I'm not a pessimist. I'm a realist. But Becca is the eternal optimist. There she goes, writing about how her kids make her more virtuous. Well I don't know what kids she's talking about, but my kids certainly make me less virtuous. Here's how:


1. They make me more selfish.
It's not fair that Joseph gets all of the cool lego. I've worked all my life to reach the point where I can afford to buy lego, when I want, and what kind I want. But nooooo, his uncles and aunties keep giving him lego. Meanwhile I'm left to spend my hard earned cash on things like diapers.

And then there's just last week where Becca had a large gift certificate to spend at a local clothing shop. Joseph and John Paul got decked out in the fanciest underarmour-mexx-er-fox clothing you ever did see. Call me selfish, but it's not fair. Deep down inside I seethe at them.

More like:

2. They make me slovenly.

What's that saying? Cleanliness is next to Godliness?

Once upon I'd be ashamed to have a living room like this. Now? Meh. Really, it's not that bad. At least they're quiet.

And it's not just them. I leave stuff all over now too. Why I left Joseph's clothes all over the bathroom this morning before going off to work. I suppose I could've picked them up... never mind I had been up since 3:30am dealing with wet beds and crying kids. I suppose I should've picked up those pee-ridden jammies. But I didn't. Perhaps by my 8th cup of coffee I might've. Blame the kids.

My kids make me slovenly.


3. They pick up on my bad example.
Yesterday at lunch Joseph started talking about some other kid. That's all nice and good. Except he very nonchalantly was referring to the kid as the "brat." Becca then pointed out I had just been using that word (probably in reference to a student... not that I would actually ever call students brats...). So there you go. I give a bad example. The boys pick up on it. Double the sin for half the effort. What a bargain!


4. They make me ignore my wife.

"Boys, come for supper!"

"Boys, get ready for bed!"

"Boys, you better not be eating chips on the coach and watching TV! I said you had to clean up!"

Poor Becca. We get into a lot of trouble. We play to the point of not obeying her. It's not that we try, we're just too busy to notice her. But I suppose a married man is supposed to do better. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and hey are those chips! Jooooooseph! Come here!


5. They make me proud.
Pride is the root of all sin. Pride goeth before the fall. But, golly gee, I just can't help being proud of my kids!

5 Ways my Kids are making me More Virtuous

Is this God's big, funny plan when He blesses couples with kids? To make the parents more virtuous? After all, marriage has to be sanctifying somehow...

1. They make me less selfish.
Deep down, I know that it's true - I'm very selfish, self-centered. I want to do what I want when I want to. Nothing squashes your selfishness like having little kids around 24/7. They are needy. All the time. I must wipe butts, change diapers, get drinks, make food, put on socks... everything. Where I'd like to have an organized day and everything in my house just so, my kids will doubtless put a wrench in things. And that is so good for me! Because the more I die-to-self, the happier I am, the happier my kids are, and the happier lives we lead.

2. They make me accountable.
Having kids is almost like having a second conscience. Or maybe it's just that when you have kids your conscience is in hyper-mode. Ever feel like going and eating all the ice cream or all the chips when no one is looking? Yep! It's tempting to do things we shouldn't when we think no one is looking. But kids... they're watching all the time (except when they nap!!) and they're mighty loud about it. When I get carried away on the computer essentially wasting my time, my kids complaints remind me that that's not what I'm supposed to be doing. If I'm trying to sneak a goody right before supper, there's bound to be someone smelling the treat.

3. They make me give a good example. 
"Teach me how to be good," Joseph tells us. I'm supposed to be good, supposed to be treading the straight and narrow road to sanctity. But if that thought doesn't spur me on to virtue, knowing I'm supposed to be making little saints of my kids just might. And so I pray with them, take them to Mass, teach them kindness and manners, knowing that it's good for them. But knowing that I need it as much or more than they do. Somehow I got out of the habit of saying "please" at some point; having kids has made me watch my manners. Somehow I got into the habit of interrupting people; well, I'm working on it.

