collection and photo credit: Kateri

It’s time to do your Faith & Family homework again. Send along your (short!) answers to the questions below and you might just see your words of wisdom published in a future issue!

Say What?
What do you say to a friend who tends to share too much information with you about her sex life?

Do What?
In what creative ways do you thank a teacher or coach at the end of the year?

Click here to send me your answers!

Fast: Don’t compare or complain. Do compliment.

Pray: Ask God to make you humble and lowly.

Give: Pack a picnic and go somewhere to eat it with your children. If the weather is prohibitive, build a tent in the living room and it eat there. Sit on the ground with them. Be fully present.

So I’ve been holding myself back. But I think today we simply must talk about the important stuff. Like isn’t this child just the sweetest, goofiest, most talented little bit of a thing you’ve ever bumped into on your television set?

I did not watch the whole show the other night, but I don’t have to. I didn’t watch all of the girls perform, but who cares about them? Are they this sweet? Are they this cute? Are they this wanna-pinch-your-darling goofy-cheeks-even-if-you-sang-a-stupid-John-Lennon-song?

I didn’t think so.

I thought I might share a bit of my world view today. Here’s a peek behind the curtain of the window that is located next to my computer desk.

Note the snow that is creeping ever upward, past the window. Note the small arsenal of weaponry some child has saved for a future fight.

I keep this curtain closed.

Gabby: You are so good at toast, Mama.

Me: Thank you.

Gabby: No, I mean really good. You make good butter toast and good honey toast and good jelly toast and good cinnamon toast. You are good at all the toasts. You are just the toastest mama ever.

And so I am convinced. If ever I feel unappreciated around here, it is only because I am not looking in the right places and not listening to the right people.

Who can resist these cheery butterflies dancing about for your morning entertainment? This coffee mug, custom designed by Kateri, is among a few new products that she has helped me add to the collection at the DanielleBean.com online store. Check it out!

Fast: We’re half way through. Compare yourself now only to yourself when Lent began. Tweak the plan.

Pray: Insist on quiet from all your children during naptime today. Pray the Divine Mercy chaplet.

Give: Reach out to a local friend today. Reconnect.

We’ve barely been plowed out really, and so, though Dan made it to work and back, I was unable to leave the house today. Tonight, however, as a still heavier snow began to fall and forecasters promised up to 4 more inches, I grew desperate. While other New Englanders might be stocking up on bread and milk, my stalwart husband is on a different mission. He just shoveled his way out of the driveway and is making his way over slippery roads to the nearest store to buy … Diet Coke and diaper cream.

He loves me.

The right hand is for holding the fork. The fork is for poking and smooshing the food. The left hand is for cramming the poked, smooshed food into your mouth.