Why I Have A Stash

 me, "When are all these kids going home?"
 kid, "Oh, not for a long time. I told them all they could stay for dinner."

Girls Will Be Girls

We had 3 daughters in 2 1/2 years. Busy!  And I was shocked every time my husband was the the butt of jokes from his fraternity "brothers" about his unfortunate situation.  Made me determined that my girls would be able to always land on their feet and stand on their own two feet. They would not be pushovers, but would be strong and confident and capable. They were girley girls all the way...sparkles, princesses, glitter everywhere, but they were not going to be sissies. They would not cry in baseball.  So when my young daughter was playing and planting her garden she was not afraid to get her pink gloves dirty. She discovered a whole colony of earth worms...and collected them in a plastic rinsed out ice cream container.  Everyday she would care for her worms...keep the worms in the shade and keep the soil moist. She named the worms. One day I heard crying.  My other daughter was standing by the worms, crying those big crocodile tears..she wanted a worm collection too.  I explained to my daughter who had the collection it was also in her best interest to share, and she should think about this and try to figure something out.  The daughter that wanted the worms was in agreement with this perspective and stopped crying. I went back in the house and I didn't hear any more crying. The girls were both happy. My daughter split every worm in half.

The Birds Nest and Earth Day

She was persistent. And noisy. And early. Trying to build her nest on my front door wreath. Finally I just took the wreath down, and put it in the garage by our nest collection.  I brought one nest inside to show the boys. They were all together, sitting at the table. I held up the nest. And told them, "Just look at this complete nest. The mom bird made this for her babies. She had to get each and very twig. One by one. With her mouth. To make this perfect nest for her babies." They all looked again at the nest. I could tell by their posture and silence they were thinking. About the mom bird. About creatures. About moms. About God.

Some Things Never Change

My last 4 boys came int this world each weighing 7lbs 7oz.  Pretty remarkable really, like a set weight point!  Pretty remarkable too how much they are the same in so many other ways.  I can count on each of them saying the exact same thing, "It wasn't me."

Wordless Wednesday

How To Get Your All of Your Kids To Go On Family Vacation

pay for it.

Do You Belong to a Subculture?

We  first noticed this idea when our family rented an RV and went to Canada. We met many people who live in RV's.  We had no idea so many people did this! Made us think about the Florida snow birds. Then we started to think of other groups....daily communicants, writers, volunteers, marathon runners, military families, travel sports teams....practice ALL year round with tournaments every other weekend in the off seasons. More than a hobby, or a job, it is like a culture with members who share a common passion for what they do. A way of life. Do you belong to a subculture?

Coaching Girls Basketball

It was nearing the end of a successful CYO basketball season. My husband was the head coach. The 4th grade girls were lined around the lane, waiting for the shooter to shoot a foul shot.  My husband reminded the players, "Box out!  Get the rebound!"  One girl looked back at him.  And shook her head no, and mouthed the words, " I can't. I am on offense."

Wordless Wednesday

What do you see?

My Son Luke and The Blessed Virgin Mary

Today is my 7th child's 12 year old birthday..in a few hours 28 more 12 year old boys will be descending upon my house for the ultimate air soft war birthday party. It is the easiest party a mom can have!
I will tell you the story about this son...
Our church has a ministry called The Rosa Mystica traveling statute ministry. Parishioners bring this  statue of Mary into our homes to honor, not worship, Our Lady for 3 days, saying unique prayers during those 3 days. It is a beautiful statue, and looks beautiful anywhere in a house. Well, we had this statue in our house 12 years ago. (We have since gotten our own Rosa Mystica statue). I was wrapping the statue to bring it back to the rectory on a Saturday morning and my husband said to me, "Where are you going with that?" and I told him. He said, "Oh, I wish we could keep it longer, I had a dream about Mary and that statue last night."  I said, "What? What do you mean? There is no such thing as a dream about God or Mary...you had a vision. Please tell me.." He then told me that in his dream, Mary was standing before him and was beautiful and gentle and opened her arms and said, "Do not worry about  anything. Just be filled with the Holy Spirit." I said, "Mike! This is a vision! She came to you! What does this mean? What are you worried about?" He said, "What? What are you talking about? A vision? I am not worried about anything." And we weren't worried about anything. We were content. Healthy kids, happy marriage, good job. No worries. At least right now. So I started to worry I should be worried.  I asked him a million questions about his dream....What did she look like? Beautiful, Peaceful. What did she wear?  Same as the statue.