4. They bring me out of myself. 
Although I'm an extroverted type, I'm not always one to go introduce myself into a situation or offer a helping hand. Having kids on hand has made me do this. Partly because I need to set that example for them and partly because I'm more aware of people around me because of my kids. My three-year-old was the one who kept mentioning our neighbour's garbage can was still out on the road after garbage day; he was the one that saw the ambulance take the same neighbour to the hospital before Christmas; he was the one worried for the dog left behind and wondering where the neighbour went. Taking in the neighbour's garbage can and knocking on his door to check in on him was an exercise in charity for me and a hard one at that. But to see the smile, the thankfulness on the man's face that someone was thinking of him... My kids make me less cautious, more willing to go out of my way to help others.

5. They make me love more.
There is nothing like the wave of love that goes through you when you see your baby for the first time. The baby you've loved for 9 months already without meeting him or her. And to think that God's love for us is so much greater than this love we have for our children. Children teach us how to love: They stretch the bounds of our love as crying, waking infants; they see value and beauty in everyone from the old, frail man to the little child with disabilities; they see the needs of the neighbour that has Alzheimer's disease and the one with the leg infection. And they challenge me to love more. Not not just love them more, but love everyone around me more.

Learning Hockey with S'pee'd

If we treated our kids like we did this blog then I'm sure social services would be all over us for such neglect. Though I swear our blog is treated with neglect due to our time spent with our kids. Nevertheless, we haven't blogged in a while (especially Becca... she's the real problem here). It's late and I need to go to sleep. What to do?

I suppose there's always the safe option. Pick a theme with the boys. Update a few going-ons. Maybe add a cute saying or two. Then some pictures. And close with some pithy about the topic.

Alright then.

Topic: Hockey

Update: Joseph has really taken to skating.

Of course we all know how he fell in love with hockey while watching the world juniors this past Christmas holiday. It got to the point that I had to finally kick him out of the room during the final game because he just wouldn't shut up. "My helmet is black with a visor and those guys have a black helmet and a visor! Hey I have my hockey skates on too! I'm playing with those guys! We're listening to music while we play!" Meanwhile Canada just gave up three quick goals to Russia. Out you go Joseph!

However, we managed to make it out to Nipawin the past two weeks to give Joseph more skating time (and eat pie, of course). What started out as a barely-stand-on-his-skates has very quickly turned into a little boy skating all over the ice. He's just a natural athlete, that boy. I teach many many kids phys ed, but there are usually only two or three true athletes in each class. Joseph can do more than many of my older students. So naturally he has taken to skating, and hockey. And he's so proud of himself! But wait, that's for the cute saying department...

Cute Saying: At first Joseph would hit the puck and skate, but not really understand what was going on. Even when we play in our basement he doesn't get what we are doing with the stick and the puck. But ahaaa! On Sunday, after over an hour outside, something finally clicked inside his brain! "Sticks are for shooting, Mom!"

Yes they are Joseph, yes they are.

Cute Saying #2: Joseph was so proud of how fast he could skate. How proud? Well after we came in from a two hour session outside I sat him down on the toilet. Clearly he needed to pee real bad, and out it came in a hurry. He noticed too, and excitedly proclaimed: "I'm peeing real fast... just like I skate real fast!"

Pictures:

Poor John Paul has been dying to learn how to skate. I take him around the ice, but he's very desperate to skate on his own.

Closing Pithy: I know I know, I shouldn't live my life through my child's. I can't force Joseph, or John Paul, to make the NHL. Nor should I. I'm actually very pleased that Joseph loves all sports, each in their proper season. But especially hockey. There's just nothing like it. If he doesn't make the NHL (I suppose that's a possibility), great. If he does, that would be $weet. Nevertheless, may he grow up enjoying the game. May his shots be hard. May his dekes be beautiful. May his skating be fast...

...just like his peeing.

Family "Prayer"

What's this? Scare quotes on Family "Prayer?" Where do I begin?

