Today I was watching the March for Life with my daughter and after she went to sleep I was "flipping" ("clicking", "checking"... whatever word fits here) through pictures on facebook and the news about it and I saw someone that looks VERY familiar. This is a face I will never forget - and not in a bad way.
The story goes back to November 21, 2009. I was an adult leader in charge of a very small group of students at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC). This was the last day of the conference and I wanted to partake in the sacrament of reconciliation before the big (AWESOME) closing mass, so after the last session of the day I headed over to where (I thought) all the priests were suppose to be. I found out that I was on the OPPOSITE side of the building than I was supposed to be, so I hustled over to where I was supposed to be only to discover that my lack of navigational skills placed me at the back of the line. And when I say I was at the back of the line, I WAS THE LAST PERSON in line. I called one of the other leaders to come get my group and take them to dinner and I would catch up with them later. Since my students were smart and had partaken in confession earlier in the day waiting for one of their sessions to start I didn't want to punish them by making them wait for me. I thought the line would go faster than it did and I waited for 90 minutes to have my confession heard. By this point I had 15 minutes to run down the Power and Light District (NCYC was in KC this year), find somewhere I could grab a very quick bite to eat, and somehow find my group at the spot we agreed we would meet. Well once I got to the spot we were going to meet I was VERY hungry and wanted to at least meet up with my group before going across the street to find some food. Well my group was NO WHERE to be found. (Side note: I am 5'0, so I am not a tall person which makes this more of a challenge). I must have looked like a little lost kid in Walmart because this (equally lost) priest asked me if he could help me. Well at this point I was exhausted, very hungry and my feet were hurting from walking for 3 days solid. I broke down crying. I explained I lost my group. I ached. And most of all I missed dinner because I was last in line for confession. I promise I must have sounded like the whiniest person on the planet because I just verbally exploded. Worst of all this wonderful God-fearing man was eating the most delightful smelling club sandwich and fries out of a to-go container. (One of my favorites!!) Knowing a little something about the food service business, I knew that this meal doesn't take long and I could possibly get one and still make it in the door in time for the closing ceremonies and mass I asked where he got it. He pointed to the bar across the street with a line half way down the block (Like almost every other joint at 645pm!!) I started walking across the street thinking I could get in quickly for a to-go order. I was told it would be at least 45 minutes before my food would be ready, so I left without food. Figuring I would just offer it up to Christ as a sacrifice I headed back to the huge crowd to once again look for my group. The priest saw me walking back over without a to-go container and summoned me. I explained that if I waited for food I wouldn't be able to have my hour of fasting prior to communion and I would get something after all the festivities (a minimum of 3 hours later). I think he knew desperation when he saw it. He had only ate half his sandwich and 3/4 of his fries. He offered them to me saying that no one should have to go hungry because of confession - I had chosen the greater good and should not be punished. I told him I wasn't going to take his food. He told me if I did not eat it he was going to throw it away and he hated wasting food when there were so many hungry people in the world. I told him he should eat it because he paid for it and there was no way what little he had eaten was enough to fill him up (he wasn't a short person by any stretch of the imagination). Well he told me he was done and it was all mine. After a few more rounds of "I can't take food away from a priest" he finally said, "don't you realize if I ever find which door I am supposed to be entering I am going to vest and feed you food from Heaven. You take food from a priest every time you attend mass." Well crap.... I was caught. I accepted his charitable offering and OH MAN DID IT TASTE AMAZING!! Hunger is the best seasoning! I tried to pay him for what I was consuming and he wouldn't take it. Stubborn priest! Since I had accidentally went in the wrong door the night before and ended up walking by the room the priests held their vestments in, I told him I knew where he was supposed to be and that he should follow me. As we walked to the other side of the building we got to talking. He was from the diocese of Helena, MT. He had been ordained a few years prior (something that was obvious from his youthful look - I actually was shocked at how long he had actually been a priest - 4 years. I thought he was NEWLY, and I mean only a few months ago ordained.) He was from the town outside where my husband and I had spent our honeymoon. His home parish was the same church we had attended while we were there. I kept gushing over how much I loved that town and my husband and I had talked about how awesome it would be to move there because we had fallen head over heels in love with the people, the town, the mountains, everything! When we finally got to the door he needed to be at, he looked at me and told me, "if you really want to repay me, pray for vocations in my diocese. We are really in a bind with limited numbers of priests." You know I never did ask his name (I copped out and just kept calling him Father and he kept answering to it!). I never did find my group until after the festivities. We met up at the hotel!
