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Marking Milestones
As promised last week in my 7 Quick Takes (Vol. 18), here are some of my many stories about taking care of adorable children over the past nineteen years and using various baby and toddler dequipment a bit unconventionally: The first time I asked for one of the top ten times your babysitter or nanny should never ask for or attempt to locate in your home, my husband Kevin was visiting me and the boys. I called Hank’s dad and asked, “Do you have a crowbar?”…Kids, Crowbars, and Shot Glasses—Oh My!
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Put down the stroller and slowly back away!
I have a confession to make. Although I have taken care of and worked with hundreds of children over the past 19 years of my life, I can still be regularly stumped by the intricate mechanics of mainstream baby gear. When watching Vivi a couple weeks ago, she got lunch and a show. She sat there eating while I wrestled with her stroller, trying to get it open. I pulled, pushed, locked/unlocked, pulled up on the red handle, pushed down on the gray bar, and still could not for the life of me figure out how to open the flipping thing and this was Round II of personal challenges with said stroller. I’m grateful my attempts at operating various baby gear have not ended on Youtube… Baby Gear, Lunch, and a Show
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Working in a Gated Community
Baby gates can also be challenging to manage with a squirming child in your arms and another one wrapped around your leg. As genes would have it, I’m tall enough that I can step over many of them without opening them. This is fine when they’re at floor level, but a little trickier at the top of a staircase. (Don’t worry, I don’t attempt this trick with a little one in my arms.) I became very grateful for doors, locks, and baby gates, as I would likely have lost my sanity if I had been responsible for keeping two little ones out of trouble, from breaking anything valuable, and/or getting hurt themselves if they’d had free run of either of their houses.
I joked that I spent a lot of time with guys that were behind bars. They were also very good at making sure the gates were secure. They’d go up and with both hands rattle them every once in a while to see if they could bust out. One of the most alarming contraptions I came up against was…Behind Bars, Baby Gates, Locks and Levers
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A Librarian’s Worst Nightmare
For reasons I probably understood better when I was a toddler myself, the children I’ve watched have almost always had a passion for pulling every single book ( and audio or video tape, CD, DVD…) within reach off of the shelves. Next they instinctively pile them into a mound so big they inevitably trip over it when making off like bandits…
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Finally A Completely Pro-Life for Healthy Women and Babies Pink Ribbon
Check this out to read more on the link between Susan G. Komen's Pink Ribbon and this new pro-life pink ribbon. http://pinkribbonscandal.texasrighttolife.com/
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Proof God’s Still Working Miracles: My Grandma Turned 88!
On the evening of October 5, my mom threw a lovely party in the Hospitality Inn room at Little Sisters of the Poor for my grandma’s 88th birthday. In the birthday card message I wrote (in very large, somewhat legible print) that my grandma’s life is proof that God’s still working miracles. It’s true! That my maternal grandmother, Marilyn is alive, grateful to be surrounded by family, appreciative of quality time with my mom, and still able to enjoy her favorite Chinese food and some delicious chocolate cake are quite remarkable!
Sixteen years ago February, my grandmother was diagnosed with the cancer Multiple Myeloma. Through a strong faith, loving family, close friends, a busy social schedule, and a proactive approach to her health and wellness, she has lived over a decade and a half longer than those doctors said she would... read more.-7-
Deep in Discernment A number of people Kevin and I care about are deep in discernment about their lifelong vocations and are earnestly, prayerfully seeking the Lord’s Will for their lives. We feel quite blessed that others have felt comfortable sharing with us a subject as personal and intimate, challenging and exciting as discerning the Lord’s will and doing your best to live it out.
With each difficult discernment process, I find hope in that the person is sincerely seeking God’s Will above all else.
A prayer I wrote in March 2008 helps remind me of this:Lord, so often we seek the approval of our family, our friends, our colleagues, and society, and are easily swayed by their opinions. Please help us have courage enough to turn to You when we need guidance, and put Your view of us, Your wishes for our future, and Your thoughts about our words and actions, above those of the people around us.
You alone know our hearts completely. You alone know what is ultimately best for us. Inspire us to spend more time listening to You so it is easier for us to separate Your will from our own and those of the people closest to us. Protect us from despair and disillusionment by arming us with the Truth, the strength to do Your will, and the wisdom to submit everything we are and have to You. Amen.
Head over to Conversion Diary, to read Jen Fulwiler's wonderful tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday.