Single Life of Prayer

Single life was pretty good, prayer-wise (keeping in mind that once you think something is good and holy, you then realize how proud you are, and around and around we go). Yes those were the days. I was having vivid flashbacks the other day of me, a single male in Barry's Bay, ON, and I was praying a holy hour at adoration. Can you imagine? Hasn't happened since. Not since Becca and the boys came along. Clearly married life is hazardous to your spiritual health.

Isn't the single life positively monkish! All the Mass, prayer, and confession a guy could ask for! Here's the problem though, no matter how much time I spent at the church as a single person, or volunteered doing various activities, yes no matter how much, I always had more free time than I could ever dream of now. Even if I was up from 6am and prayed and worked and helped the poor until 9:00pm, I still had that hour before bed to do whatever I want. 

Married Monk

Monkish? Actually, that would be married life. Monks, or at least the ones we read about in saintly books, have nearly every minute of their day planned. Rise at dawn. Pray. Help the poor. Repair a well. Pray some more. Go to bed. Maybe even rise in the night to pray. How giving. How saintly. How like marriage. Of course marriage has many similarities to monastic life. Especially the rising in the middle of the night. But then we return to that original problem: Family "Prayer."

The problem is that no matter how inherently saintly marriage and family life can be, does not one have to also pray? You know, talk with God from time to time? Have a chit chat if you will? A little "what-ho" and all that? Ahh, there's the scare in "prayer."

Child's Play

After nearly five years of marriage, and almost three and a half of those with at least one child, I've finally realized that I seem to have forgotten how to pray. I think if I ended up for a whole hour in adoration I would: a) distractedly wonder what the family is doing, and b) stare sheepishly at the monstrance like someone who has been ignoring his friend for the last few years and finally ran into the friend on the street.

But it's not for lack of effort (I hope)! Have you ever tried praying vespers with John Paul crying and kicking and Joseph whining that nobody is paying attention to him... every night? Sort of like trying to tell your wife you love her, while the game winning touchdown is just being thrown. It's, well, distracting. The effort is there, but holy cow did you see that catch?

Kids are distracting. And the problem is, they're always there. Want to go drive across town and pray in a church? "Daddy where are you going? I want to come! Let's drive our firetruck there! Here put on your helmet. Can we read books there? Maybe we can have a doughnut! Hey, let's go to the park!" Or want to pray a rosary together as a family at night? "Let's have a competition John Paul, we'll see who can get in the most trouble!"

But before you go ahead and think that kids must be a work of the devil to drive away a prayer life from well-meaning adults (I'm only slightly suggesting that), there's one thing that just doesn't shake out of my mind: little children teach us how to pray.

I recall the Joseph who innocently sings his angel of God prayer every night with a soft and perfect tone. He then recites a Hail Mary. All this while kneeling in front of his crucifix with his hands folded. Yes, with the thumbs ever so gently forming a cross, like his daddy taught him. And then he responds to my "St. Joseph" with a determined "pray for us" before pausing and adding on his own accord: "St Andddre..." To which I add "pray for us." Then as I pull him into bed he protests by asking: "Dad, I want to kiss baby Jesus in the manger, and Mamma Mary and St. Joseph." Greedy, but in a good way. So I bring him the tiny statues and he kisses them with the sweetest of kisses, and lies down in bed. Then he somewhat goofily asks: "Daddy, teach me how to be good." I tell him to love God, and to listen to Mommy and Daddy. Then he asks to sing a song. Immaculate Mary is sung. He snuggles close to me, and the room is suddenly as peaceful as a room full of angels, praising God with innocence, trust, and childlike love. And that is what is happening. And as custom, I begin my rosary. Both tired parents begin their rosary separately at times, only to meet up later. Sometimes another little boy joins them to finish it. Mommy and daddy kneeling, John Paul with one rosary, or both of ours, chewing them and soaking in the moment. We finish our rosary, and wearily head over to bed. Another day of war finished. Only to be awoken for sure in the night, when it all starts over again. Where will our minds be? Is there a chance they will be somewhere near heaven? Above the diapers and cries and even smiles?