I think I saw him again today in a picture at the March for Life. He was surrounded by youth, nuns, and looked happy. I hope it was him.
So thank you Father - wherever you are these days. Thanks for answering your vocational call. Thank you for feeding me physically and spiritually that day. And most of all, know that I still pray for vocations in your diocese and all diocese and I am teaching my daughter to do the same. I think knowing that would make you smile.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Learning not to compare
I suffer from a condition where I always feel like I am failing as a mom. This has been made worse by my daughter's former pediatrician making me feel like a horrible mom because my daughter is off the charts tall and way below where she should be in the weight category. She is tall and thin. She doesn't look sickly and is very active - always walking and bouncing around. So am I starving my kid, NO!!! I mean what was God thinking when he gave me such a wonderful little kid? I am forever comparing myself to friends I know with kids a little older than my daughter and in my head I don't measure up. But I have been trying to figure out that not everyone is perfect and I need to stop being so hard on myself but when things like this happen...
So I was feeling especially exhausted a few days ago. I had got home from work at my usual time (3am) and my daughter was WIDE awake. Well since her dad had to work the next morning and I knew she wasn't going to go back to sleep anytime soon, so we went out to the living room (farthest we could get away from daddy so he could sleep) and couch for cuddle time. She was awake until 530! Talk about EXHAUSTED mommy. She woke up a little later than her normal 10am - she waited until 1030. Somehow those times don't add up. 2.5 hours of play time does not equal 30 minutes of sleep in time. So in the morning she had created one very nasty diaper. It was like road construction tar caked on her little tushy and wipes were NOT doing the trick. So at my wits end I decided to sit her on the toilet and use the cloth diaper sprayer to get off the majority before giving her a bath. Well the water coming out of the diaper sprayer is super cold and she DID NOT LIKE IT!! Poor baby!! But she did get a nice warm bath after with loads of play time. The entire time she was screaming because her bottom was super cold I was crying and trying to calm her down. As she was bathing I told her, "I know, I know, C's mom would never do this to her." Later on when she was happy because she got loads of play time in warm water I was reflecting on what happened and said to my little lady, "well yeah, C's mama might do it. I wouldn't put it past her to let her boys play in the mud then hose them down on the back porch before letting them come in the house too." Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to keep your life sane.
At the end of the day I have the happiest kid I know. She is fed, changed and safe. So I am doing ok, right?
So I was feeling especially exhausted a few days ago. I had got home from work at my usual time (3am) and my daughter was WIDE awake. Well since her dad had to work the next morning and I knew she wasn't going to go back to sleep anytime soon, so we went out to the living room (farthest we could get away from daddy so he could sleep) and couch for cuddle time. She was awake until 530! Talk about EXHAUSTED mommy. She woke up a little later than her normal 10am - she waited until 1030. Somehow those times don't add up. 2.5 hours of play time does not equal 30 minutes of sleep in time. So in the morning she had created one very nasty diaper. It was like road construction tar caked on her little tushy and wipes were NOT doing the trick. So at my wits end I decided to sit her on the toilet and use the cloth diaper sprayer to get off the majority before giving her a bath. Well the water coming out of the diaper sprayer is super cold and she DID NOT LIKE IT!! Poor baby!! But she did get a nice warm bath after with loads of play time. The entire time she was screaming because her bottom was super cold I was crying and trying to calm her down. As she was bathing I told her, "I know, I know, C's mom would never do this to her." Later on when she was happy because she got loads of play time in warm water I was reflecting on what happened and said to my little lady, "well yeah, C's mama might do it. I wouldn't put it past her to let her boys play in the mud then hose them down on the back porch before letting them come in the house too." Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to keep your life sane.