How did she speak? Softly. Gently. I couldn't stop thinking about this. 10 days after this dream, I said to my husband..."What if I am pregnant?" I was nursing my 5 month old son full time. When the pregnancy test was positive all I felt was a blanket of security cover me. I knew God wanted us to have this baby, and I believed that is why Mary told my husband... so I didn't worry. About one single thing.  Can you even imaging not worrying about anything? It was the most peaceful, beautiful time in my entire life, and I was happy, and the calmest I would ever be. When his due date was 14 days past and they were to induce me the next day, I went into labor. And I waited as long as possible to call the Dr...when we called he said come right now. We went to the Catholic hospital but instead of going to the floor we went to the hospital chapel...and with each contraction I looked at a station of the cross and united my pain with Jesus. If it could be described as a pain less pain that is what this labor was. After 14 stations and consecutive contractions we went to the floor, I didn't have time to be admitted...I got undressed got in a bed and brought Luke into the world, 15 minutes later.  On the 13th of April...the day Mary appeared to the Fatima children.

Why We Should Always Be Nice

My husband and I were shopping for a new dishwasher. We wanted the trip to be painfully efficient.  Check out the model on the Internet, see it in the store, buy it and get in and out. So that is what we did. Took under 10 minutes to spend like $500. The salesperson was helpful and efficient too, and when he looked us up in the computer, he told us he thought we looked familiar. He then told us he used to live by us, when we lived in our old house. We asked him more but really had no recollection of him. We were polite, but not overly friendly, we were thinking about the kids we had to pick up on fields all over the place. When we got home, my daughter was on college break and I mentioned to her about this salesperson and did she remember him? Oh yes! She remembered him immediately. She told us he was their most faithful  (probably only) customer and would come by their stand everyday when he came home from work and would buy their rocks (the girls were 6, 7 and 8).  Sometimes even pay. 50 when the price was .25 per rock.  I went back into the store the next day to kind of try to be nicer and thank him too.  He wasn't working and they would not give me any personal information on his work schedule, or even his last name.  I went in again 2 days later, still not there, and an associate told me they think he moved out of state....
  I missed my chance to be nice back.

Happy Easter!

Easter blessings to you from our family!

Which Came First The Chicken Or The Egg?

My 10 year old said, "That is an easy one.  Of course it is the chicken. God said let there be chickens, and then there were chickens."  Simple, beautiful, confident faith of a child.  I pray we will enter into the Sacred Triduum with this same trust.

Things Parents Don't Want To Hear At A Gala

Neighbor, "Boy, your kids are growing up so fast, it's incredible.  I can't believe your son is driving already."
Parent, "He's not driving yet.  He's only 15."
Silence.

Wordless Wednesday

Why Do People Smoke?

 My 8 year old said, "I know why people smoke.  They think it tastes like chicken."

When Is The Best Month To Have Baby?

Let's see...I had 8 babies in 8 different months...and I can tell you there are advantages in being born in certain months. Like what? Well, my oldest son turned 5 in late August. The deadline for kindergarten registration is age 5 before September. We didn't register him for kindergarten in the first place because he was so young.  He was 4. A month before school was to start, his preschool teacher called me and said she noticed his name on her list again for preschool. She said, "Look honey. I have been teaching preschool for 25 years. Your son is ready for kindergarten. Socially. Emotionally. Academically. Holding him back because of a birth date is not necessary for him." So now what do we do?  I called the grade school principal and told him what the preschool teacher said...he told me we should put a lot of weight on her recommendation...but if we wanted, I can bring my son in the school to be tested for his readiness to start kindergarten by the kindergarten teachers. He passed the test. So we sent him to school. He was 5 years old and 7 days his first day of kindergarten. In contrast, my daughter turned 6 in early September, 7 days AFTER she started kindergarten. In this one example of my family alone there is almost a year age difference in the same grade. But in school it changes even more. Red shirting can mean 2 years difference in age in the SAME grade. 2 years! In high school sports, 2 more years of testosterone translates into bigger muscles and stronger bodies...a huge advantage. Yet, my 18 year old son is now the youngest one on his college campus, and no one would ever guess that. I guess it all comes down in life to the same thing... what is in your heart and in your will is far more important than what is on a calender.