![Mass With 2 Under 2]()
by Catherine | Jan 8, 2012 | Faith, Family
Going to Mass with 2 under 2 has been a challenge. Before we had Walt, we used to take turns taking Janie out of the church and into the narthex if she got ants in her pants. When we had Walt, we had to move to a man-to-man defense. I usually take care of Walt, and Philip usually takes care of Janie. Whenever the day comes that we are ready for Baby #3, we’ll have to move on to a zone defense. We really need to work on our defense strategy before then.
We struggle to keep Janie quiet and still for any extended period of time. Fortunately, Jane received a wonderful present from Philip’s parents for Christmas! (Thank you, Mimi and Papa!) This present has greatly improved our Mass-going experience. This awesome present is a Busy Bible.
According to the company website,
The basic idea of a Busy Bible is to provide a book of cloth pages, incorporating simple and quiet activities – things to touch, discover, pull, open, turn, arrange and fashion. While the child is playing with the book, he is also learning Biblical stories and principles.
The Busy Bible contains 12 pages of Bible stories beginning at creation and following through the Old and New Testaments, giving children a sense of wonder and discovery as they learn about great heroes of the Bible.
We keep our Busy Bible stored away during the week and only bring it out as a special treat when we’re going to Mass. Jane has several other faith-related kids’ books such as a Children’s Bible, a book of saints, prayers, etc. that we read during the week, but the Busy Bible only makes an appearance at Mass. The flaps, snaps, Velco, buttons, zippers, and felt figured keep Jane very busy and engaged.
Unfortunately, Jane still gets ants in her pants around the homily each week, and she refuses to sit still. She arches her back and insists on being let down. Philip usually has to leave with her at some point during the homily and return during the general intercessions.
Sitting in the front pew seems counter-intuitive and scary, but it helps. Jane is much more interested in what’s going on when she can see the priest, lectors, servers, etc. and she isn’t distracted by people in front of her. Her focus doesn’t last, though. Can I tell you how humbling it is to sit in the front pew, especially when your church pews are configured like a horseshoe and your child’s temper tantrum is on display for the entire congregation?
Each week, Jane seems more and more interested in participating in the Mass. Imitating us and everything she sees is her new favorite pastime. She’s starting to fold her hands, join in the responses, imitate the choir director, and loudly repeat what the priest says. We’re still working on our whispering skills and not talking in church. She loves being able to use her senses–seeing the action on the altar and around her, hearing the music and melody of the prayers and bells, reaching out to shake everyone’s hands during the Sign of Peace, smelling the incense. The “smells and bells” are supposed to draw us in, and it’s definitely working for one toddler I know!
What do all of you with young children do to encourage them to be relatively still and quiet during Mass?
Perhaps I should find a weekday Mass at a church with a crying room where we can practice sitting still without disturbing others…
![8 Timeouts in the Pasta Aisle]()
by Catherine | Jan 7, 2012 | Family
I usually make one big trip to the grocery store each week, and we’ll make smaller additional trips if necessary. When you’re a mom, you just do whatever you have to do and don’t think about how crazy you look–until the people at WalMart stare. When I go shopping with two under two, it probably looks something like a 3-ring circus.
Walt (who has one pound left before he most definitely, legally has to graduate from his infant carrier) sits atop the cart in his carseat, and Janie gets buckled in to the front seat. The diaper bag is down below, I have my list in hand, and I have to be as efficient as possible. On a good shopping day, I get about a half an hour before a meltdown threatens.
We made it to the pasta aisle when Janie’s tantrum began. We had already blown through the cookie from the bakery two aisles ago, and Jane was in no mood for shopping. My usual attempts to sing songs, point out things that we saw, make funny faces, etc. were having no effect.
She was having what I call a typical toddler bipolar moment. She wanted out of the cart. She wanted her coat off. Why was I unzipping her coat?! She wanted to grab everything in site. She was thirsty. She wanted nothing to do with her sippy cup. Coat launched onto the ground. Sippy cup nearly takes out the woman across the aisle.
We had 8 timeouts in the pasta aisle before we were ready to move on. Each time, I took her out of the basket, sat her on the ground facing away from me, and declared it was a timeout. She instantly went silent. When the timeout was over (usually a minute later), I brought her up to her feet. We had the same conversation each time.