At the end of the day I have the happiest kid I know. She is fed, changed and safe. So I am doing ok, right?
Friday, January 11, 2013
They don't make them like they used to
For the feast of the Epiphany my little lady got 3 books and their corresponding stuffed friends. One of these was "The Velveteen Rabbit". I had seen this book in the kids section of Barnes and Nobel more times than I could count but had never read it. Not even in my childhood - at least not that I could remember. So why did I buy it without reading it you might ask. Well let me tell you ... I was in a hurry when I went shopping and didn't take the time to browse through it. Also I have made it my mission to instill a love of reading into my child so the more books the better, right?
Well the first time I read the book was the first time my little Missy-Moo got to hear it too. IT IS SO GOOD! It is well written. It has a good plot. There is substance to the story. It is like Aesop's fables (another book she got) - real stories with meat on the bones! I will admit she doesn't have the attention span yet for these long of stories, but I am looking forward to when she does!
I am always looking for good stories/books for the little one so if you have suggestions let me know!
Well the first time I read the book was the first time my little Missy-Moo got to hear it too. IT IS SO GOOD! It is well written. It has a good plot. There is substance to the story. It is like Aesop's fables (another book she got) - real stories with meat on the bones! I will admit she doesn't have the attention span yet for these long of stories, but I am looking forward to when she does!
I am always looking for good stories/books for the little one so if you have suggestions let me know!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Bathtime for my little button pusher
My daughter gets to enjoy the joy that I had growing up.... experiencing the fun of having her grandma (my mom) living next door to my grandparents (her great-grandparents). I always enjoyed being able to run next door anytime I wanted. (And there was always a nice neighbor to get a cup of flour or a couple eggs!) So here are a couple fun stories from yesterday. My little stinker was causing havoc at both houses.
We went to Grandma's house first. Grandma fed her a banana, cheerios, and milk. Well since it has been a few years since Grandma had to deal with babies she has forgotten a few of the essentials. Like, if you give the baby food and don't sit by, a BIG mess will be made. Well that mess meant the little lady got a bath. So my mom undressed my baby, including taking off her diaper, THEN decides to run the bath water. (If you have never bathed a baby, she did that backwards, water should be ready before the diaper comes off). Well I don't know why my mom thought the baby would just sit next to her while she got the bath tub ready, but she thought this. My little ornery angel decided to take full advantage of her new freedom and took a couple steps, then realizing that she could cover more distance faster on all fours, fell down to a crawl and took off like a greased pig after food. She made it out of the bathroom, down the hall, and halfway into the living room (a pretty good distance in this house) before my mom caught up to her. When I heard the unmistakable sound of the pitter-patter of little hands on hardwood I look in the direction it was coming from only to see my little angel in her birthday suit giggling, smiling, and crawling as fast as she could with my mom chasing after her saying, "Come back here you little squirt! Get back here! Come back! And DON'T PEE ON MY FLOOR!" She got her bath and fun playtime in the tub. She was in heaven!
Later we walked next door to play with the great-grandparents. She crawled loads of laps around the house, giggling, and generally having fun. When everyone was trying to watch the Saturday college football games, she kept trying to change the channel. You see my daughter has learned to push the buttons on the remote and phone. She had made 6 phone calls from my phone the day before (that was before I took the phone away from her). Well at grandparents' house, she kept trying to get the remote, so my uncle gave her a remote from an old VCR player that was still in the house. She kept pushing the buttons, then would look at the TV to see what would happen. When nothing happened she got confused, yelled at me, then threw the remote. Later I gave her a plastic phone to play with. It took her about 5 seconds to realize it wasn't real, she yelled at me and threw it across the room. You see my little button pusher actually knows what happens when you push buttons and doesn't like it when she doesn't get her intended results.
