The Mom Weekly Volume 17, November 22, 2023
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
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).