The regular “little of this, little of that” feature from Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Yesterday we dropped herself off at school.
Taking the selfie: Bridget: “I look like I'm crying.”
Me: “Well, try to look like you don't hate education.”
I jest, because as her books were arriving, the excitement was building. I'm really grateful for her chance to grapple with the greats at Thomas More College, one of those precious places in life that is bigger on the inside than on the outside.
Still, we will miss her around here…
Did you wonder what that substance in the jar was when I posted the other day?
I meant to tell you, and actually you showed no curiosity whatsoever (you probably knew), but I will tell you anyway: starter for bread.
There were lots of doings in the kitchen that day. The base for the starter is potato water (simply save the water you cook your mashed or boiled potatoes in) and the bread is yummy. (This first of the two pizza-making posts will show you the method for the dough — just shape into loaves rather than rolling out for pizza after the first fermentation and rise, let rise a little, slash, and bake at 400* for 50 minutes. For this “country-style” loaf I added a couple of tablespoons of molasses, which I think is recommended in this book, Artisan Baking, which I got out of the library maybe 10 years ago and worked through.)
This week's links:
- Cute video, super short, file under “what is the internet for, anyway”: A horse goes for a walk.
- Yet, a Dad might just sit there in his wheelchair and still save the day. Despite appearances in this post, I'm a really hard sell for videos. I would way rather just skim a written story than watch even a short video. But this one is a must-see. Yes, the product these amazing engineers developed is impressive. But most of all, watching this wife take care of her husband — and watching him accepting her care, which might be harder — is a tutorial in true love. The technology that helps him enables us see their devotion, which is a real gift.
- The photo in this article about cultivating a daily prayer life caught my eye — is it? Why yes, it is!
Lots of you are scrambling to start your homeschooling year.
- If you are wondering if homeschooling your children — or even just raising them well while others school them — will make you go insane, this one post really rounds up many of my thoughts, practical and theoretical, on the project. Click on the links embedded and work your way through the tabs. I even made sure (well, I tried) that the links will open in tabs!
- After that post I wrote a few more: this one on imaginative literature, this one on history and the young child, this one with a few more tips for the older student.
- There are many posts in the archives about education. Look for them under “education” and also “The LMLD Library Project.”
Here's the thing. You might want the chipper assurance of one long post with all the homeschooling answers. I have found that it doesn't quite work that way. This business of the education of children — it's the business of your life (if you have children). It can't be solved in a day or with a one-size-fits-all and someone-else-thought-through-it-so-I-don't-have-to program. Certain components will be that way, thankfully. But the whole enterprise is one that each family must work hard at to figure out. This whole blog is an attempt to help with that — it really is going to take time and thought and prayer.
Listen — don't worry. Just being together and living family life is a good education in itself. You will do very well.
Today in liturgical news, Pope Francis is beatifying Syriac-Catholic Bishop Flavien-Michel Malke, martyred for refusing to convert to Islam.
“One of the bishop’s most striking phrases, his postulator said, comes from when he was pressured renounce the faith and to convert to Islam. ‘Rather than giving in, the bishop replied, “I will defend my faith to the blood.”' “
And let us remember the Passion and Beheading of St. John the Baptist. This memorial takes on a deeper meaning with all the different beheadings we are reading about in the news. If we are going to suffer, let us suffer for the Savior. But let's not be the inflicters of suffering on others, we pray to the Lord.
And happy anniversary to dear Nick and Natasha!
NY Mom says
Wow – the dads in that “dads saving the day” video – that’s guardian angel-level intervention right there. Amazing.
Anastasia says
I too am a hard sell for videos! I want to read all the things. I don’t have time to watch them 🙂 But I will try sometimes.
Thanks for all the links.
Rayna says
Dear Leila,
Regarding getting ready for homeschooling: we are. After four years in the public school system and about as many reading LMLD, my husband and I decided over the summer that this year, we’d educate the children at home. Thank you for planting that homeschooling seed. Even a year ago, I didn’t think we’d ever do it, but thanks to some divine intervention, we’ve found the means and the courage to forth! This blog is an apostolate, and I continue to learn so much about family life, truth, beauty, and humor. THANK YOU, Leila (and daughters!!!).
Michelle Kolozsvary says
Loved the links of dads saving the day and the wife caring for the husband with ALS. Tears!
Helena says
May I inquire which other colleges your children have attended?