"Daddy, teach me how to be good."

"Joseph, teach me how to pray."

Gaudium et Spes

It is tempting to let my brain turn to mush now that I am no longer working on my M.A. But that would be a shame now wouldn't it? This big beautiful brain of mine... Not that constant teaching and re-teaching grade 5ers how to properly use capital letters and periods isn't stimulating. But some days I can only handle so many page long "sentences." So this following post is just a short theological review, more for my own sake. If you learn something, great. If you skip over it, well, I'm hurt and deeply offended and I hope your puppy pees in your corn flakes. The topic I have chosen is Gaudium et Spes.

Now Gaudium et Spes is actually the Vatican II Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. Church documents usually are lacking in the title department. When I think of Gaudium et Spes, I think of St. John Paul II. He is often credited with being the mastermind behind this document. And when I think of St. John Paul II, I think of Charles Dickens. Don't you?

For instance:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way..." - Introduction to A Tale of Two Cities

vs.

"The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men..." Introduction to Gaudium et Spes


The Dickens I say! Yes, Gaudium et Spes is a little wordy, in a very profound sort of way, but still worth the read. Why? Because it actually plants the seeds for future teachings.


What's it all about?

Essentially Gaudium et Spes teaches on the dignity of man and what this means as the Church tries to guide souls to Christ in the midst of these crazy modern times. What is this dignity? “[The] dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God" (par. 19). To live this out, many important topics are discussed such as the human intellect, conscience, freedom, moral relativism, as well the dangers of atheism and the need to act for the common good (par. 15-21, 30). However, there is one important topic I will go into slightly greater detail with: marriage.


Mawwiage

Love Humanae Vitae? St. John Paul II actually laid the groundwork for it in Gaudium et Spes. Gaudium et Spes comes out by boldly proclaiming marriage and the family to be so vital to society that once the family disintegrates, so too does society (par. 47). Paul VI would late echo this sentiment. May I also, in my own non-Papal way, echo this sentiment. As a teacher I can firmly conclude that the biggest scourge I face at school is actually that far too many of the kids I teach come from broken homes. It is devastating. Why, at this very instance one of my students is dealing with his parents breaking up. The boy, the kindest happiest boy you'd ever meet, is a totally different person. In many ways he's shell-shocked. The dignity of the human person demands a total self giving in marriage. Divorce, polygamy, the spirit of free-love, are all condemned by Gaudium et Spes not because God wants us to be boring or something, but because they attack the dignity of the human person and the person's true calling (par. 47). They devastate lives. 

But Gaudium et Spes doesn't stop at divorce, polygamy, and free-love (if you know what I mean), it tackles contraception. Gaudium et Spes teaches that, in accord with human dignity, the two ends of marriage, unity and procreation, must be preserved. The very dignity of the human person demands a total giving of self in love, and this love must never be separated from God’s plan in marriage. That would be like trying to remove letters from words, or hockey from Canada, or food from John Paul's mouth (my John Paul, not St. John Paul...). In other words, the developing contraceptive mentality of the world is stated by Gaudium et Spes as being contrary to the life-giving, loving, and faith-filled atmosphere which the Church prizes through the sacrament and role of marriage in society. Thus, Gaudium et Spes rightly states: “the Church issues the reminder that a true contradiction cannot exist between the divine laws pertaining to the transmission of life and those pertaining to authentic conjugal love” (par. 51). BAM! Human dignity demands that openness to life is inseparable from marriage.

Hey you. Wake up! I'll stop, I promise. But you need to know this, Gaudium et Spes presents undeniable philosophical reasoning which must continue guide the Church in these modern times. You know, for instance, in case there was ever a Synod on the family or something... Morality, human dignity, and our eternal end is not something made up by the Church, it comes from the source of all truth, God. 

And if you understand this you're more Catholic than those German cardinals out there. 
But don't just understand this. Live it.

9 months 9 months 9 months

John Paul is 9 months old (+ 2 weeks now)! He has now finally been longer ex utero than in. That's sayin' something.

