Around this time of year, one the most common questions we moms ask one another is, “what meaningful gifts can we give our kids for Christmas?”, quickly followed by “how can we keep the grandparents from giving a truckload of presents to our kids?”. Because let’s face it. We live in a society where our kids have everything they need, most things they want, and a ton they don’t need or want. And in our world of plenty, we see our kids develop attitudes of greed, entitlement and ennui. These are not qualities that any parent of good standing desires in their children, surely.
Look at this beautiful image of the Annunciation. I wonder where it is? Photo by Simon Matzinger on Unsplash.
For those of us who live on this (commercialized) part of the planet, we often confuse the end of Hallowe’en with the beginning of the Christmas season. Secular Christmas decorations show up in the stores before we put the carved pumpkins in the garbage bin. People excitedly begin to light up their homes and radio stations start playing Christmas tunes. All of which make my inner Grinch come out.
Now please don’t get me wrong. I love Christmas like any normal, Jesus-loving person does, and I do love the lights and the trees and all the feasting. But did you know that before Christmas there is the beautiful, month-long season of Advent? Advent is a time of contemplative preparation, a time of anticipation of the epic event that is the birth of our Savior. As someone once explained to me, Advent is to Christmas what Lent is to Easter. I love the idea that we can unite ourselves with Mary and accompany her as she patiently awaits the arrival of her precious baby. Having had the privilege of happily awaiting the birth of each of my children, I keenly feel the sacredness of this expectant season and I wish for our family to enjoy it as fully as possible.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks. One of my kids and I are currently engaged in a brutal game of who-can-push-the-other’s-buttons-the-most. Super fun. Another kid has major disobedience/tantrum/sloth-like issues. I feel like I’m constantly running against the clock, wrangling the offspring to convey them to the next scheduled activity. As a result, I’ve got a bad case of the grumpies, which doesn’t make anything easy on the home front. Sigh sigh sigh.
While I figure out how to sort out this period of chaos and intense emotions, I’m reminded that one of the best ways to get out of a grumpy mood is to laugh. I also need a reminder that while family life sometimes makes me cry, it also has its hilarious moments. No one illustrates this better than a good comedian. Have you heard of Michael McIntyre, Jim Gaffigan, Jason Manford and Sindhu Vee? They are amazing stand up comedians who have had me in stitches over the realities of marriage and parenting. The fact that three out of the four hail from Britain only points to my obsession with all things British.
A happy, healthy marriage is one of the greatest sources of happiness on earth (for married people, that is). While each and every marriage is unique, there are fundamental truths – such as love, respect and sacrifice – which must be understood and lived in order to enjoy a lifelong, fulfilling relationship. I also believe that we all need help to succeed at marriage, whether it’s from family, friends, courses, blogs, podcasts, books or therapy. In this post I share with you my favorite marriage books; I hope they are as helpful to your marriage or future marriage as they have been to us.
Not too long ago I was listening to one of Jordan Peterson’s podcast episodes, “The World is your Oyster“, a recording from his lecture in Winnipeg, Manitoba. During the Q&A, Jordan Peterson confided that he and his wife had hard, vicious fights, often; however they were productive fights, as the point was to not have to have the fight again.
Have you heard of homeschooling burnout? Many moms experience it in the bleak month of February when the weather is frigid, noses are forever runny and it’s just been too many days of nonstop math and spelling. But not me! I actually burn out the second week of September. We haven’t even cracked open all the books and I already want to quit. I’ve thought a lot about why this happens to me. I’ve realized that I get incredibly ambitious and excited about our new academic goals, only to feel deflated and defeated when my offspring don’t share in either my ambitions or enthusiasm. Huh.
Tug-of-war. “We play to win, and we know how to lose.”
Summer. It’s time to relax, reconnect with friends, and revel in the all-too-brief warm weather. As a homeschooling mom, it’s an opportunity to break from the intensity of the academics and focus on my relationships with my children. Yes, I know that I should be working on those relationships all year round, but it’s so much easier when I don’t have to ask/cajole/bribe/force my kids to do their math and practice their piano.
The beginning of a beautiful thing. I can’t believe I used to fit in that dress.
Today we celebrate 16 years of marriage. It’s our sweet sixteen anniversary! And it really has been sweet. And sometimes, not so sweet. And then sweet again.
I loved my wedding day. While I am an anxious worrywart by nature, I actually managed to relax and truly enjoy our special day. I felt that it was the peak of our existence and that nothing could possibly top the joy and happiness that we experienced that blessed day.
I meant to publish this post back in July. But then things got crazy and here were are, two months later. Better late than never!
My husband and I just returned from a quick getaway to gorgeous Niagara-on-the-Lake. It was a much-needed break after a hectic school year and before we embark on a three-week family vacation. Which, by the way, we’re super excited about — we’re heading to Quebec and Prince Edward Island! Nevertheless, we will be driving many, many, many hours with children of all ages, stages and temperaments. As Yoda might say, relaxing will not it be. One of my amazing sisters had our two oldest boys for the week, and my other amazing sister offered to care for our two little ones. I found a great hotel deal (thank you Travelzoo), we loaded the bikes, and off we went.
Hello dear blog, how are you? It’s been forever since I paid any attention to you. I had grandiose visions of dedicating more time to my little blog over the summer. I thought that not homeschooling meant more time for other things, like writing. Isn’t there a Yiddish proverb that goes Man plans, God laughs? Wise words.
In many ways, the summer was amazing. In July, the big boys enjoyed summer camps and camping trips with Dad. We started a few renovations to improve the main floor of our home. The hubby and I even enjoyed a romantic weekend getaway.
