Distributism- part one

Its funny when you live a certain way for so long, and never know there is a formal theory to that ideal. My Hubby and I came up out of the punk music scene in Chicago in the early 90's. He sold records by bands he knew at shows. We made T-shirts that we silk screened, I made soap. We both free-lanced as writers and photographers for a few independent magazines. All along in the name of what was known as DIY. My Husband pretty much hates big corporations, and it sickens him that he currently works for one, but three kids eat an awful lot of food. We have continued to live this DIY lifestyle through our 11 years of marriage.

Only in reading Chesterton and Belloc did I come to realize DIY is not an idea made up by Bay Area Punks, but one that was well thought out by many brilliant men decades before my birth. So now we call it Distributism. I have to be honest, I can live it, but not explain it. I also like to live really crunchy, I blame my hippie mother, and that fits in with the DIY lifestyle super well.

I hope in the the coming days and weeks to start to share a bit more on ways you can save cash, support small business and live green, all at the same time. Many things will resemble the "Kitchen Distributist" column from Gilbert. Most of the things I have read in this little column are things I already do. Some will be ideas I picked up from my Polish relatives, who did them out of necessity. I hope you will enjoy this new feature, I'm very excited to share.

Taking it all in

Now that the Holy Father has left the States, I can sit back and read all of his speeches and homilies. While he was here, I was unable to clearly hear all he said, for many reasons. The first is the funniest. My kids watched everything with me. Here's a little glimpse into my living room during the papal visit.
Mom -Hey guys, the Pope is on EWTN, come and watch (not realizing she was not going to be able to watch by inviting them)
Kids- Do we know anyone there?
Mom - Yes, we do, look for Bryan, Br. Maximilian and Father Peter. ( This was my second mistake)
Kids - Is that Bryan?
Mom - I doubt it.
Kids - Is that Br. MM? That one is wearing grey.
Mom- No, Sshhh, Listen to what the Pope is saying.
Daughter - What kind of Sisters are those, they have pretty habits.
Mom- I don't know (mom turns up volume, a lot)
Kids - Is that one Br. MM
Mom - No.
Kids - Is that one?(this repeats about 50 more times)
Mom-Sshhh.
Dad- I need to see the weather, can you watch this later?
Mom- School time kids!
Kids- EWTN is school, dad, We NEED to watch the pope.

Get the idea? Chaos, loud squirrely chaos. The little I heard was inspiring and exciting. The fact that Pat Robertson said the Holy Father is a brilliant, holy man last night on the 700 Club (I was flipping channels) made me realize just how others have been inspired. Thank goodness for the Internet. I have reading to do for months, but at my slow mommy-brained pace. Just so I can take it all in, and make the visit last a little longer in my small world.

Something to think about

This weekend is Good Shepherd Sunday. Most likely we will hear many good Homilies, involving lost sheep and loving shepherds. Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, the Pontifical Household Preacher's homily is available on zenit. It is excellent, as usual, but this struck me,

When we speak about sects we must also say a “mea culpa.” People often end up in sects in search of the human warmth and support of a community that they did not find in their parish.

It is something to think about.

Finally a diagnosis

Some of you have met my youngest son, Xai. And if you have met him, then you have met the "Kasias". For those who have not, let me explain. The Kasias live with us, there are about a million of them, I think, they are ducks, inchworms, ghosts, pirates, lions who can throw spears, despite the fact that they do not have thumbs, really the list goes on. The kasias wake us up at all hours of the night, they spill milk, they "attack" us from behind, generally they wreak havoc. Nobody knows where the Kasias came from, oldest daughter says hell, but that is not polite, so we usually try to come up with other explanations.

The worst part is, I cannot see them, only Xai can, so I never know when, say, I'm cooking dinner, a kasia will come through extremely quickly and try to get into the food or need me to read a scroll (yes a scroll) that they are delivering, with urgency. It gets worse, I've recently been informed that the duck Kasias live in the toilet. So now, at 5am, as I'm staggering blindly to the loo, I need to make sure the 3 year old is not awake enough to yell at me that I cannot use this particular bathroom!

My husband and I have looked for answers, did we drop him as a baby and forget? Did he get into the Homeopathics and make a dangerous tonic? What would cause a small, cute child to behave this way, I mean the kasia parties are getting a bit wild, and the kasia knights are not chivalrous! Then, I came across this. What a relief! It is not our fault for letting him watch TV, or listen to books on CD, or even worse, eat non-healthy food, he has YTD, or Youthful Tendency disorder. At least now we can explain the sword fights with the Kasias to visitors without embarrassment.

H/T: Studeo

The reading gap

Livescience has an article about the gap in reading ability between boys and girls in schools. Very interesting. The most fascinating part of the article in at the bottom.