Just last week, he finally decided to add to his lonely two front teeth. Lots of whining has ensued, but we keep congratulating him on such a beautiful big upper tooth and it seems to console him... not really, but we'll just keep telling him it does. They never come in one at a time and so it seems that the other one is right behind it. 

Think how much more he'll be able to munch on with 4 teeth! He already nearly eats us out of house and home, but he'll be able to do it more so. In fact, we remind Joseph at almost every meal that John Paul is sitting in the high chair yelling for food, grabbing the spoon from us if we dare to feed him sloppy foods, and stuffing his mouth. Meanwhile, Joseph sits there picking at his food and requesting to sit on Daddy's lap and be fed. Not only does John Paul eat a significant amount of food, but he mooches off the rest of us any chance he can get. We can't have a drink or eat a piece of apple without him crawling over, saying "nuh, nuh."



As you can imagine, John Paul's vocabulary involves a lot of "nuh, nuh, nuh." It is the universal word for food and nursing and... whatever else he means by it. Probably he just really wants to eat all the time, but we choose to imagine it could mean other things as well. He also likes to say "mum," "da," "shush" (Joseph), and recently, "pa" for Grandpa. 

In the category of sounds, but not words, there is a lot of "abobobob," "ayiiiiii," "gee," and many others I can't remember. In fact, there is very little time during the day when John Paul is not making noise of some sort. I've heard stories of second children who don't say much because their older brother or sister talks all the time (hello, Michael!). In our case, I think we're just going to have two kids who talk all the time! They are their mother's sons.

John Paul also loves to sing! In which case, he is also his father's son. Whenever Dan gets out the guitar or plays organ, John Paul crawls over to sing along with him. And just like Joseph, he has a beautiful little voice and very good key recognition. More music to his father's ears are the sounds he's started to make when playing with cars and trucks. I swear, boys just know these sounds! He's so proud of his little "brrrmm" noises.



We did tell you John Paul is crawling, right? Oh yeah, we posted a video. He started crawling slightly later than Joseph, maybe 2-3 weeks later. We could put that down to a later development after he hurt his shoulder in the fall, but whatever. I just can't believe how quickly he got the hang of it once he did crawl forwards! Within a week, he was already standing. I walked into the living room to find, voila! my baby upright against a toy box. I asked Joseph if he did it - no. So I put him down safely on the ground. Within a minute or two I came back and there he was again, proud as punch! 

We have had to baby proof. As soon as he could crawl forwards, John Paul headed straight for the kitchen stairs leading down to our entrance way. Up went the gate! Every time he's in the area and the gate is down he goes as fast as he can for the stairs. He would just crawl right off them. Ditto for the bathroom and the potty! Such an interesting accent piece, that red potty. He goes for it like a flash!

Despite the teething and general crankiness, John Paul is always smiling and laughing! He has a semi-fake high pitched laughing noise he makes by sucking air in. He makes this noise all the time. He is just that happy. Plus, there is so much to laugh about around here, I guess.

However, the happy chappy is only really truly happy when his buddies are around. Last week, Dan and Joseph left him home with sick Mommy while they went to return library books and get the mail. He was sad the entire time because they were gone (and I am so boring). Whenever we go to wake up Joseph or when Dan walks in the door, John Paul is the first to express how happy he is. He wants to climb all over them and let out those high pitched gleeful noises!

Horse Pope?

Have you heard about the latest plan for our Holy Father to release an encyclical on the environment?

No, that was not a set up line for a joke. By all accounts we are to be getting such an encyclical later this year. Obviously many people are thrilled with the topic. I just think of an article I read about Beijing, where the smog is so bad it is literally harmful to one's health to go outside to exercise. Bad stuff. Others are perplexed at the need for such an encyclical rather than writing about much more important issues such as abortion, Islam, homosexuality, and the like.