We went to Grandma's house first. Grandma fed her a banana, cheerios, and milk. Well since it has been a few years since Grandma had to deal with babies she has forgotten a few of the essentials. Like, if you give the baby food and don't sit by, a BIG mess will be made. Well that mess meant the little lady got a bath. So my mom undressed my baby, including taking off her diaper, THEN decides to run the bath water. (If you have never bathed a baby, she did that backwards, water should be ready before the diaper comes off). Well I don't know why my mom thought the baby would just sit next to her while she got the bath tub ready, but she thought this. My little ornery angel decided to take full advantage of her new freedom and took a couple steps, then realizing that she could cover more distance faster on all fours, fell down to a crawl and took off like a greased pig after food. She made it out of the bathroom, down the hall, and halfway into the living room (a pretty good distance in this house) before my mom caught up to her. When I heard the unmistakable sound of the pitter-patter of little hands on hardwood I look in the direction it was coming from only to see my little angel in her birthday suit giggling, smiling, and crawling as fast as she could with my mom chasing after her saying, "Come back here you little squirt! Get back here! Come back! And DON'T PEE ON MY FLOOR!" She got her bath and fun playtime in the tub. She was in heaven!
Later we walked next door to play with the great-grandparents. She crawled loads of laps around the house, giggling, and generally having fun. When everyone was trying to watch the Saturday college football games, she kept trying to change the channel. You see my daughter has learned to push the buttons on the remote and phone. She had made 6 phone calls from my phone the day before (that was before I took the phone away from her). Well at grandparents' house, she kept trying to get the remote, so my uncle gave her a remote from an old VCR player that was still in the house. She kept pushing the buttons, then would look at the TV to see what would happen. When nothing happened she got confused, yelled at me, then threw the remote. Later I gave her a plastic phone to play with. It took her about 5 seconds to realize it wasn't real, she yelled at me and threw it across the room. You see my little button pusher actually knows what happens when you push buttons and doesn't like it when she doesn't get her intended results.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Daddy thinks it's funny!
My husband has trained our daughter to do what I call her little "parlor tricks." He says "clap, clap" and she starts smiling, giggling and clapping. When he says "dance, dance." She starts bouncing up and down.
I have taught her to give kisses and hugs. Also, I have her trained to giggle when I shake my head.
This being said, tonight I was laying on my back with my daughter sitting on my tummy when her dad called saying he was on his way home from work. When I put him on speakerphone he said, "dance, dance," and she instantaneously started bouncing up and down.... ON MY BLADDER that wasn't exactly empty.
She started giggling. He started laughing when he found out what she did. It was cute though. She was excited to hear his voice and couldn't contain herself. It was so cute. LOVE!
I have taught her to give kisses and hugs. Also, I have her trained to giggle when I shake my head.
This being said, tonight I was laying on my back with my daughter sitting on my tummy when her dad called saying he was on his way home from work. When I put him on speakerphone he said, "dance, dance," and she instantaneously started bouncing up and down.... ON MY BLADDER that wasn't exactly empty.
She started giggling. He started laughing when he found out what she did. It was cute though. She was excited to hear his voice and couldn't contain herself. It was so cute. LOVE!
You get what breed
First let me say, I am not perfect. I make mistakes ... usually multiple times a day. But something has been bugging me a lot lately and has made me reflect on myself and how I am as a mother. I know two different moms that have out of control children, and I believe that they set themselves up for a tough situation.
Both moms routinely call their kids negative names (not curse words), but names like "Devil boy", "Little Monster", "P.I.T.A" - ok, so the last one is curse words. (Pain in the a$$ in case you didn't know that one) I asked both moms why they do this and they said that their boys are out of control and don't listen. Even when I pointed out that they have become what their moms expect of them, both said "oh just wait, your daughter will become just as bad."
