Dressing the pre-teen

This is my dilemma of the week. My 10 year old is 5'4" and therefore cannot wear kid's clothes. She loves skirts. But, have you seen the skirts this season??? My husband refers to them as glorified belts. Thankfully my daughter isn't fond of them, but we have not been able to find her skirts she likes. This is the problem, she wants to look modern and a bit trendy, but not cheap, she wants to be modest, but not Amish. Where is the happy medium, and where can I buy it! I've tried the thrift shops, but the ones by my home are gross. I've shopped and shopped, and only come home with one skirt. 

Pants are not much better. She likes jeans, but again, this year, they are not right. The tight look is in, and she hates tight. Again, she wants to look young but wants to dress modestly. Ugh, why is it so hard to find clothes that are cute, modern and modest?

What to do with a wild four year old?

Lately my dear sweet youngest has become a royal pain in the neck. We are talking beyond the normal antics of a four year old boy. I have another son, and I've seen nonsense before, this is far beyond that. My husband is one of seven, four of which were boys, and even he is done with the insanity. 

So far the suggestion I've received from well meaning people include: 

• Drug him, thanks but no thanks, that doesn't seem like a real solution to me.
• Spank him, again, not an option, we have on occasion tired to spank, and the darn kid laughs, so no need keep that up.
• Take his toys away, well, good idea, but we already did, he can play with anything, not just toys.
• Run him more, great idea, but we have no yard and it's like 20 degrees out.
• Stop giving him sugar, already did that, but he keeps finding all of my hiding spots, and has resorted to my sugar dish.

So far the only advice that seems to have any effect is the advice from my confessor, give up on natural means and go for the supernatural, beg his angel, St. Monica, and anyone else in heaven who will listen. Done. No great results yet, but at least there is hope. 

Pray for me, that I do not resort to my parent's childhood threat to me, and sell him to the gypsies. The joy of Polish parents.

New distractions

Two small events in our home have caused major changed. The first is that our cable company upgraded to digital only, and we did not follow, therefore, we have no TV stations anymore. My kids will miss PBS and I will miss the mid-day news, other than that, it was just noise and time wasted. Without the "background" noise after dark, we have to find alternatives for entertainment, when mom is tired. 

The second is related to the first, indirectly. I got a new super cool Ipod for Christmas. I had a cute little nano for several years, but in an accident involving a dark snowy night and 3 kids, I dropped it in the street and it met it's death under a plow. I  missed having it, but life went on. My husband got tired of me taking his Ipod, so Santa brought me new one. This is the "big" one, 120GB, there is so much space, I can put dozens upon dozens of books on it. 

We now have our new "noise", audio books and podcasts. Today we are listening to Harry Potter and tomorrow we plan to listen to the Hobbit. While I do the dishes, I can listen to the Chesterton Podcast, among others. I have found a bunch of new podcasts related to art, music and history. Our new distraction is far more educational than the old one.

Merry Christmas!

A Child of the Snows

There is heard a hymn when the panes are dim, 

  And never heard before

When the nights are strong with darkness long, 

  And the dark is alive with rain.

Never we know but in sleet and in snow, 

  The place where the great fires are, 

That the midst of the earth is a raging mirth

  And the heart of the earth a star.

And at night we with to the ancient inn

  Where the child in the frost is furled, 

We follow the feet where all souls meet

  At the inn at the end of the world.

The gods lie dead where the leaves lie red, 

  For the flame of the sun is flown, 

The gods lie cold where the leaves lie gold, 

  And a child comes forth alone.

~G.K. Chesterton

Radiators are NOT funny

Especially at Mass. 