For my part, instead of an encyclical on the environment, I'd rather see one on DIY home renovations or something. You know, a paragraph or two with painting tips. Perhaps a section discussing the morality of not getting a permit to do work, and how this ties in with Aquinas' Treatise on Law. For instance, when is state regulation for installing new light fixtures too burdensome? Give me some guidance here! Of course asbestos would be a hot topic, as would contractor fraud. And is browsing online for a new tub surround permissible on a Sunday?

But that's not happening. The encyclical is to discuss the environment and, subsequently, creation. If I had to guess, I would say many protestants will be keenly interested in this upcoming work. At Redeemer, for instance, there was a growing, if not suffocating, emphasis on this earth being the exact place for the "new heaven and new earth" as promised by Scripture. Therefore, the talk was that we were to steward this earth in preparation for this final transformation. As if our actions now would affect the future of the planet for all eternity. Do I hear a Let us Build a City of God? Somehow this idea permeated every class that I took there. What a buzz phrase. But what can you expect in this creation/fall/redemption world?

Yes many are obsessed with the new heaven, new earth subject. Meanwhile, to go back to Aquinas, he simply said a new heaven and new earth must fit our glorified bodies. Not the other way around. I told this to a Redeemer professor once. He seemed to have difficulty comprehending the fact that humans, especially those in the beatific vision in heaven, are more essential to consider than whether or not the maple trees in his back yard will continue to grow when time passes away.

Ah yes, this upcoming encyclical will be a hot topic I'm sure. But to me the whole environment issue boils down to one thing: horses.

Let's face it, our problem is that horses are not picking up the slack. Once upon a time we used horses for everything. We got places. We plowed fields. We even ate them if we were hungry enough. Nowadays, horses do nothing. Not only nothing, they contribute to the problem. The carbon foot, er, hoofprint of horses is astounding. They stand in a field, never working. Some live in heated barns. They get fed hay that farmers have to plant and harvest using smelly diesel. Their water bins are heated with electricity in the winter. Even their fences now, to make sure they stay standing in place, are run by electricity. To use Thomas the Tank Engine terminology, they are not very useful.

Meanwhile people drive cars and trucks everywhere. Horses are too lazy to do it. If, by chance, a horse is used for riding. We have to drive them, in a trailer, to get to their little horse riding 4-H group. Horses used to make the earth vibrant. There was far less pollution when horses worked out in the fields some 500 years ago. Can you imagine Beijing with horses? But now, horses are not only not part of the solution, they are part of the problem. Clearly there will be no horses in heaven. Not in a new heaven and a new earth, anyway. God forbid.

     

  

And so, a word of advice for Pope Francis: if you want to write about the environment then you'll need to practice what you preach. That is, ditch the popemobile! It goes too slow anyway. Get a horse.

But will he do it?


I'm chomping at the bit to find out.

Note: not everything I say should be taken seriously.

Snippets: When Mommy was Sick...

I was sick almost all week. Ugh! I'm still coughing and blowing ye old nose, but at least I'm feeling more or less normal again. So far, the others haven't gotten it, although Dan's been battling a sore throat and headache. And he won't take my advice to drink apple cider vinegar!! Really, truly, it is gross and just magical the way it gets rid of that sore throat. Anyway...

Here's my random dump:

1. We brought back 39 library books and 2 DVDs this week. That's a record! But John Paul took one book out of the bag before it left the house, so now we have The Bunny Rabbit Show to return still.

2. John Paul has been busy crawling everywhere, climbing everything, and ripping library books! Seriously. I don't know how many poor books I repaired over the Christmas holidays. And they are always out of his reach... or so we thought. 

3. The other night Dan and I were finishing our Rosary in the living room with John Paul crawling everywhere. He crawled to the couch and we thought he was going to stand up at it (which he does now), but instead he looked as though he was trying to squish his whole body, face-first, under the couch. After two or three tries, he emerged with a library book, grinning like he just won gold!

4. Speaking of winning gold, we're super-duper pumped that Canada won gold at the World Juniors!

 

5. While I was sick, Joseph decided I needed to teach him to write. Grandma gave him an erasable book for practicing numbers and letters at Christmas, so he happily sat with it for a while one morning. (And attempted to use it at every meal thereafter as an excuse for not eating his food.) 