Well I hope not. I think that by POSITIVELY reinforcing children they can be well adjusted. Now, that is not to say I don't call my daughter names that are not on her birth certificate. But lets look at some of these:
Little Miss Bedhead - This seems odd, but for someone with as short of hair as she has, she can root around enough when she is asleep to create some amazingly difficult bedhead to deal with. I sometimes take pictures of it to showcase her ability!
Miss Sassy Pants - She is not lacking in personality. Actually she is one of the happiest babies I have ever seen. And I am not the only one that thinks this. With all this personality comes sassiness. It is who she is. She crinkles her nose and snorts, moves her face to right in front of yours to get your attention then giggles, things like this. She knows how to get a smile and does her little tricks to get the smile or laugh she wants.
Stinkerpants - This may seem negative, until you realize I call her this when she has a LOADED diaper. Everyone poops - it is a natural process. It isn't a degraded thing I say 24/7... and it is said jokingly. Whenever I am calling her this, she is giggling... it almost like she lies in wait for me to discover the surprise she has for me then giggles when I tease her about it.
And of course there are the uplifting ones:
Angel - She is our little gift from God.
Sweetie - Again, happy baby. Sweet hearted kid
Pumpkin - She was born in October. I looked like I had swallowed the Great Pumpkin when I was about to deliver her. She has been my little pumpkin since before she was born.
Cuddlebug - My little angel loves to snuggle. I think if she could get someone to carry her everywhere she might allow it to happen... that is until she wants to get down and play.
So my hope is that my positive reinforcement of my daughter leads to more angelic than demonic behavior. Don't get me wrong, my daughter isn't all sugar and spice all the time, but she is more sweet than bitter!
Both moms routinely call their kids negative names (not curse words), but names like "Devil boy", "Little Monster", "P.I.T.A" - ok, so the last one is curse words. (Pain in the a$$ in case you didn't know that one) I asked both moms why they do this and they said that their boys are out of control and don't listen. Even when I pointed out that they have become what their moms expect of them, both said "oh just wait, your daughter will become just as bad."
Well I hope not. I think that by POSITIVELY reinforcing children they can be well adjusted. Now, that is not to say I don't call my daughter names that are not on her birth certificate. But lets look at some of these:
Little Miss Bedhead - This seems odd, but for someone with as short of hair as she has, she can root around enough when she is asleep to create some amazingly difficult bedhead to deal with. I sometimes take pictures of it to showcase her ability!
Miss Sassy Pants - She is not lacking in personality. Actually she is one of the happiest babies I have ever seen. And I am not the only one that thinks this. With all this personality comes sassiness. It is who she is. She crinkles her nose and snorts, moves her face to right in front of yours to get your attention then giggles, things like this. She knows how to get a smile and does her little tricks to get the smile or laugh she wants.
Stinkerpants - This may seem negative, until you realize I call her this when she has a LOADED diaper. Everyone poops - it is a natural process. It isn't a degraded thing I say 24/7... and it is said jokingly. Whenever I am calling her this, she is giggling... it almost like she lies in wait for me to discover the surprise she has for me then giggles when I tease her about it.
And of course there are the uplifting ones:
Angel - She is our little gift from God.
Sweetie - Again, happy baby. Sweet hearted kid
Pumpkin - She was born in October. I looked like I had swallowed the Great Pumpkin when I was about to deliver her. She has been my little pumpkin since before she was born.
Cuddlebug - My little angel loves to snuggle. I think if she could get someone to carry her everywhere she might allow it to happen... that is until she wants to get down and play.
So my hope is that my positive reinforcement of my daughter leads to more angelic than demonic behavior. Don't get me wrong, my daughter isn't all sugar and spice all the time, but she is more sweet than bitter!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Two simple words make all the difference...
