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It’s Not Over: Keep Praying! So
after a very heated race and a slew of really annoying robo-calling campaigns,
the elections are over. Now more than
ever, we need to be grounded in prayer, lifted up in love, led by the Truth,
and infused by the Holy Spirit. The
fight isn’t over; it’s now been rekindled.
Hold on to Hope: God’s still the one in charge, and He’s always on the
side of love and life. Not some of the
time, but all of the time.
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Still Singin’ in the Rain The best part of
showing Vivi "Singin' in the Rain" is that now she knows where I get
many of the songs I burst into at random during the day. Her eyes got wider each time we got to one
she recognized. She laughed and commented,
“That’s funny!” when we got to this memorable scene:
-3-
Thoughts on Kids & TV When I was nannying for “my
two little guys,” I didn’t watch TV with them.
I’m not a huge fan of having the TV on all the time anyway as it’s hard
for me to focus on people or other things when it’s on, so I left it off. We had lots of fun, educational things to do
to fill our eleven hour days. The one
time I brought over a DVD for them to watch it was so they could see my
youngest sister’s dance recital numbers.
One set of parents made a comment to me when I came in to the pediatric care unit at the hospital to visit their son that there wasn’t a whole lot else he could do besides watch DVDs while hooked up to things (like I would judge them for letting their son watch DVDs at all, much less while confined to bed in the hospital).
One set of parents made a comment to me when I came in to the pediatric care unit at the hospital to visit their son that there wasn’t a whole lot else he could do besides watch DVDs while hooked up to things (like I would judge them for letting their son watch DVDs at all, much less while confined to bed in the hospital).
For the record, I don’t think
there’s anything wrong with children watching some TV and some movies. I don’t like it being on all of the time and
have read plenty of research as to why limiting TV viewing especially for young
kids is important for their intellectual, speech, and social development.
-4-
Children Will Listen & Watch I love to read, as many of
you already know. One of the things I
enjoyed most when growing up was having my parents read to me. One of the highlights of working with
children is reading to them and seeing them get really into the story. I’ve brought a number of books my mom kept
from when we were little over to share with Vivi and her sisters. It always makes me smile when she asks for
one of the books by name or, at random, recites a line from one when something that
is said or seen makes her think of it.
The funniest one random recite recently was from Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham which she fondly refers to
as Sam-I-Am. She looks up at me all of a
sudden and says firmly: “You let me be!” I
cracked up knowing where she’d gotten it from and that she was just recalling
the line not telling me to leave her alone.
Her "go away" or "I’m not interested" is still the same as most toddlers: an
emphatic NO to anything I say.
-5-
One of Those Nights I had trouble falling
asleep last night, though, I was definitely tired. After a couple hours, I got up and read for a
bit. I woke up having horrible
nightmares this morning, but I still had a hard time getting out of bed after
only three hours of sleep. I said
something to Jess about my plan to go right to bed when I got home not thinking
about it until I got to my car that to a mother of a toddler and twins, who also works full-time outside of the home, that
was probably along the lines of the adult version of a “NanaNanaBooboo!” Trust me. That’s not at all how I meant it. I don’t wish sleep deprivation on anyone.
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Vocation Discernment
and Encouragement This is the title and theme of a reflection I
wrote inspired by Kevin and I attending the ordination Mass for 18 new deacons
in our diocese last Saturday morning.
Ongoing discernment as a couple and encouraging our friends with their
discernment of religious vocations have been two major aspects of our spiritual
journey over the past few years.
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Silent No More:
These
are some of the bravest individuals I have met.
What tremendous courage it takes to speak the truth after spending so much
time believing and living out the lies!
My experience last spring with members of Silent No More who came to the
40 Days for Life vigil.