I took this picture, but (literally) seconds later took another for better quality and realized he was writing with two different hands. He still doesn't seem to have established whether he's a righty or lefty. Is this normal?

6. The boys were so sad on Monday when Dan went back to work! I don't know how many times this week I've heard, "When is Daddy coming home? Is it almost lunch time? Is Daddy coming home for lunch?" On a good day, I am not as cool as Dad, but sick, I'm positively boring. Thankfully, Grandpa came to hang out with them for the day on Tuesday while I rested. He brought soup, supper, and was greeted with huge smiles all around! John Paul has started saying a little "Pa, Pa!" and I think Grandpa's on his list of second favourite people, along with Joseph and Dan (of course, I am his favourite!).

7. Joseph has had quite the outfits this week:

Adult-size helmet, mittens, hockey stick, Canada jersey
Bathing suit over track pants
Bathing suit over gitch, bunnyhug
Swim towel draped over shoulders for Robin Hood cape

I forget them all. And kids are waking from naps. And really, John Paul is hitting milestones so another blog should be coming pronto. Thanks for reading!

Christmas: Holly and Trees and all that Sap

It's that time of year. In many ways I hate myself for it. The Christmas holidays are winding to a close, and it makes me feel down, sad, depressed, and melancholic. Every year is the same. I explain my hurt to Becca, and she more or less tells me to suck-it-up-buttercup. That first day back at school is the worst. Everyone feels the same way. I know I should just be happy to have such a long break.

I didn't think it would happen this time around. After all, apart from some advent spiritual reading and online shopping, I didn't do much in preparation for Christmas. I was too busy with the Christmas concert. And then I was too busy working on the house. Next thing you know, there was one more sleep until Christmas (Eve) and we were just finally trimming the tree. The lack of preparation should've made this holiday time an emotionless party. Just call me Marcus Aurelius, a true "citadel of self!"

And better yet, our holiday plans didn't go at all as planned. The balmy weather turned cold in a hurry. The Christmas Eve Mass (or should I say "production"?) was anything but reverent. Due to sicknesses, Joseph didn't get to play with a single cousin. That's very sad. We are so thrilled to see the fun he has with them. But that's nothing, Becca, of course, didn't get to see a single member of her family. In my kindhearted way I consoled her by suggesting they are mad at her and don't like her. You know, therefore she shouldn't be upset at not seeing them. Right?

But Christmas is always full of pleasant surprises too. The Christmas Eve Mass/production was followed the next day by a heavenly Mass sung by those Seraphim-Millettes. The sicknesses spurred a surprise to trip to Melfort in order to enjoy watching John Paul swim for the first time.

Even the cold weather meant that the cheeks were brighter and rosier than ever. We are from Saskatchewan, after all.                                                                               So there are disappointments. So what? There are also unexpected blessings (the excitement from Joseph this year was pure gold). The point is, it all ends. It's only once a year. As much as I try and downplay it, it ends every year with the suddenness of a woman in labour..er..  of a jarring from a lovely little dream.

And I am left with a dozy feeling, some bed head, and a longing for it to start over. And that's why I hate myself for it. That little word "feeling." Feelings are neutral. They can be used for good. They can be used for bad. But I guess I'm just a sap for Christmas.

Anyway, I did spend some time at school over the break. I am ready to hit the ground running come Monday, and start those assessments for report cards later this month. I'm also ready to call in sick on Monday, if need be. Hopefully not though. Yes it's not easy. But you just gotta brush off that sap.

"Dad, let's fight!"

Points to Ponder: Christmas Break Edition

Two weeks off, and I haven't blogged! Lucky you guys. Well, to make it up, here's a Points to Ponder: Christmas Break Edition.

1) New Year - Same Boring Self

I think Becca and I stayed up until 10pm last night. I sort of shudder to think about when the boys are older, and whether or not they will want to stay up to ring in the new year. That'll be tough on us old parents! But then I learned from someone last night that Netflix has it so that you can play a New Year's celebration at anytime, thus fooling your kids while at the same time allowing you to go to bed earlier.

