Grow-ing Ups, Lent and Other Things

Does your tasteful Lenten table decoration become as crazy as mine? Somehow, the wooden bowl of grapes and bread with thorns had been invaded by matchbox cars, dinosaur models and a box with flour in it (which Little Brother was using to write letters in.) This is the homeschooling home.

Big Sis engrossed in a geometry program we purchased last year and set on the shelf to collect baby powder.

That is a long story. Suffice to say that when three children, ages ranging seven to ten, are alone in the basement, and discover a bottle of baby powder, and are bored, and feeling feisty, and it is cold outside, and it seems like a really good idea, you may end up with baby powder on every surface of your basement.

You also may end up with some little helpers who discover they enjoy dusting.

Anyway, Big Sis is thoroughly enjoying geometry.

At this point, I must tell my favorite joke. An acorn wanted to become a mathematician. When he grew up he declared, "GEE! ah'maTREE!"

my sincere apologies. :)

Little Brother and I worked out a math game that filled my need for him to become familiar with money (ok, that is not really a need) and his need for movement. I picked up these oversized cardboard coins at a dollar store and have used them for lots of money games. Here we have placed them on the floor as targets. Little Brother selects a specific coin from a bowl of change, and tries to toss them on the corresponding target. We put washcloths down (yes, stained with paint) because on the cardboard, the coins were bouncing off like little kids on a trampoline!

Now, on to Lent...

I started Lent late because my whole family was joining the church the weekend before Lent started. All my energy and preparation went into this amazing event, and the first weeks of Lent became down time for me. In addition, I lost several days to the flu and a panic attack.

My brain is getting itself back together now, so I am ready to focus on our family's preparation for Easter!

I dont want Lent to be about doing, doing, and not doing. I want Lent to be about my relationship with God. So I am relying a bit on a parenting strategy from...? Alfie Kohn?? Marshall Rosenberg?? Urgh... too many gurus to remeber which one. Anyway, the strategy is to *do with* rather than to *do to*. In a relationship, we can do to our children or we can do with them. With is obviously more respectful and responsive. Doing to can quickly lead to authoritarian parenting, wherein a child becomes an object, not a human.

In my relationship with God, I want to do WITH. Having this frame of mind is changing not what I do for Lent, but the WHY I do it. I dont sacrifice because it is a duty. I sacrifice because through sacrifice I humble myself to be in a relationship with God.

So, I did make a list.

LENTEN READING

The Gospel of St. John, by ... well, John.

Holy Thursday, by Mauriac (this was rec'ed by my spiritual director/priest friend)

Living Liturgy, by Sophia Cavelletti

LENTEN PRAYER

All four mysteries of The Rosary per week (normally I only go for three mysteries as per the guidelines of The Rosary Confraternity)

The Stations of the Cross once a week (the kids and I are doing this some weeks at my dad's Episcopal church in order to spend time with him!)

Eucharistic Adoration several times during Lent.

Preparing for the Novena of Divine Mercy (I am making my own booklet)

TASKS

Not be critical of others in thought and word. (This is REALLY, REALLY hard for me for one person in my life ok its my husband who did you think!)

Be a merciful mother to my children.

Ask Brother Ginepro to guide me into gentleness with my own mother.

Simplify my schedule as much as possible and be 'in the moment'.

PROJECTS

Create a Stations of the Cross for our home, using cereal boxes and Stations pictures.

Make a bead chaplet for the Divine Mercy Chaplet from paper beads.

On to Grow-ing Ups...

Little Brother and I have had two nice opportunities to be alone together in the last two days. We discussed growing up. One, he needed to know that Mommie and Daddy would be helping him until he is ready to 'get his own place' and get a job. He said, "What if no one wants to hire me?" Oh, the pressure our children feel. When my parents were young, they could rely on a job out of highschool to provide their income, their medical, and their retirement. Our work environment is a little scarier these days.

He also brought up the term "Grown Up", which most kids use in reference to adults. But I said, Grown Ups may be grown up as tall as they are going to get, but you know we are all still learning! Yeah, he knew that. We had discussed metanoia a few weeks back, so he has an idea that each and every day we can start anew, learn and grow... We came to the conclusion that Grown Ups should be called "Growing Ups" since they are really not done growing.