Babies and Stairs

My mom taught me to teach babies to use stairs as soon as they were mobile. Before my husband and I had stairs of our own, my mom would take our first child, and then our second, and lovingly and slowly show them how to go down (feet first) and up the stairs at my parents house. My mom did not like gates. When our third child became mobile, we were living in our current house with stairs. Ignoring my mom's advice and her example, we immediately got a gate. The gate was returned to the store the same day it was put up. My active 2 year old, wanting to go downstairs, scaled the gate. My motherly intuition told me that having a 2 and 3 year old climbing over a gate at the top of the stairs was more dangerous than teaching a baby to use the stairs.

I followed my mom's example and taught my little one to go up and down the stairs. My fourth and fifth children have been taught to use the stairs in the same way. We have only had one minor tumble halfway down the stairs, when I was still learning the importance of vigilance with my third child. Surprisingly once my children have learned how to use the stairs, they stay away from them unless they need to get somewhere. I do not know if the attraction to the stairs disappears because they are not forbidden to use them or because the stair climbing feat has been conquered.

Things I Heard and Saw Today

Theresa: "Well, then I'm never eating my dinner."
Immediately after saying this, she picked up her fork and finished everything on her plate.

Bernadette: "Mommy, do you know who has a lighthouse?"
Me: "Who?"
Bernadette: "God does. It is the moon and the stars."

Embarrassment

A few months ago, as my children and I were strolling through Michael's they started to talk about whiskey. I was mortified and told them to stop talking. After leaving the store, I asked them where they had heard about it. They informed me that Captain Haddock drinks it. I told them it was not a nice drink (I've never tasted it) and not something I wanted them discussing.

Today we were at Michael's once again and my previous admonishment had obviously gone in one ear and out the other. My daughter, who touches everything when we go shopping, took a fake book off of the shelf and stated, "Oh, this is like the book in Tintin." Then in her loudest speaking voice she proceeded to say, "This is where Captain Haddock keeps his whiskey. It makes a pretty good hiding place for whiskey." A young mother in the aisle turned to her little daughter and said, "Come let's go." I felt like crawling into the book my daughter was holding and hiding. Needless to say, I had another discussion with my daughter about whiskey. I wonder what it is about Michael's that makes my children discuss Captain Haddock's downfall.

They Miss Us

Late Saturday afternoon, Bernadette called me crying. She said she wanted to come home. My heart was breaking, but I did my best to cheer her up. All I really wanted to do was jump in the car and go get her. It took a lot of prayer to keep me from driving over two hours to pick her up.

Last night, Catherine called and she soon broke down crying. She said that she had had fun swimming, etc., but she just wanted to come home because she missed us. Eventually, I had her speak with Daddy, as I felt he might do a better job calming her down. When she called a little later, I felt my heart being ripped in two as I heard her say, "It's been really hard not to cry every time I speak with you." I knew she was having a difficult time because her voice did not sound happy on the phone, but I did not realize how much she just wanted to be home. I guess Dorothy knew what she was talking about when she said, "There's no place like home."

I can't wait to see my girls again today. Please help them to have a safe trip home, dear God. Thank you for blessing our lives with them.

Separation Anxiety

Our two oldest daughters are away from us for the first time this weekend (with the exception of when I have had a baby). They are spending the weekend with their grandparents in Ocean Shores. They were very excited to leave yesterday; however, last night they called us approximately 10 times. They called again first thing this morning and several more times already. I don't know who is having a harder time being separated, Mommy or the girls.

Catherine just called to let us know that her little cousin, Michael, was born three weeks early. Debbie (Michael's mom) is doing well, despite a c-section. Steve is a proud daddy again. Megan doesn't quite realize that she has been given the gift of a little brother yet. I pray that God continues to bless the whole family and that Debbie recovers quickly.

Today, the girls called to say that they were awake, but Nanny and Grandpa were still asleep. Then, they called to say that they were going to eat breakfast soon. Next, they called to tell us that they had Lucky Charms and Oatmeal for breakfast (they couldn't eat the oatmeal, as they were too full). They called again to tell us they were going down to the beach. They called when they got back to the house to tell us they were back, they had picked up a couple of shells and were now playing checkers with Grandpa. As mentioned above, Catherine called to let us know they had a new cousin. Next, they called to tell us that they were getting ready to go to lunch at Galway Bay. Finally, they called to let us know what they had had for lunch ~ potatoes and bacon and cheesecake with strawberry topping for desert. Perhaps, they are simply relating their day, but I miss them.

Confession: God is Good

God always knows what is best. Bernadette has been begging to go to confession since last spring. Her requests became more earnest after she heard that there would be confessions heard at our parish on December 21. I told her we would see, but I tried not to make her hopeful, as I did not know what our pastor would say.

On December 21, our family went to Sts. Peter and Paul for confession. A few of us knelt down in a pew. Within minutes of us kneeling down, our pastor came and knelt down a couple of pews behind us. Bernadette started tugging on my arm and saying, "Mommy, you need to ask Fr. Peter now." At my daughter's insistence, I went to quietly ask Father if Bernadette could go to confession. He said, "Yes."

Bernadette was so happy after going to confession. She talked about it all the way home. On January 6, before Mass, Fr. Peter was hearing confessions. Once again, I felt a tug on my arm and my little girl told me she wanted to go to confession again. I gave her permission to do so. When she came out of the confessional, she was glowing.

Confession seems to be making a huge difference in her life. Thank you dear God.

Blankie vs. Dirt Devil

What can I say? Some children have a blankie; my son has a red dirt devil (his mother's favorite color). Oh and by the way, no one better take that vacuum away from him or try putting it in the closet when he is around or the culprit will hear a first class temper tantrum from my wonderful little boy.

New Year's Resolutions

I am going to try to:

1. Pray more and regularly thank God for all the blessings in my life
2. Be more attentive and loving to my husband
3. Be more gentle with my children (despite the fact that my oldest daughter already thinks I am a softy) and go back to playing with them each day
4. Be more consistent and disciplined ~ I love spontaneity and flexibility to a fault
5. Pray for the virtues of patience and joy (my husband and Marty W. serve as wonderful role models of these virtues, respectively)

Happy New Year!

Gifts

Dear God,

Thank you for the wonderful gifts you have given me in my husband and my children. Please help them to always know how much I love and appreciate them.

I couldn't help but marvel at the miracle of a growing baby on August 25 when Patrick inadvertently took two steps to me. He is the fifth child who I have seen smile for the first time, roll over for the first time, crawl for the first time, etc. and I am truly in awe of your wonderful goodness in blessing us with our children.

The joy that children bring to our lives is incredible. As I was making dinner tonight, my oldest son was trying to catch a fly using saran wrap. Upon catching it, Theresa made exclamations regarding her brother's success. Brendan's "I caught it" was followed by, "Oh, I wet my pants." I smiled and marveled at my little boy whose attention is often so focused on the creatures and plants God has blessed us with that he forgets all about this basic need.

Theresa surprised me tonight as I was reading the first Treasure Box book. At one point in the story, Mr. Martin asks St. Therese if she knows who made her. Before I could read any further Theresa piped up, "I know who made me, God." My heart was overjoyed.

Thank you.