2) Family Ties

We made it out to Mass last night. I was super tired and ready to go in my pajamas, but Joseph insisted that he was going to wear a tie for the feast of Momma Mary. So what could I do but join him!

I think Joseph's tie made him behave better too. He was so well behaved and attentive at Mass, especially considering it was at 7pm.

3) Sick 

We were actually supposed to sing in Nipawin last night. But there's been a bad flu going around the Millette house there. Needless to say, I don't like having to hold a little boy while he's throwing up and crying out in pain. So we've been hanging out in Tisdale. 

It's too bad. I sure do miss living out of town. Everything is so much nicer out in the country. Why, here's a shot from a walk I took at dusk. That's John Paul with me. He had just fallen over, and couldn't move. I don't think I noticed for a while.

4) Mystery Thriller!

Since we've been in Tisdale it's given me time to do some prep for school. I read a thrilling mystery novel in preparation for a novel study. The book is "The Mystery of the Turtle Lake Monster." It's set in Saskatchewan. Wow, what a great book!

*cough*

Ok, I forgot just how poorly written children's novels are. But I did figure something out. I've been berating my students for writing unnecessary details when working on narratives. However, I know where they get it now. Children's novels are full of unnecessary and boring details.


5) Rehab Attic

I also was able to get up into our attic to add some insulation around the bedroom ceiling corners. I had to be extra careful, however. Our attic has a few inches of vermiculite at the bottom of the added blow-in cellulose. Vermiculite, if it comes from Quebec, contains asbestos. I'm pretty sure the vermiculite used here would've come from Western Canada, but one must always be careful.

6) On Moving Furniture: A Theological Reflection

When I was growing up in Nipawin we had this old messed up priest (sorry, but he was, God rest his soul) come in for one year. Oddly enough, it was the same year that we attended Mass in the community of Zenon Park. He was the same priest who previously destroyed any faith in Tisdale while he was here.

The first thing he did was move all the "furniture" in the sanctuary. Now the Lord did work through this priest, because he actually moved the tabernacle back to the sanctuary, and it has been there ever since. But the most noticeable thing he did was move the altar, or as liberals call "table", right to the side of the wall. He then moved his chair smack in the centre of the sanctuary. I mean, there was his chair. Just smack dab right there in the middle. If you wanted to kneel to Jesus, you had to go through him first! Totally bizarre. What made it worse was that his eyes were such that they appeared to always be looking at you, no matter where you are. Even his photograph was like that. Anyway, I still remember the explanation he gave the parish, "Sometimes in your house you just need to move furniture around. That's what I've done here."

Now I've always know that theologically the priest was dead wrong. The Church teaches us how to worship properly. This comes from God himself (e.g. book of Exodus), and centuries of organic development and practice.

But now that I own my own home, I also know the priest is dead wrong in his home-sense explanation. No! We don't just move around furniture willy nilly. Furniture placement must make sense (unlike his church furniture placement)!

For instance, after we painted our wall I knew it was time for our room to make sense. So we moved couches around, shelves, and even our T.V. The point was to have the room makes be functional (and aesthetically pleasing). Now people can sit on different couches and see each other and hold an actual conversation! They also can see the T.V. comfortably if needed.

To do so I actually had to run a new satellite cable across the room. See our trim here? Look closely, the top part of the trim is actually a cable, glued to the wall. Weird, I know. But it works.

We even have a little music section!

Ahh yes, moving furniture. Only an ___________ would do it for no reason. Ok, obviously this priest had some underlying theological reasons for doing what he did (i.e. more attention to the "presider"... I hate that term... "presider"... it detracts from the fact that the Mass is a sacrifice). But he was in a parish where the majority have no backbone, and so he got what he wanted... until he left.


7) New Year Greetings

Have a blessed new year! Thank you for making this blog the number one Millette Family Blog in the world (the other Millette Family Blog, some people from Utah, haven't posted in four years...). And remember: