Tiny hands cupped my face. “Mama, Mama,” I heard a voice whisper. “I need you.” “Gah!” I responded. To explain my somewhat inelegant response, I should tell you that it was about 2 a.m. when the tiny hands cupped my face and the small voice awakened me from a sound sleep. The little person needed … Read more
A few years ago, my son Ambrose was hospitalized with a lung infection. The two weeks he spent away from home were trying times for our family, but I have one particularly fond memory of his stay. One day, when I returned to his hospital room after being away for a few hours, he made … Read more
Two-year-old Daniel jabbed a small, pudgy finger at my face in the wedding photo. “Mama,” he announced confidently, and then, “Papa,” as he pointed to his father. “Yes,” I told him. “That’s Mama and Papa on the day we were married.” He squinted at the photo for another moment before turning to me with an … Read more
When people stop me after Mass to tell me how well-behaved they thought my children were, I usually smile and say “thank you.” I have got to stop taking credit for any of it. I recently attended a Sunday-morning Mass without my husband and without my two oldest boys. It was just me, two big … Read more
Years ago, we belonged to a parish where the pastor was an elderly “retired” French-Canadian priest. Monsignor Leo was a little rough around the edges and sometimes a bit deaf in the confessional, but we loved him just the same. We especially loved him at Christmastime. Every year, at the end of the first Christmas … Read more
Her gleaming grin caught my eye in the checkout aisle. There she was — Angelina Jolie. Newly pregnant, the headline told me, with her seventh child. The evidence of this latest “pregnancy” was helpfully highlighted for readers with the use of a yellow arrow marked with the words “baby bump.” There, beneath a fitted dress, … Read more
Last weekend, we attended a funeral Mass for a four-month-old baby girl. She was the beloved daughter of my husband’s cousin and his wife. These are the kinds of life events that threaten to expose me for the faith fraud I fear that I am. It’s easy to say we have faith when all goes … Read more
The other day, a proud Grandma I know announced to me that her daughter had recently given birth to a fourth child. “They named her Zipporah,” she beamed. “Zipporah?” I raised an eyebrow. “Yes,” she explained. “It was Moses’ wife’s name.” Hmm. I kind of like it. Besides, who am I to judge anyone for … Read more
“The juice! Don’t forget the juice!” my mother-in-law, Dolores, called after me as I made my way down her front steps and toward my car. Her anxious face appeared in the doorway and she thrust a half-gallon bottle of cranberry juice toward me. I didn’t want the stupid juice. “Thank you,” I answered weakly. I … Read more
Fancy calendars and datebooks are all alike. Every fall, at the fresh start of a new academic year, they get to me. Irresistibly coy in their cloth-bound covers, they call to me from bookstore shelves. “Buy meeee!” they whisper alluringly as I pretend to be perusing the fitness section. “I have all the answers! I … Read more
Here we go again. Another school year has begun. As we are a homeschooling family, I once again find myself diving into a daily routine of phonics worksheets, read-aloud assignments, writing practice, grammar, history, religion, mathematics, and science. I am fortunate in that my husband takes on those last two. But the others? They are … Read more
The usual politics aside, there’s more to John McCain’s recent appointment of Sarah Palin as his running mate and candidate for the vice presidency. While many pro-life and pro-family voters cheered her appointment, some are more hesitant to elect a mother of five children, one of whom is still an infant, to the vice presidency … Read more
As I opened the package that arrived in the mail, a little voice inside my head told me I was nuts. “Have you lost your mind?” it wanted to know. “You can’t have nice things!” The little voice was right, I suppose. If 13 years of parenting have taught me nothing else, they have quite … Read more
Last week, Simcha Fisher invited us to talk about natural family planning, and boy did we comply. More than 90 comments later, one thing is clear — this is a topic we like to debate.   I’ve read many different discussions about NFP where Catholics will debate its use and its abuse, its effectiveness … Read more
I like to think of myself as a seasoned mom. Â But even a seasoned mom sometimes meets her match. It’s in our most trying motherly moments, I have found, that God graces us with the gift of humility — by opening our eyes to our helpless dependence upon others. One warm spring Saturday morning a … Read more
I only saw her for a moment. I was leaving the grocery store one recent afternoon as a small, white-haired lady was heading in. I steered my loaded cart past her on the sidewalk, our eyes met, and we nodded politely at one another. As we did, I caught a glimpse of something that she … Read more
On the wall behind the altar, where I am accustomed to finding a crucifix on which to focus, hangs an enormous clock, reminiscent of ones I remember from elementary school classrooms years ago. It hums as it tirelessly ticks its way through the Mass. When we stand for the Gospel, metal folding chairs scrape against … Read more
This morning, I conducted an experiment. 8:15 a.m.: I lock myself in the bathroom. 8:15 a.m. and 4 seconds: The baby’s fat fingers appear at the bottom of the doorway. “Mama?” he calls out in alarm. He plunks his bottom on the floor just outside the door and whines. 8:17 a.m.: Three-year-old beats on … Read more
Yesterday morning I spent 15 minutes washing the breakfast dishes. I spent 30 minutes matching socks, folding underwear, and returning these items to dresser drawers. I spent 12 minutes looking for my toddler’s sandals. I spent 25 minutes on the phone with the doctor’s office and insurance company making sure a recent office visit would … Read more
I once met a mother of triplets in the parking lot outside of Wal-Mart. Her three babies had bright, blinking eyes, honeyed hair, and rosebud lips. They reached toward their mother with chubby arms, dimpled at the elbows, and made the most delicious slurping sounds as she scooped them from their car seats and plunked … Read more