“Timeout’s over. What do you say?”
“Sorry, Mama.”
“No (insert behavior, i.e. throwing things out of the cart). That makes Mommy sad. I love you. Give Mommy a hug.”
Mothering is so humbling, but I’m learning to care less and less about the humiliation. I don’t care anymore that I’m the person getting the looks at WalMart. I’m learning that it’s worth the humiliation of doing 8 timeouts in the pasta aisle to teach Jane that I’m consistent and that the rules don’t change just because we’re in public. Some people stare, roll their eyes, or shake their heads. Most people who watch me discipline Jane in public nod approvingly or even go out of their way to say something encouraging like, “You’re a good mom!”
Thank goodness Walt’s such an easygoing baby and he almost never makes a peep. We were able to get through the rest of our list in record time and without another meltdown.
Unfortunately, making it to the checkout aisle is no guarantee of a victory. I make it a point to select checkout employees who seem kid-friendly. Unfortunately, the kid-friendly employee was also the slowest employee ever. As sweet as she was, she insisted on opening every single bag of produce to identify it even though I would offer my help with, “That’s one bunch of cilantro” or “That’s three sweet potatoes.” Even though the code was directly on the produce, she insisted on double-checking it with the list by the register. Yup, 4011 is bananas. She was thorough and precise, but we were already delayed due to the 8 timeouts, and lunchtime was upon us.
I managed to get all of the bagged groceries back into the cart under Walt’s carrier, the employee gave us our receipt, and God gave me a “take a chill pill” moment.
A sweet elderly couple in the aisle next to us saw that Jane had thrown her hat out of the cart. I was planning on ignoring it until we were ready to leave. When I was getting the receipt, the man had picked it up and was handing it to Jane. I turned around to see them looking at the babies, making them smile and laugh.
“What beautiful babies,” the woman said.
“You’re working overtime!” said her husband.
Thinking about the 8 timeouts, I wanted to say something like, “Oh! You have no idea!” Instead, I said, “Oh, they keep me pretty busy.”
That’s when the man said, “Well, you’re very blessed. Have a nice day!”
He was so right. I had a cart full of food for our family, two perfectly healthy babies, we were on our way out to our car, and then we were going to our home in a safe neighborhood to have lunch and naptime. We are so blessed. 8 timeouts in the pasta aisle is small potatoes.
Welp, that was a nice thought. We parted ways and I resumed my frenetic pace to get us home for lunchtime when we were slowed to a crawl. Another elderly couple blocked our path. God really wanted to hammer His point home. The man pushed his wife in a wheelchair. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but I could hear their laughter. They were happy to be out and about in each other’s company.
I gave God another begrudging, “OK. I get it.”
Slow down.
Enjoy the babies.
Keep giving them timeouts.
Keep giving them hugs.
We sang our ABC’s all the way home because Janie wanted to.
![New Year, New ‘Do for Janie]()
by Catherine | Jan 4, 2012 | Family
Janie’s hair was looking shaggy. Here she is, shortly after Christmas, trying on my vest.
I asked Philip to take Janie for a quick haircut at the nearest Super Cuts after dinner. Nothing but the best for our little princess!
Can I tell you how much I love having a husband who’s willing to take our daughter to get her haircut? I suppose we both have the mentality that the worst that could happen is a bad haircut that will grow out.
I asked Philip to tell the hairstylist to please trim Jane’s hair to just below her chin and to clean up her bangs. We ended up with a short, short bob, but Jane can rock it.
Her hair’s wet in these pics because she had just had her evening bath, but you get the general idea.
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| Janie + Barney = BFF |
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| Bedtime story with Daddy |
Nighty, night, sweetie!
![New Year, New 'Do for Janie]()
by Catherine | Jan 4, 2012 | Family
Janie’s hair was looking shaggy. Here she is, shortly after Christmas, trying on my vest.
I asked Philip to take Janie for a quick haircut at the nearest Super Cuts after dinner. Nothing but the best for our little princess!
Can I tell you how much I love having a husband who’s willing to take our daughter to get her haircut? I suppose we both have the mentality that the worst that could happen is a bad haircut that will grow out.
I asked Philip to tell the hairstylist to please trim Jane’s hair to just below her chin and to clean up her bangs. We ended up with a short, short bob, but Jane can rock it.
Her hair’s wet in these pics because she had just had her evening bath, but you get the general idea.
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| Janie + Barney = BFF |
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| Bedtime story with Daddy |
Nighty, night, sweetie!
![Let the Children Come to Me]()
by Catherine | Dec 30, 2011 | Faith, Family
This year, we started after-dinner singing in front of the Advent wreath and Nativity scene. I’ve found Jane going over to the buffet table where they’re resting to look at them throughout the day.
Here she is, looking at the Advent wreath and Nativity scene during one of our singing sessions.
She loves pointing out the different figures in the Nativity scene, blowing out the Advent wreath candles from afar–even when they’re not lit, and singing her own rendition of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” It sounds a lot like “O Come, O Come, O coooooooooooooooooooome.”
Yesterday, I was folding laundry in the living room. Jane ran off with the laundry basket, and I heard her banging it in front of the buffet table. This could only mean one thing. She was on a mission to see Baby Jesus. I grabbed the camera to catch this:
Sure enough, I found her, standing on top of the overturned laundry basket, peering into the stable. Before she saw me, I watched her wave into the stable and say, “Hi, Jesus!” She picked up the Baby Jesus out of the manger, brought him to her chest in a hug, said, “Awwwwwwww, I love you, Jesus” and then gave him a big kiss with a “Muwah!”
Oh, man. Talk about an “I could just eat you up” moment! I couldn’t help but let out a “Awwwww” of my own.
When Janie realized she’d been spotted, she said, “Mama! Look! Jesus! Mawwy! Jo-sip! Cow! Flying!” She had to show me all of the players in the Nativity scene.
To convince her to leave the Nativity scene in peace (and not in pieces!), I told her that Jesus was tired and that he needed to go night-night. She stuck him back in the manger. “Night-night, Jesus! Shhhhh, Mama! Jesus sleeping!”
![First Christmas Without Them]()
by Catherine | Dec 21, 2011 | Faith, Family
As beautiful and joyous as Christmastime can be, it can be equally painful for those still suffering from the loss of a loved one–especially if this is their first Christmas without them.
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| James Ferdinand Irwin’s family singing carols at early family reunion Christmas celebration marking safe return of sons fr. WWII (L-R) Mr. Irwin, Scotty, Carolyn, Betty Roush, Jim, Myra Lee Love, Jack, Jeanne Haney, Mrs. Irwin, Jeff Haney, Levern Love, Beth Love.© Time Inc. Myron Davis (Photo found on: http://kcmeesha.com/2009/12/06/old-photos-old-timey-christmas/) |
The EWTN online Advent devotional I’ve been reading throughout Advent suggests sending a letter to someone you know who has lost a loved one this last year. Today’s blog post “A Different Kind of Christmas List” by Jennifer Fulwiler suggests doing the same.
It’s so easy in the hustle, bustle, and excitement of the season to forget about those who are feeling alone and in pain. In her blog post, Fulwiler shares the words of two people who recently lost a loved one. They said that they felt alone in their pain during Christmas and that those who gave them a phone call, sent an e-mail, or wrote a card lifted them up.
Fulwiler took the idea of writing the letter further. She says this is what she’s going to do:
I’m going to write a list of the contact information of people I know who may be aching for lost loved ones, and bring it with me to my Christmas celebrations. And in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Christmas day, I’ll carve out time to send an email or make a quick phone call to let them know I’m thinking of them, and that they’re in my prayers.
I love that she’s keeping the physical list of people with her as she runs errands, goes to Christmas parties, attends Mass, etc. It’s a tangible reminder to keep those people and their deceased loved ones in prayer.
I’m stealing this idea. Since I’m at home more than I’m out and about, I’m posting these people’s names on my bathroom medicine cabinet and kitchen counter. That way, after the letters are written, I am still reminded to continue to lift them up in prayer.
The corporal and spiritual works of mercy are on my brain since my 8th grade religious education students are learning them. In addition to comforting your loved one, this simple action lives out two spiritual works of mercy: comforting the afflicted and praying for the living and the dead.
Do you know someone who could use a phone call, e-mail, or letter?
