God Makes Time

I had a brief but fruitful conversation with a friend of mine the other day. It was while our children were in a class together and we waited outside with our younger children, trying to have a grown-up conversation while simultaneously keeping our hooligans out of trouble (you know how it is!) In this quiet, slightly chaotic moment we shared together our difficulties carving out time for personal prayer.  And she told me that she's started carrying her bible around the house with her, because inevitably at one point or another she will have free time. It may not be first thing in the morning, it may not be when she's scheduled it. But if she's attentive, God always sends a quiet moment for her to turn her heart to Him.  And when she is prepared, she can take it in.

Five Years Ago Today

Aaron is my fifth child to turn five, and this birthday has me pondering a lot of things. He is the latest born of all our children, and by far the most intense.  When my oldest turned five it was such new territory but I've done this a few times now, and still there is always something different about each one. And Aaron I think has been the most unique so far.  Because when I think I have everything figured out and I know the way things should go or where children should be, he's the one who teaches me that each child is unique, that each has his own way, and I need to learn from him rather than imposing my own views of how I think he should be.  Which is not unlike this day five years ago, when he made his grand entrance into the world.

Finding our Family Niche

Long before kids are actually kids, parents (or at least we did) dream of what kind of family they'll be. Never having been too sporty myself but recognizing the importance of sports to a child's development (and honestly, just seeing that the cooler kids growing up were generally the more sporty ones) I thought for sure we would steer our kids in that direction.  As the kids have grown we've tried several different things over the years, some of which have become mainstays in our family life, and others which have fallen into the category of "not for us but we gave it a shot".

A Different Presence

So - I've been a bit busy.  Like, super-busy.  Life since at least when the baby was born (and maybe even a bit before) has been a whirlwind, and I'm getting overwhelmed.  My husband is always very kind to remind me that we just had a baby four months ago and that will change things, but I feel like the baby is the least of it.  It's everything that just seems to be coming at us non-stop that really has me tuckered out.  Just as soon as we crest one mountain we see that there is still more to climb and frankly, I'm running out of steam.  I've been saying for a while that I've lost my groove but now I'm convinced that there just isn't a groove at all.  It's been overwhelming.

You Just Keep Crying

Like most parents, I don't like to hear my children cry.  My second son was our most fussy baby, and I did not handle his crying very well at all.  I tried countless things in an attempt to fix his problem, old wives tales that never worked, changed my diet, snuggled him, let him "cry it out" - nothing.  The more I tried the more frustrated we both were.  And I've shared previously some of my biggest parenting regrets were during his infancy, when I just could not handle all his crying.  I felt like a failure, I questioned why a God in charge of the infinite universe could not solve my son's obvious intestinal distress.  I talked to therapists who gave completely impractical and unusable advice, and in the end just had to make peace with the fact that this little guy was a crier.

I Haven't Even Looked at You Today

I woke up today with a migraine.  I ended up sleeping late because of it, and getting a really slow start on the school day.  Mercifully it subsided by lunch time, but I spent the rest of my day playing catch-up with the school work and the housework.  My baby, at 3 1/2 months old, is an absolute gem.  He's just starting to sort out the daytime/nighttime sleeping, which is great at night but not so great in the day.  He has yet to really establish a daytime napping routine, favoring instead to nurse himself to sleep and wake promptly as soon as he hits the crib (or nurse so long that he wakes up!)  In the mornings he's still pleasant from his full night's sleep, and very easy to put down on the floor or in his jumper while I buzz about my duties. But as the day wears on the lack of sleep starts to take its toll, meaning more time spent in my arms from about suppertime on.

Hold up the Spiritual Head of the Household

We just finished our family rosary.  It's one of the things I always envisioned doing all together every evening, ever since I first met a big family in my late teens who did that with their family no matter who was there.  My experiences with that family were always that Mom and Dad were present with all their children, and many of their children's friends.  No matter what you were doing or who you were, if you were at this house at 8:00 pm, you said the rosary.  It was beautiful.