In my feeble efforts to pray the O, Antiphons, I've been dragging wee ones with me to daily mass this week. We go to a very old church for daily mass, and said church has beautifully covered radiators. You cannot see them, as they are hidden, so it is much harder for kiddies to get injured. This does not mean they are not there, as I found out today. During the Consecration, the silence of the church was slightly broken by the hissing of the radiator. Leave it to my middle guy to take notice. "Mom, is that a giant tea-kettle" he asks, "Shhh, later" mom responds. "No wait, it sounds like a plan crashing!" he adds louder, at this his sister bursts out laughing. So much for the silence. If it ended there, I would have been fine, but Noooo, of course it couldn't! We went to communion, and as we sat back down, the hissing had increased in volume, middle guy cracks up, loudly. I hid, and place his head into my shirt, to muffle the sound, but then, it gets worse. I cannot hold back the laughter myself. His laugh is magical, it makes me laugh, then his sister returns, laughing, of course. Ugh, no where to hide! It took all the lip biting in the world to not cause a major scene. Why, oh, why did the radiator have to make so much hysterical sound??? 

Ice Ice Baby

It is very cold and very icy here in beautiful Chicago-ish land. In a matter of 6 1/2 hours the temperature went from 47 degrees to a wind chill of -20 degrees. I cannot figure it out. I've lived here my whole life, yet, the weather still confuses me. Chicago weather is notorious for being unpredictable, to the point that my little son asked, "Mommy, why does the weather man always lie". Poor Tommy Skilling, our locally famous weather guy, accused of telling lies by a 4 year old. 

Ice has its beauty, as well. We have not had enough days of freezing temps for the rivers to ice over, but last year I snapped this. Even in the harsh cold, God gives us little gifts of beauty to be thankful for.

Sr. Mary Martha's Modesty Pyramid

Note to self: Post in pre-teen daughter's closet. Then she never has to ask.

Light 'em up

Why, can anyone explain, do the tree lights work when I put them away, and when I pull them out, nothing? This year more than half of my tree lights are dead. My tree looks pathetic with lights on only the lower half. I have to buy new lights every year! That is not very green, not to mention a giant pain in my backside. 

Another light related issue, I just asked a child why it was so dark at only 3:30, and the smart response, because the lights are not on. Ah, yes, and water is wet, thanks kiddo for letting mom rant.

The beauty of being Universal

Catholic means Universal, but how often I let that simple definition slip my mind. This weeks so far I have had two very beautiful reminders. Yesterday, my parish, celebrated its annual Lady of Guadalupe Mass. Yes, it was early, and yes, we used readings of the day, but we had a special focus on Our Lady. This Mass is one of the highlights of Advent for our family. The music is beautifully and reverently done by a Mariachi band, the readings are done in both Spanish and English, and the homily is given in both languages, with a slightly different message to each language's audience. We love the liveliness of the Kyrie, the joy of the joy of the Sanctus, and the devotion of those who come and bring their rich traditions to our little suburban church. The tamales afterwards only add to the already delightful morn. 

Today due to work schedules, the only Mass we could attend together was Latin Mass. It was a stark contrast to yesterday's, but no less beautiful. No music, no liveliness, but quiet, simple beauty. We got to see the young and old, veiled and not, all kneel and adore our Lord as they received the the Blessed Sacrament. The Priest, in his few moments of English, had a southern accent. 

This is our Faith, both loud and soft, both filled with excitement and filled with calm. It is the same mass, just two very different expressions of it, both licit. I can go anywhere in the world, and though I may not know the language or local customs, know the Mass. There may be small variances, but, in any setting, "This is my Body, and This is my Blood" still bring me my Lord. 

Feast Day Curry

Today is my youngest's Patron's feast day. We try to make a special meal for the kids on their patron's day. Today we had Simple Curry(we eat our main meal at noon, when my husband is home), it was so yummy, I thought I'd share it.

Brown 1/2 C. onion ( I used way more)

1 clove of garlic (I used 3)

3/4 t. ground ginger ( I used more, but not sure how much)

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

1 lb Ground meat (we used beef, the recipe calls for stew meat, I was out)

Add:

3/4 t. tumeric

1T Water

1/2 ground cumin (again, I used more)

Stir uncovered until most of water evaporates

Add:

Salt to taste

3 C. tomatoes, chopped or 1 large can of diced tomatoes.

Simmer covered.

Add:

1/4 c Fresh Cilantro

Serve with Basmati Rice. Yum.