Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the
grass; and taking the five loaves and the two
fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and
broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and
the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they
all ate and were satisfied. And they took up
twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
Matthew 14:19-20

Lord, this week keep us mindful of the fact that You
provide for all our needs and then some.

How uncool am I? It has taken me this long to finally find this place. If you like to read a lot of blogs or visit a lot of news sites, it’s a great online time-saver!

A Reader’s Question:
Can you write a How to Survive on No Sleep for Days manual? I would love any ideas on how to take care of a house full of children, shop, and not crash the car when the baby has been sick for a few (or more) nights in a row.

My Response:
I am so sorry your baby has not been feeling well. The best advice I can offer you would be to treat sleep-deprived days like the “emergency” situations they are. The older children may not be sick, but the baby is and your abilities are compromised from lack of proper rest. I would contend that situations like these are precisely why God gave us the wonderful gifts of DVD players and frozen foods.

You should not feel guilty about using “emergency measures” to survive an “emergency situation.” Let the kids watch TV or enlist an older one to read aloud to the younger ones while you and baby rest for a bit during the day. Also, I would recommend that you don’t do any unnecessary chores. For example, must you do laundry or could the family get through another day with what they are wearing or what’s in their dressers? Must you go to the supermarket or could you manage dinner (even a funny dinner) with what you have in the pantry?

I would further encourage you to appeal to your children’s “inner hero.” I often suffer from debilitating morning sickness in the first few months of pregnancy. In the past, I have been amazed by how willingly my children rise to the occasion with extra help when I let them know ahead of time how much I need them and appreciate their contributions. In fact, my husband would sometimes give the kids a “pep talk” about how it was going to be a hard day and how much Mama needed each of them to pitch in before he left for work. This worked wonders. Most kids really do want to be helpful and they are extra-motivated if you present it to them as a grown-up responsibility.

I think that some mothers feel guilty about asking their families to pitch in during trying times. I would argue, though, that teaching children to recognize and come to the aid of those in need is a valuable life lesson and your home is the perfect place to do that. You can even discuss with them how Jesus calls us to serve one another and point out that they are “visiting the sick” and performing other Works of Mercy when they lend an extra hand.

Hope your little one is feeling better and that family life can return to normal for you soon!

I can’t resist sharing just one more chicken picture. Here are “Sandy” and “Rockette.” Some of you may already know Rockette as she has her own chapter in My Cup of Tea.

is letting the chickens loose after dinner and chasing them through the herb garden. This is “Cotton Candy” who ate enough of my sage so that I think we wouldn’t need to stuff her before roasting.

Just kidding, of course. The only chicken we eat around here is named “Perdue.”

I am a firm believer in word of mouth advertising. If someone I know actually uses a product and likes it enough to tell me about it, that means more to me than any multi-million dollar extravaganza Madison Avenue can dream up. So in the interest of promoting good ole’ American capitalism, today I thought I would share the names of a few products that I use and that I truly believe do make family life easier or more enjoyable:

Kitchen Garbage Bags: I love the Gripper Garbage Bags from Hefty. The only question is: Why on earth did it take so many sloppy years for someone to realize that a kitchen garbage bag that sags down into the can is a major pain in the neck that leads to the still-messier work of scrubbing out the can?

Laundry Detergent: Here the Danielle’s Choice award goes to Tide Cold Water. Take it from a mom with loads of experience (heh, heh- I could not resist!) this stuff actually works. Even a woman who refuses to pre-scrub can wash in cold and still get clean clothes with this detergent.

Summer Treats for Mom: Wanna satisfy a summertime craving for something sweet and refreshing in just 90 calories? Hood Java Smoothies fit the bill. Save the ice cream for the kids and have one of these instead. You won’t miss the calories or the fat!