Yes, I am going to talk about the two hardest words any person needs to utter.... "I'm sorry." Apparently people have forgotten how to say them!
Today the little lady and I went to the grocery store (not as easy when the one you are with is squirmy and wants to climb out of the cart....but I digress)... As I was getting her out of the car out of the corner of my eye I saw a large teenager who just happened to be Hispanic.... he was running towards me/my car and screaming. Well his intended target was his friend in the car next to us. He wanted to spook her, but instead he nearly made me pee myself. I almost dropped my daughter I was so frightened. Instead I kinda squeezed her a little harder than I intended and turned my back to him. When he started laughing at scaring his friend I turned around and in my very angry mommy voice screamed at him, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"
His lame response: "What, I thought you saw me."
Me: "I saw you after you scared the life out of me. What were you thinking? Were you even thinking? Did you not see me getting an infant out of the back of a car? Do you realize I almost dropped her? You need to be aware of your surroundings!"
Him: "Lady, chillax (I HATE THAT WORD! YOU MIGHT AS WELL JUST RUN YOUR NAILS DOWN THE CHALK BOARD NOW!) I was just playing a harmless joke." Then he walked away from me leaving me very very upset.
So what did I do? Well since this young inconsiderate individual works at the store (yes, he did this in his work uniform), I decided to do what any good mom would do.... I tattled. It didn't hurt that the assistant manager was one of the first people I saw when I walked in the store. So I told him what his employee was doing (on property and in uniform no less), how upset it made me, and how unprofessional I found it to be. His response, "I will talk to him."
At no point did either of these gentlemen say they were sorry. The guy who scared the crap out of me and my daughter thought it was funny (but what do you expect from a teenager, right?). The manager (who I thought might understand my point because he was about my parent's age) didn't even seem all that concerned about it. I highly doubt anything is done about this. But I bet, had I actually dropped my daughter and I threatened a law suit there would be loads of people appologizing for the stupidity of one.... or maybe not....
Glad I didn't have to find out.
Today the little lady and I went to the grocery store (not as easy when the one you are with is squirmy and wants to climb out of the cart....but I digress)... As I was getting her out of the car out of the corner of my eye I saw a large teenager who just happened to be Hispanic.... he was running towards me/my car and screaming. Well his intended target was his friend in the car next to us. He wanted to spook her, but instead he nearly made me pee myself. I almost dropped my daughter I was so frightened. Instead I kinda squeezed her a little harder than I intended and turned my back to him. When he started laughing at scaring his friend I turned around and in my very angry mommy voice screamed at him, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"
His lame response: "What, I thought you saw me."
Me: "I saw you after you scared the life out of me. What were you thinking? Were you even thinking? Did you not see me getting an infant out of the back of a car? Do you realize I almost dropped her? You need to be aware of your surroundings!"
Him: "Lady, chillax (I HATE THAT WORD! YOU MIGHT AS WELL JUST RUN YOUR NAILS DOWN THE CHALK BOARD NOW!) I was just playing a harmless joke." Then he walked away from me leaving me very very upset.
So what did I do? Well since this young inconsiderate individual works at the store (yes, he did this in his work uniform), I decided to do what any good mom would do.... I tattled. It didn't hurt that the assistant manager was one of the first people I saw when I walked in the store. So I told him what his employee was doing (on property and in uniform no less), how upset it made me, and how unprofessional I found it to be. His response, "I will talk to him."
At no point did either of these gentlemen say they were sorry. The guy who scared the crap out of me and my daughter thought it was funny (but what do you expect from a teenager, right?). The manager (who I thought might understand my point because he was about my parent's age) didn't even seem all that concerned about it. I highly doubt anything is done about this. But I bet, had I actually dropped my daughter and I threatened a law suit there would be loads of people appologizing for the stupidity of one.... or maybe not....
Glad I didn't have to find out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)