Category: From the Vault

The Mom Weekly Volume 20: December 12, 2023

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a favorite feast at our house. I hope you kids remember some of the great shows that we have watched for this.

Wishbone (“What’s the story, Wishbone? What’s this your dreamin’ up?”). I wish that Wishbone were available on a streaming service, but alas. Think of all the great episodes we have seen, from Faust to Pride & Prejudice to David & Goliath!!! Here is a YouTube version of the Our Lady of Guadalupe episode. (And wow! Check out this short video from the makers of Wishbone about the making of it.)

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There was also the CCC version of “Juan Diego: Messenger of Guadalupe“. It looks like it’s available for streaming on Formed, which many parishes (including ours) offers, so you could watch it there for nostalgia’s sake.

From the Vault: True Confession to My Children, to be Read When You are Adults (November 2007)

[As I’ve said before, I don’t necessarily want so many to be “from the vault,” but this one is season-specific, so I am including here. And I keep thanking mid-aughts me for writing such fun posts, especially ones like this with an eye towards the future. I actually remember thinking back then, won’t this be fun for grown-up kids to read? I’m so glad I can share this now and laugh with all of you about it.]

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I have this blog as a journal for myself, a way to keep myself in practice writing (even quick little posts, not edited very well, help keep the words flowing). I also keep this as a kind of scrapbook to share with friends and family today, and also I think in some way to share with you, dear progeny, when you get older and are grown-ups yourself. 

We can all look back through this and laugh over funny things you used to say, or places we all went, or books we read, etc., etc. But I have to confess I am laughing and cringing at the same time, but I feel compelled to record for you and for posterity the true reality of our “learning lifestyle.”

A week or so ago, Into Great Silence arrived from Netflix (2023 note: this was when Netflix came in the mail as DVDs), and I thought: what a great pre-Advent reflection for us as a family. 

When we have a non-traditional movie (i.e., usually foreign language movie) to watch, I usually put it on the DVD player on a weekend afternoon when your Dad is in his library working on his dissertation, and he might get to see bits of it here and there. You kid, now 9, 7, and 4, go off and play with something else if you are not interested in the film, and sometimes I bring some filing or knitting to the couch so I can do two things at once. 

In this fashion we have successfully watched very interesting and slow-moving movies. Most times you three get very engaged with a movie, with Ideagirl reading the subtitles of foreign films for her younger siblings. (Remember “Children of Heaven?” or “The Cave of the Yellow Dog”?).

What happened last weekend was I put the movie in, and you kids were so excited to find out what was from Netflix! They lasted about 10 minutes, maybe.

I had some filing with me so I was not giving the documentary my full attention, and I kept getting lost and rewinding so I could see what was happening. Eventually you three starting fighting with each other and we all started getting cranky. I wasn’t getting my filing done! 

So, after a grand total of 43 minutes I took the DVD out. On television at that time was Hallmark Channel (I think you had been watching Little House on the Prairie with a babysitter). And the movie on at that time was “Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus.” ​

And you know what? We watched it. We watched every last minute of it, and we were all completely entranced. 

Dad came in during a break in writing and said, “Look, honey, they let some women in the monastery” and made other clever comments (“I didn’t know Steve Gutenberg was a Carthusian”).

But he watched it too and we all laughed and got silly nervous to see if Christmas really would happen if Santa Claus didn’t meet Mrs. Claus by Christmas Eve. Then I taped on our DVR the sequel to it called “Meet the Santas” so we could watch that one another time.

So remember: I love a good cheesy made-for-television movie every so often (unlike books; there I am a total snob). And I have passed that legacy on to you, my dear, dear children! 

So when you kids are reading this years from now and wondering how you have such excellent taste in books and why you so much love for the occasional cheesy movie, you can thank your mother.

Interesting/Notable

​Round and Round​

I know I talked about this Hallmark Hanukkah movie last week. Those of us in St. Louis this weekend watched it and LOVED IT. I mean, 100 percent LOVED IT. 

It was not just good for a Hallmark movie, it was good for a movie! I would pay money to see it in the theater, and it is head and shoulders above any recent rom-com I can recall. So amazing!!! The dialogue was intelligent and charming, the actors were top-notch, and the plot itself was wonderful. A+++.

It is airing tomorrow night on the Hallmark Channel again, so either DVR it or find a way to watch this!!!

​An Ancient Solution to Our Current Crisis of Disconnection​

Here’s a quote that really jumped out to me: 

“By mastering the techniques of persuasion, students became proficient at spotting others’ manipulative use of language.”

This is really worth a read. There’s so much manipulation online and in discourse.