Boys’Socks: I recently switched from buying Billy the Kid socks to buying Hanes Boys’ Socks for one reason alone. In the Hanes socks, I get the same all-cotton, comfortable, durable socks with one difference–the stitching color varies according to size. Now sock-sorting detail is much simpler. Instead of holding up various individual socks one by one and trying to determine their sizes in order to match them properly, I look at the seams and find a mate right away. Blue for Eamon. Red for Ambrose. Green for Stephen. Phew!

Breakfast Cereal: Calling all moms who want to eat a sensible breakfast, increase their fiber intake, and make it until lunch without feeling starved out of their minds Kashi Golean Crunch is for you! My sister recommended this one to me a few months a go, and I have been hooked ever since. It’s high in protein, low in fat, high in fiber, and a bowl with skim milk and a cup of coffee is just plain yummy. Enjoy!

Toothpaste: My kids used to complain that grown up toothpaste was so minty it “hurt” their mouths. I didn’t want to bother with separate grown up and kiddie tubes of toothpaste so Crest Whitening Expressions Citrus Breeze became a reasonable compromise. Fluoride, whitening, yummy not-too-strong flavor what else could you want?

What products do you think are “family-friendly”? Let me know and maybe I can do a follow-up post on this topic. Oh and by the way, I am not a paid spokesperson for any of these products. If any of the above-mentioned companies wants to send me a check, however, I would be glad to cash it. Happy shopping!

I am sure you see many patients in a day, so perhaps you don’t remember me. I am the mother of Ambrose– the 6 ? year old boy who sat in your office with a worried expression yesterday afternoon.

I just wanted to say thank you.

Thank you for smiling, looking me in the eye, and introducing yourself when we met instead of breezing into the room and acting like you were doing us an enormous favor by showing up for our appointment.

Thank you for asking so many questions about my son’s health history and for taking thorough notes on everything I told you instead of assuming you already knew everything you needed to know and that I should just listen to you.

Thank you for talking to my son like the intelligent boy he is instead of cooing and condescending.

Thank you for giving me a clear explanation of the pros and cons of each of our options, giving me your opinion, and then asking me for mine instead of just dictating what “has” to be done.

Thank you for not falling on the floor in a faint when you heard about my other six children.

Thank you for using words like “please,” “thank you,” and “may I.”

Thank you for praising my initiative and answering honestly when I questioned you about your experience and background instead of being insulted or becoming defensive.

Thank you for speaking to us as a doctor who has significant but not infallible medical knowledge instead of as a god whose stated professional opinion ends all discussion.

We’ve seen our share of doctors over the years and this is the first time I’ve ever written a letter like this one. It’s the first time a doctor’s visit has warranted it.

Thank you.

These recent days have been filled with many little things: Swimming lessons, doctor’s appointments, grocery shopping, running errands. And each of these little things is made up of smaller things still: diaper changes, packing snacks, lugging babies, and buckling car seats Lest I despair, today I am keeping in mind the following thought:

Faithfulness in little things is a big thing.
St. John Chrysostom

It’s been a few years since we saw The Secret of Roan Inish but we watched it again last night. It’s a beautiful family movie filled with fun and fantasy. (It was in this movie that Dan & I first heard the name Eamon- we liked it!)

Dan took the kids to swimming lessons.

Seems like a simple, innocuous statement, doesn’t it? Well, in my head it sounds more like this: DAN TOOK THE KIDS TO SWIMMING LESSONS! and it is followed by a shriek of panic and a gargantuan anxiety attack.

I know I am supposed to want this kind of thing to happen. I am supposed to be delighted that my husband is eager to be an active, involved father. I should be thrilled to find myself alone at home with the baby for an hour and a half. But my inner control-freak won’t let me enjoy any part of it.

“You count those kids,” I instructed my long-suffering spouse as he packed the gang of them into the van. “Count them constantly. Those lifeguards are just college kids. They won’t be watching anyone–Do you hear me?”

He nodded. They waved. I panicked.

After watching the van pull out of the driveway, I returned to the house and paced the floors. I am still nursing a knot in my stomach. I don’t want to be liberated from my kids, I realize. It’s too hard on my nerves.