Seven Quick Takes. Okay, Six. Five and a Half.

Hooray for Friday!

1.

I was getting ready to put the boxes for my girls’ new shoes in the recycling the other day. I happened to notice the labels.

I’m just going to note that I’m so glad my four-year-old has “running” shoes available in her size. These will be super important when we start her marathon training. And I’m not exactly sure what “lightweight training” is specifically, but I’m relieved that my five-year-old will be prepared when she encounters it.

2.

Speaking of being prepared, I have been really trying not to freak out about the cases of Ebola in the United States. I think the media is (as usual) really overblowing everything and trying to make everyone feel terrified and therefore be glued to their televisions. I also think, “What-in-the-world-is-wrong-with-you-CDC-people???” Beyond that, I’ve been really working on not panicking about this thing.

However, I have spent at least one night of restless, nightmare-plagued sleep over it, and I am considering just boarding up my house and eating freeze-dried food for however long it takes the people in charge to come up with a cure and a vaccine. At least I’ll still have the internet.

3.

Monday was the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima. We made a dancing sun craft and watched our DVD about the Marian apparitions and miracle at Fatima. Then, because Mary referred to herself during these apparitions as the “Lady of the Rosary” and requested that people pray the devotion daily, I had the girls pray a complete rosary with me for the first time.

I’m all about inspiring a love for the prayers, and chocolate makes everything fun.

Thanks to Kendra for the reminder to try this this month (though we didn’t manage it on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary).

4.

I have been liberated. I am truly free.

My children are of the age where they can go outside and play by themselves. However, after a few stings last summer and this summer, and due to an intense fear of the noise of the train near our house, they have insisted that they are too afraid to go outside without me.

Now, normally I try to be nice and sensitive to my children’s fears. But there are times (lots of times) when they just need to get outside but I have other things to get done, and/or I am not jazzed about the idea of standing out there with them. Over the past weekend I had one of those times.

Miss wanted to go outside, but not all by herself. Sis wanted to go outside but only if I went too. Lass didn’t want to go out at all. Two of them were crying. Sis was saying, “I so sferred!” (she can’t make the K sound).

I kicked them all out. I literally pried Sis’s fingers from the door as I slid it shut and said, “Have fun!”

She wasn’t happy at first.

You may think me cruel, but I knew exactly what would happen. She and her sisters all pulled it together and had plenty of fun. Now they go outside without me, without complaint or tears, every day. Tough love.

FREEDOM!!!

5.

I came across Jess Connell’s blog the other day when a friend linked to this post on Facebook. The post is about Jess’s answer to the question some people ask (and someone posted in her combox), “Why do people keep having more kids if they are already exhausted with the 1 or 2 they do have?” Jess has six-going-on-seven kids, and her response to the question is perfect.

Basically it is this, anything worthwhile is tiring. And it comes down to how you view children: as a blessing or a burden? a joy or a chore?

She hit the nail on the head.

When I was tired from studying or writing my dissertation in graduate school no one ever asked me, “Why would you do that, since it makes you so exhausted?” That would have been a bizarre thing to ask. Yet people ask it of parents about their children not infrequently, on social media in particular. Read Jess’s whole post here. I’d love to hear what you think about it.

6.

I know there were more things I wanted to put into Quick Takes this week. I just can’t for the life of me remember what they are. Someday I’ll get the hang of writing down the things I plan to blog about instead of trying to remember them on the fly. For now I leave you with five and a half takes.

Have a great weekend and be sure to check out the link up at Conversion Diary, where other writers actually get to seven in their posts.