​Adaptation of “Miss Austen” filming​

An Action Item: Play Dreidel for Hanukkah

Hanukkah began last Friday night, and I have fond memories of playing Dreidel with you kids. Among the Christmas bins is a menorah, candles, and several dreidels. Do you remember how to play? It’s really easy, and can be played with poker chips, chocolate chips, or M&Ms. 

Remember also to continue to pray for peace in Israel and for safety for all people in that region. 

Since none of you kids will be home during Hanukkah, I will plan to make latkes later in December. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten!

What are you doing this weekend?

The Mom Weekly schedules to post on Tuesdays. One of the reasons for this is to encourage you (and me, too!) to think about weekend plans. All too often, I have let that go until Friday, and then it’s hard to get people together, or make plans for coffee, or figure out when you go to Mass (other than the default, which is what we typically do).

So, now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:

*faith—when are you going to Mass?

*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?

*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?

*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally)..

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The Mom Weekly Volume 18: November 28

Notes:

I don’t plan for “From the Vault” to be an every week occurrence, but this week it’s vital to have a birthday post for “Ideagirl”—the old blog moniker of our oldest. 

Remember how much I love you, 

Mom

From the Vault: Happy Happy Birthday Ideagirl! (November 2006)

original photo from the blog 🙂

Today you are nine. You wanted a neon-frosted birthday cake and you got one! It was bright and beautiful and bold, just like you, our first-born child.

I am so enormously grateful to be a mother, and I am so grateful that you were my introduction to motherhood. You are so full of life and love, and so energetic. In so many ways I was unprepared for motherhood, even at my advanced age (34 when you were born). But your father and I have learned together about the “awesome responsibility” as Pope John Paul II in a poem refers to parenthood. You have been a good teacher!

Two years ago, when we went to our family “Beach Week,” my oldest sister, your aunt, took you on her lap when we arrived. She looked at me and said, “I’d like to introduce you to my little sister Nancy.” (that would be me!). She, and others, have talked about how much we look alike. I think we are alike in so many ways, both good and bad, so I try to be better every day and be a good example for you.

Now that you have glasses we look even more alike. You love reading just as much as I do, and I love being able to introduce you to so many great books and authors and enjoy them with you, like Laura Ingalls Wilder or C.S. Lewis, Carol Ryrie Brink or Eleanor Estes.

One of your favorite birthday presents is a 5-basket Montessori sequential sewing kit, something you have asked for repeatedly. You progress to each new basket when you master the skills in the first one. You have always liked sewing but this is helping you become very careful with it and accomplished in sewing skills. As you were completing the running stitch exercise, and the stitches were so careful and so even, you said again and again with a huge smile, “I’m so proud of myself!” And we are proud of you, dear one.

Interesting/noteworthy

​Four Ways to be Grateful—And Happier— Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic

​How Travis Kelce Manifested the Best Year of His Life—WSJ Exclusive (gift link)

You’ve probably already seen this, but can there ever be enough fun news about today’s royal couple?

​A Different Kind of Family Tradition? A Big Holiday Trip Together​

We were ahead of our time in going to Italy & England for Thanksgiving several weeks ago. Also, I researched and prepped an interview for travel writer Seb Modak, the author of this article. 

An Action Item: Consider starting the St. Andrew Christmas Novena on November 30

That’s tomorrow! The St. Andrew Novena is an interesting novena. It starts on the feast of St. Andrew, which is November 30, and ends on December 24. You are meant to pray the pray 15x a day. You can read about it here on the Hallow website (and interesting side note: during Advent they will have Liam Neeson as the voice for C.S. Lewis reflections). 

Now, 15 times a day may seem like a lot, but it’s really not. I have an album in 15 photos of different artist versions of the prayer. Some are repeated. What I do is “favorite” a prayer once I’ve said it, and come back to the album when I have a chance. Once all of the photos are favorited, I’m finished for the day. The next day, I remove them from favorites, and so on, through the novena. It’s worked really well for me. This year I decided to create my own. I quickly created five different ones in a graphic design program, and they are now part of the album. 

Here’s one:

What are you doing this weekend?

The Mom Weekly schedules to post on Tuesdays. One of the reasons for this is to encourage you (and me, too!) to think about weekend plans. All too often, I have let that go until Friday, and then it’s hard to get people together, or make plans for coffee, or figure out when you go to Mass (other than the default, which is what we typically do).

So, now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:

*faith—when are you going to Mass?

*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?

*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?

*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally).

