First of all, making the first hour of a “2 hour premiere” all about catch-up is totally lame. But, assuming we are grown up enough to get past that, what do we think? Who was Naomi? What did Hurley see? Is Charlie really dead? Why, in the future, does Jack want so desperately to get back to the island? Hypothesize. Educate us.

This morning, Gabrielle came rushing to my room, gasping and sobbing, weeping and wailing. Between great gasps for breath, whimpers, and snivels, she managed to choke out, “Raphael … hit … me … with … a very hard car!”

She continued to wail uncontrollably as I searched her body for injury. Finding none, I shouted above the sound of her cries, “Where are you hurt?” but she was howling too hard to answer.

Finally, I said, “I need to talk to that Raphael.”

At the sound of these words, the sobbing ceased. My distressed daughter found instant composure.

“He’s in his bedroom,” the victim told me plainly. “I’ll go get him for you.”

And then she skipped from the room.

Stories Sought
Faith & Family writer Susie Lloyd is seeking sources for an article she is writing for the magazine. She would like to profile Catholic families that have suffered tragic loss or have endured calamitous, life-altering events and come out the better for it in the end — with a more loving family, improved life perspective, and greater faith in God. If you have a story that meets these criteria and would be willing to share it for the benefit of others, please email her directly. Thank you!

Clothing for Moms
Reader Jennifer was inspired toward generosity by the clothing conversation going on below. She writes:

Could you put the word out to Mary (and anyone else for that matter) that if she needs adult clothes, I would gladly send her some. I’m mostly a small or medium, size 6 pants & jeans. I have some nice dressy stuff, plus some jackets and sweater sets and the like. Because I live in NJ, I have four seasons worth.

If Mary or anyone else would like to take her up on her offer, please email me and I will forward her your information.

Stain Removal Site
If your child uses Crayola products to create art where he shouldn’t (on clothing, furniture, or the dog) you can check out this handy site and look up the product used in order to find out how to get it out of all manner of inappropriate surfaces.
HT: Marie via email

Lent 101
It’s insane. Do you realize how almost Lent it is? Start thinking about the upcoming season and find the answers to some frequently asked questions about Lent with this helpful post at Marcel LeJeune’s blog.

Pro-Life Mom

Expectant mother Lorraine Allard learned the devastating news that she was in the advanced stages of liver cancer when she was four months pregnant …

Read the whole story here.
HT: Christi via email

Super Snacks
Finally, don’t forget to send me your Super Bowl recipes for Friday!

I went out for a few things after dinner tonight. When I returned home, I pulled into the driveway and stopped short.

A fox, not much bigger than a cat really, paused momentarily to stare back into the car’s headlights. His whiskers twitched and his eyes burned pale yellow. His fur shimmered in the light and seemed almost to glow, alive and white against the cold black of night. As I watched, he crept away with shoulders hunched. Suspicious, he glanced backward at me as he hastened toward the nearby woods. Paws padded gracefully over the ice-glazed driveway and he was gone.

But still my heart leapt. Because he was beautiful and unexpected. And like all things beautiful and unexpected, he spoke to me of something bigger and more majestic even than a snow shrouded fox that disappears into a winter night. He spoke of God.

and sneezed an enormous “Ker–choo!” right straight into a bag of overpriced produce:

Bless you.

The Super Bowl is Sunday! Does your family have a favorite football snack to share? I’d like to put together a collection of game day appetizers, snacks, and treats to post on Friday, so if you have a good one … blog it and send me the link or, if you don’t have a blog, just email me the recipe and I’ll post it for you. Thanks!

Ladybug likes cocoa.

A mom writes:

I am curious about how much clothing you have per child? I am going nuts over here with the amount. God provides! We are so very thankful — all our clothes have been hand me downs. But, they just keep coming! I know that I can say no thank you but I think to myself, maybe there is just one or 2 or more outfits that we really need in a big huge bag of 20! So, for free, I think-hey, it’s worth it!

So, anyway, my question is: do you have a set number of pants/shirts? Do you have the kids in uniforms? With all the changes of the seasons, we have such a huge amount of shorts/t-shirts/pants/shorts sweaters etc … the list could go on. Do you have any type of system that works for you?

Yes, I have a system. It’s called the Whine-About-It system. And it really works for me, but my family and friends sometimes grow tired of it, so I don’t necessarily recommend it for everyone.

Seriously, I have tried lots of systems and failed at pretty much every one of them. We too get many hand-me-downs and some of them I have been so grateful to receive, as they arrived at just the right time with just the right kinds of clothing for the kids, saving us a ton of money.

But. I learned the hard way that I do sometimes have to say “no thank you” because my kids do have enough to wear or because the items people are offering would be things I would need to store for a very long time before they saw any use. A mother’s time and energy are valuable commodities and you need to figure that cost into the “price” of a free bag of clothing. If your kids have enough to wear, is it really worth the time and energy to sort through a giant bag of hand-me-downs for one or two extra items? You just might be better off saving your sanity by declining the clothing and allowing someone else to benefit from it.

As tempting as my idea of paper pants might be, in the end, we must admit that kids need clothing. And we mothers need to acquire it, organize it, and launder it. The more kids we have, the bigger that job is going to be, even if we do limit the number of outfits each child has.

And one more thought about storing clothing: A few years back, I opened some old bins and discovered very old baby items I had saved and never got around to using again. They were nice when I packed them in the bin, but when I opened it years later, they were in awful shape. Clothing does not store well forever. If you have kids’ clothing items that you know you won’t have a use for in the next 18 months or so, is it really worth holding on to? Just so that it can “go bad” in bags or storage bins? Better to pass it on to someone who could use it right now. When the time comes, if you need clothing in that size, God will provide it. He always does.

How about you? How do you handle kids’ clothing?

1. If you are a boy and your mother tells you on Sunday morning that the pants you have on are dirty and you cannot wear them to Mass, you will have to change. But if she neglects to tell you specifically that you must put them in the laundry, anything is fair game. You can totally take them off, kick them under your dresser, and leave them there until the next day when you have a doctor’s appointment. Your mom will be in such a rush getting out the door in the morning that she won’t even notice you are wearing the dirty, wrinkled, offensive pants until everybody notices you are wearing the dirty, wrinkled, offensive pants because you are wearing them under the bright lights of an exam room.

2. If you are a mother embarking on a 90 minute car ride in the cramped quarters of a Toyota Corolla with a 9 year old boy and 11 year old boy in the back seat, check under that seat before you close the doors and leave the driveway. The kinds of things you do not want them to have access to are a foam baseball bat and a plastic ice scraper.

3. If you are a wife and you allow your husband access to the family Netflix queue, date night will roll around and you will find yourself sitting down in front of this.

Have you hosted a great themed party in the last year?

We have a feature in Faith & Family called Party Planners where we showcase a real party (usually a child’s birthday, but other themed parties work as well) put on by a real Catholic family. We like to have a few photos as well as a bit of information about the party’s theme. If you have a party that you think might qualify and would like us to consider using it in the magazine, please email me!