"Here's a fascinating fact," she said. "There is no literacy gap in home-schooled boys and girls."
"Why? In school, teachers emphasize reading literature and talking about character and feelings," she said. "This way of teaching reading does not turn boys on. Boys prefer reading nonfiction, such as history and adventure books. When they are taught at home, parents are more likely to let them follow their interests"


Fascinating indeed, letting our kids read what they are interested in, to encourage them to read. Home schooled kids are not immune from the gap, though in my opinion. My 7 year old is a bit "behind" in reading, so he is just learning how to read. ( I'm not concerned, if you cannot tell). I recently took him to the local bookshop to get some early readers, seeing the princess early readers his sister had were not to his liking. I would have to say 75% of the books in the early readers section were geared toward girls. No wonder boys do not read as much as girls, they do not have the selection of books to read. In addition to the lack of books for boys, many of the ones that were not girly, were twaddle. My son asked me how many times he would have to read a book about a cat on a mat or a lad with a cap. Point taken, he wants substance. Lucky boy, Mom found a new series of early readers based on the classics. We picked up The Treasure Map based on a chapter of Treasure Island. It is not dumbed down, just written in simplified language. My son loves it, we have four books to complete, and we move on to Tom Sawyer. I hope good literature will put him on the road to be a good reader, especially one who wants to continue to read good books.

Great new Blog

I recently came across First Heralds, a blog dedicated to helping toddler and pre-schoolers learn about their Catholic Faith. I am very impressed by what I have seen so far. This particular are of religious education is of great interest to me, not just because I have a 3 year old, but people too often assume that this age group needs no religious education. I beg to differ. These are the most tender years, the ground for planting seeds is so fertile.

We have been blessed to use Catechesis of the Good Shepherd off and on. We are even more blessed because my husband's Aunt Tina wrote many of the materials and is a great encouragement to us. We are very fortunate to have been put on a good path for our children's religious education early on, many others are not. I see sites like First Heralds helping with the situation. Best of luck to them in all of their efforts!

Earth Hour

Tonight my family will participate in the Earth Hour. Why, you may ask? Well, to remind the whole family we need to use our resources better. I'm crunchy, but most of that crunchiness results from not a belief in climate change and its consequences, but a belief that we have a responsibility to use resources wisely to better our fellow man.

John Paul II constantly reminded people that there are not too many people on the planet, just a mis-distrubution of goods. This is why I conserve. We are so blessed to have the ability to turn on 20 lights at a time, but should we do that? Probably not. So tonight, we will turn off the lights for one hour, and pray for those who need electricity, and do not have access to it.

The Simple Joys of Sound and Silence

How often I take for granted the gift of my hearing, and along with that, the gift of silence. Yesterday we had another "everyone needs to get out of the house" hikes. Usually we are alone, but yesterday, there were, gasp other children where we hike. These kids were loud. I had never noticed before, but my kids are quiet when we hike. I think it is because we have spent time, listening to the world around us. We listen to the snow crunching under our feet, to the dry leaves rattling in the wind and tapping against the otherwise bare trees, we listen to the water in the distance gently tinkling over the worn rocks. This is our music. It is the most glorious music we could find, because it is that given to us by our Creator.

In the silence we hear sounds that give us hope, the "Spring's here" call of the chickadee, the loud trill of the sandhill crane, a sound we heard yesterday after the other children moved on, and much more. The sound of the crane, in particular, brings such joy. One year, we saw them migrate, but at least two other years, we heard them, without seeing. A simple lesson on faith, we did not need to see to confirm the sound, we just knew. The year I saw them, my daughter did not, she simply had to believe without seeing.

Even though snow still forms muddy piles around our hiking paths, we have faith that spring is hear. The sweet song of the chorus frog could be hear in the silence gently carried by the wind yesterday. The hope that comes from knowing that soon the cold and bitterness are coming to an end,and new life is spring forth, warms us, even while the air is still chill. We could barely hear the frogs, and when you get near them, they stop singing, but even my three year old announced Spring's return upon hearing the frogs.

We are no better than the average family, I get in the car, and turn on the i-pod, we listen to music, or TV or chatter all the time, but sometimes, we are silent. I wish I could say it happened in Church or adoration, but that would be a lie. God has given us a different way to adore him, especially when energy abounds. He gives us his creation, his beauty, his sound and silence.

The Plague of Bad Behavior

I've been busy, but really wanted to comment on this. My poor husband had to hear me rant for almost an hour Easter night while watching the news. My first thought, Are these people idiots??? My second thought was one of pity, that one could be so uninformed, that they could not see the consistent church teaching and action on the War in Iraq.

Has our society completely lost a sense of respect for the sacred? I mean, it was Easter. It was the newly re-opened Cathedral. As one parishioner said, "there were children there". Obviously these "catholic school girls" need to go back for a better education. They clearly did not learn the meaning of charity, respect or reverence.

Good Friday

The cold dark bitterness is covering the earth. The Sun does not shine,the ice on the ground mimics the ice of our hearts. We wait, in silence, for the dawn of that great day, Easter. We wait, eagerly, for the warmth, for the Sun, for the Joy to fill us. We know we do not deserve the gift being given to us, the life of our sweet Lord, yet that gift is so precious it is all we desire. There is great sweetness in you, sweetness that can overcome our sour nature. Our hearts, cold as they may be, yearn for you, O, Lord.