The Mom Weekly Volume 17, November 22, 2023

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TV, as most everyone knows, now stands for “Taylor’s Version.” Taylor’s Version identifies albums and songs that she has re-recorded entirely and re-released. Each album also has extra songs, “from the vault,” that she wrote at the time, but were not added to the album.

Here are two explainers about how it came about, and how she is in the process of re-recording and re-releasing each of her albums.

First of all, how great it is that Taylor came up with a good solution to a terrible thing that happened to her? Talk about making lemonade out of lemons. Someone wrote an article to this effect, which I cannot find, but makes the case that leveraging bad things is a good mental model to have when encountering difficulties.

I had a blog, “let mercy lead,” back when blogs were not much of a thing. And I didn’t become the Pioneer Woman or some other “big name,” but I did enjoy writing about our little family. As was common at the time, I gave each of you kids blog nicknames to protect your privacy. I made the blog private after I started writing book reviews online.

Anyway, some of those little essays are lovely. And so I’m going to re-share them here from time to time for nostalgia and fun. It’s kind of like my own Taylor’s Version.

Remember how much I love you,

Mom

From the Vault: Ain’t Gonna Study War No More (October 2006)

Little Max, now firmly three and a half, is perhaps a little too fond of swords and other fighting implements. He regularly asks for a gun, a “real gun to shoot the bad guys”. I’m not sure where he is getting this as we don’t watch violent television. (We have seen Narnia several times, but not recently) This is definitely a boy-wired thing.

Unfortunately, he likes to hit the girls with things. Really, anything. When he went for his 3-year check up at the pediatrician, he was firm about bringing along a weapon.

Dr. B., our wonderful soft-spoken pediatrician, said, “What’s that?”

“Oh, that my blue light saber.”

“What do you do with it?”

“I don’t hit my girls with it.”

Sigh; at least he knows what he is supposed to do, even if he can’t quite follow through. Not just true of 3-year-olds, Max; even moms have trouble doing the right thing.

About a month or so ago, he was fighting with the girls all too much. Finally, the girls wrote him a note while he napped, “Dear Max, Don’t hit us. We love you, but don’t hit us. Love, your Ideagirl and Homegirl.”

So I decided that we really are a peace-loving family, and after bedtime that night rounded up all the swords, light sabers, and other weapon-like objects in the house. Most were kept in the downstairs bathtub which is rarely used. I put them away where no one could find them, and braced myself for a storm the next morning. But I was going to stand firm!

Before Max even made it downstairs to discover his great loss, he collected a half-dozen or so of plastic hangers I had put in the laundry basket to bring downstairs. He arranged them in a circle on the living room floor, and announced, “These my boy bow and arrows.”

Homegirl pointed out calmly, “There’s a pink one there. That’s for a girl.”

Pause.

“No, it’s for boys. Boys like pink.”

He did notice over time and would periodically ask for the swords back, but he found other things to use as weapons and other ways to play.

The other day I finally took out the swords and shields, etc., so that Max could be St. Michael the Archangel yesterday for an all-saints party, and Peter Pevensie (of “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”) for Halloween. It has been lots of fun for everyone to run around the house saying, “For Narnia, and for Alsan!”

Not too much hitting just yet, either. And I’m praying for peace.

Interesting/Noteworthy:

​Busting Real Estate Collusion and Price Fixing with Attorney Mike Ketchmark ​

I haven’t listened to the entirety of this episode, but Financial Samurai is very solid on personal finance. This episode on the recent ruling against the National Association of Realtors is very David & Goliath.

​Beckham (Netflix)​

This is so, so well produced. I could care less about soccer/football (sportsball!) but the production value and the wealth of old footage makes this gripping and fascinating to watch.

​The American Multimillionaire Marxists Funding Pro-Palestinian Rage​

The China connection here is … odd.

​Related: The Bright Line Between Good and Evil​

If I were a betting person, I would bet that I of all people would be one of the last people to highly recommend a podcast episode from Sam Harris, one of the four horsemen of the New Atheism. But such is the state of the world, and here we are.

​The Other Ozempic Revolution–Helen Lewis in The Atlantic​

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An action item: seasonal cleaning and decluttering

If you haven’t done so already, consider putting away your summer clothes and taking out winter clothes, coats, and gear. I only did this myself a few weeks ago, but I was able to put together a bag of clothes and a box of books to take to Salvation Army.

I wish I could make it a whole-house decluttering in advance of the holidays, but something is better than nothing, so I’ll take it!

What are you doing this weekend?

You know the drill here–the bonus here is this weekend is Thanksgiving weekend. Now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:

*faith—when are you going to Mass?

*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?

*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?

*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally).