The regular “little of this, little of that” feature from Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Sad to leave those darlings, but now I need to be here, where some sunlight has made it through at last! Suddenly I thought about planting peas, so I will do that later today I hope! (March 19th, St. Joseph's Day, the traditional day for planting peas around here, found us with permafrost-topped-with-two-feet-of-snow, so then I just forgot about it and went away.)
- Two Medieval monks invent Bestiaries. These always get me, so funny.
- Peter Lawler (no relation) talks about what constitutes true education — whether technology imposes a challenge — whether managing screens makes a difference. He says, “… the content of education should mainly be found in books. It really makes all the difference—when it comes to both economic success and the choice of worthy leisure—when a particular child is raised in a home animated by love of reading. We should prize no skill more than being able to attentively read a “real book,” a book that’s more than a source of self-indulgent entertainment or technical self-help. That skill is all about effective access to content. It’s for building a huge and precise vocabulary that opens the particular person to the daylight of meaning—to living in the truth—that comes with connecting words to the way things really are.”
- If I can't be reading my favorite books (over and over) — such as anything by Jane Austen or C. S. Lewis, I guess I think the next best thing is to read about them — if the quality is at the level of, say, Planet Narnia and The Narnia Code, both by Michael Ward. Maybe the next next best thing is to read a good article about what C. S. Lewis's vision was, and what Michael Ward had to say about it, by another good thinker, the late Stratford Caldecott.
- I wouldn't go too far identifying Sherlock Holmes with Christ, but there is a mystery in his return from the dead. (By the way, Sherlock Holmes is great reading for children who have moved towards more mature reading matter but aren't quite ready to tackle the 100 great books.) And we've enjoyed the BBC Sherlock! series — have you? After becoming very familiar with the books, of course. In particular, I loved the wedding episode, although many hate it. But Mary's dress! She looks lovely.
- Emily Stimpson, whose work we've linked to here in the past, has a lovely blog that recently featured her smallish kitchen. I love this redo — it's one after my own heart, because she kept the unique things about it, made it pretty, and didn't spend a ton of money. The Hoosier cabinet is beyond adorable, and I can attest to its utility. In my little galley kitchen in DC long ago, I had half a Hoosier (someone along the way had removed the top part) — and that enamel surface was invaluable real estate, let me tell you!
- Did you catch this article in the Wall Street Journal about parenting a premature baby? NICUs have their procedures and protocols. They necessarily take into account every sort of situation and level of experience, sometimes erecting an impenetrable wall between baby and mother. The shocked parents might not know how to express what they would like to do or even know how to do it, so I think information like this is invaluable.
- There's still time this Eastertide for your Garage Schola to spring this lovely Easter hymn on your congregation! It will be easy to learn, actually. (Try it in your family.) I recommend everyone singing the verses in unison unless you have one person with a pure sound to carry it, and then break into the polyphony. Don't strain. Sing it simply. Let each phrase have its own rise and fall, tapering off softly but with energy at the end of the line, which may be a bit different from how you are used to singing hymns. (I'm channeling choirmaster Paul Jernberg‘s instructions here — I always hear his voice in my head!)
From the archives: Now is a good time to revamp your approach to that ever-present necessity, feeding your family! I have a whole series that takes you, step-by-step, through the process from figuring out what to eat to producing it efficiently.
The St. Greg's Pockets are getting a great boost from the spring weather. How about meeting at the playground with your friends? You can send out a post from the blog beforehand and see where the discussion leads you! How about this post: Getting Used to Being Thrifty. It's good to encourage each other and exchange tips for living on one income.
Enjoy the Third Sunday of Easter tomorrow!
~We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).~
Rosie says
Re: raining worms: Remember the time last year when there were floating spiders in our weather forecast??! I’m just not tough enough to be an Oklahoman.
Mrs. B. says
Rosie, this is beyond revolting! Boy, there are some…. ahem…. interesting places on earth, aren’t there?
Kate says
The link to Peter Lawler’s essay does not work.
Leila says
Kate, fixed it!
Amy says
I really appreciated the NICU article. My 2 lb preemie is almost 12 years old now and spent about four months in the NICU. Practices like the ones mentioned in the article, when medically ok of course, would have been wonderful. “I feel like a mother,” is not something I felt during our experience. At going home time, it was more like, “who is this child we are adopting?”
Valerie says
My goddaughter was very premature 8 years ago ( back home) in France. She was actually a micro premie born at 23 weeks. They had a similar protocols in place in the hospital and used the”kangaroo” method that the premature babies had to be skin to skin most of the day with a caregivers. That’s what was done for her and she was almost never on the chest of her mom or dad or occasionally grand-ma. She is now a very healthy, sweet, smart 8 year-old and we’re all convinced that having her parents taking care of her from the beginning was key.
E. R. says
Thanks for sharing the interesting article about parents caring for premature babies!
I was born premature at 30 weeks in the early 1980’s. Growing up, I frequently asked my mom to give me hugs. Her touch always made me feel calmer and more at peace. As an adult, and after receiving the insight of my sibling who is an occupational therapist, I learned that premies often have a need to be touched and have physical contact due to the lack of contact with the mother during the last few months of development that would have otherwise taken place in the womb. I really agree with this, and I think that it is great that hospitals are being more open to allowing parents to care for and have physical contact with their premature children. Fortunately, I have not had any learning disabilities or developmental problems, but throughout my life I have experienced a diminished ability to cope with stress and a continual sensitivity to stimuli–sounds, smells, light.
Jenny says
I don’t have any direct experience with a NICU, but my niece was born at 37 weeks and spent about 36 hours in the NICU as a precaution because of low blood sugar. My sister had a hard labor and lost more blood than normal (not a dangerous amount, but more than is preferred), so she was drained and unable to advocate for herself as she might normally. My sister felt like the NICU held her baby hostage. They interfered with breastfeeding and demanded troublesome feeding routines and wouldn’t let the baby visit in her room for more than a few minutes at a time. They insisted on formula to regulate the blood sugar and told her she wasn’t producing milk yet because that’s what the charts say when she was obviously producing milk and was leaking it all over the place. My sister felt like the NICU doctor was the real parent and she had to make sure she grovelled well enough to be allowed to take custody, eventually.
Anything that NICUs can do to mitigate those feelings produced by protocols and policies should definitely be done.
Laura S. says
Loved the link to the old article on “Getting used to being thrifty.” I’m a new reader, working my way through the archives and loving every minute of it, but I hadn’t reached that one yet. So very timely, as I’ve been waiting on several items for a loooong time… a rug (or two or three), some nightstands, a headboard, etc. I had the opportunity to make the rounds of the thrift stores last week, sans kiddos, in search of same nightstands — and bumped into a friend. Her advice was much the same as yours — be patient, and it will come! No nightstands yet, but will continue waiting and praying for the right ones at the right price.
Ashley says
I got an email from my local Catholic radio station and I was excited to see that you’ll be on their show on Friday! Yay! I’m going to get up early and try to listen live. 🙂
I made baklava using your tips during Easter – it was delightful and much easier then I remember it being! Thank you for sharing!