7 Quick Takes by a slowfood SAHM
Okay, so officially speaking, 7 Quick Takes is a Friday affair. It's Saturday morning, but this was the first time I had the concentration to write anything. So here goes nothing!
1. When I was in grade 3, my teacher, for some strange reason, went around the classroom and told each student whether she thought we would make it to university or not. Really. I was slated against such a success, and was devastated, even at that age, by such an assessment.
My mother and I have periodically joked that I should send a photocopy of my degree certificate to this teacher, to show her, not only did I make it there, I graduated... with Honours.
I had the satisfaction of running into her yesterday, and because all women are magnetically attracted to my baby, she came to admire him, realized who I was, and was excited to see a former student's child. I causally told her about having gone to university et cetera, et cetera. It felt so good to finally set the record straight -- that I'm not a moron.
2. Sadly, though, if I had given this power over my mood, I could have allowed her to deflate me once again during this meeting. She asked what I was doing these days, or if I was doing any writing. I said, "Well no, I'm a bit busy with him" and pointed to Noah. She said something like, "Well, that's okay, dear" as though to say "well we can't all have it all." I think the next time a woman tells me she's staying home with her child, even for a brief time, I will congratulate her. I don't think we women get enough credit for this.
3. On a similar note (yes, I do my Quick Takes as they roll of my mind, meaning they're usually related), I was strolling around Veritas Catholic Books and Gifts yesterday (with Noah in his sling... and he was as overstimulated by all the good reading possibilities as me!). There I found a book by Dr. Laura Schlessinger called, "In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms." I read the jacket thingie and thought, Ohh, this is what I need! She aims to show SAHMs their worth in a society that makes them regularly feel that they're not doing anything. Plus, Dr. Laura is one of my favourite cantankerous-cons (unlike Ann Coulter.... shudder).
4. Also, I may be a SAHM, but it also appears I could soon be a WAHM too! (Can you believe how funny that abbreviation looks? It makes me think of "wake me up before you go-go.") I pitched a story idea to my former boss at the Writing Centre, the editor of the Christian Courier magazine, and she loved it! I have a week to do it, and it involves some interviewing, too, so it should be a busy week for me -- you know, given that I can only use the computer when Patrick isn't working on it and Noah isn't needing me. Hmm. It is so exciting to be able to write, though. Maybe that snooty former teacher will find my article and say, "Oh she IS doing something!"
5. This weekend is the 10 year anniversary of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy. They're hosting an alumni reunion back in my little Catholic mecca, Barry's Bay. I am surprised that I don't feel as "homesick" for it as I thought I would. When it became apparent about 6 weeks ago that we just wouldn't be able to go, I was so disappointed. Right now, though, not taking a 17 hour drive with an infant is just fine with me. I would love to see all my old friends, more than I can say, and I dearly miss our former pastor there (and just the church itself. It's so... aligned with my liturgical heart!). I am confident, however, that the upcoming summer of weddings will allow us at least one trip there (and to see my sister and her family too!).
6. Noah is taking a shine to solid foods! He has only had squash and sweet potato, but it is pretty fun feeding him in his high chair, especially with his gorgeous wooden spoon and bowl. Maybe I am a snob, but I just thought to myself, I hate having to eat with plastic cutlery. Why subject my child to that? Especially since I want to instill a love of food in him, and more importantly, an appreciation of the holiness and beauty surrounding breaking bread with his parents. {I guess I am a chichi adherent to the slow food movement, and I like it. I mean, I had my first taste of soup from a can in about 6 months yesterday, and I was surprised how I now know I can make a better soup than Primo! Huzzah!}
7. Hence, Patrick and I are taking Noah to the farmer's market today. We're going to get some veggies for ourselves, but particularly for our kiddo. Maybe exposing him to the people who grew his food will help him further understand the dignity of mealtime, and allow him to be that much more grateful. {That probably sounds a little idealistic for a 5 1/2 month old to pull off. This will be a very graddddddual teachable moment over the next few years.}
* I hope you all have a lovely weekend! Given that my husband was off work yesterday, mine is already going exceptionally well! *
1. When I was in grade 3, my teacher, for some strange reason, went around the classroom and told each student whether she thought we would make it to university or not. Really. I was slated against such a success, and was devastated, even at that age, by such an assessment.
My mother and I have periodically joked that I should send a photocopy of my degree certificate to this teacher, to show her, not only did I make it there, I graduated... with Honours.
I had the satisfaction of running into her yesterday, and because all women are magnetically attracted to my baby, she came to admire him, realized who I was, and was excited to see a former student's child. I causally told her about having gone to university et cetera, et cetera. It felt so good to finally set the record straight -- that I'm not a moron.
2. Sadly, though, if I had given this power over my mood, I could have allowed her to deflate me once again during this meeting. She asked what I was doing these days, or if I was doing any writing. I said, "Well no, I'm a bit busy with him" and pointed to Noah. She said something like, "Well, that's okay, dear" as though to say "well we can't all have it all." I think the next time a woman tells me she's staying home with her child, even for a brief time, I will congratulate her. I don't think we women get enough credit for this.
3. On a similar note (yes, I do my Quick Takes as they roll of my mind, meaning they're usually related), I was strolling around Veritas Catholic Books and Gifts yesterday (with Noah in his sling... and he was as overstimulated by all the good reading possibilities as me!). There I found a book by Dr. Laura Schlessinger called, "In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms." I read the jacket thingie and thought, Ohh, this is what I need! She aims to show SAHMs their worth in a society that makes them regularly feel that they're not doing anything. Plus, Dr. Laura is one of my favourite cantankerous-cons (unlike Ann Coulter.... shudder).
4. Also, I may be a SAHM, but it also appears I could soon be a WAHM too! (Can you believe how funny that abbreviation looks? It makes me think of "wake me up before you go-go.") I pitched a story idea to my former boss at the Writing Centre, the editor of the Christian Courier magazine, and she loved it! I have a week to do it, and it involves some interviewing, too, so it should be a busy week for me -- you know, given that I can only use the computer when Patrick isn't working on it and Noah isn't needing me. Hmm. It is so exciting to be able to write, though. Maybe that snooty former teacher will find my article and say, "Oh she IS doing something!"
5. This weekend is the 10 year anniversary of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy. They're hosting an alumni reunion back in my little Catholic mecca, Barry's Bay. I am surprised that I don't feel as "homesick" for it as I thought I would. When it became apparent about 6 weeks ago that we just wouldn't be able to go, I was so disappointed. Right now, though, not taking a 17 hour drive with an infant is just fine with me. I would love to see all my old friends, more than I can say, and I dearly miss our former pastor there (and just the church itself. It's so... aligned with my liturgical heart!). I am confident, however, that the upcoming summer of weddings will allow us at least one trip there (and to see my sister and her family too!).
6. Noah is taking a shine to solid foods! He has only had squash and sweet potato, but it is pretty fun feeding him in his high chair, especially with his gorgeous wooden spoon and bowl. Maybe I am a snob, but I just thought to myself, I hate having to eat with plastic cutlery. Why subject my child to that? Especially since I want to instill a love of food in him, and more importantly, an appreciation of the holiness and beauty surrounding breaking bread with his parents. {I guess I am a chichi adherent to the slow food movement, and I like it. I mean, I had my first taste of soup from a can in about 6 months yesterday, and I was surprised how I now know I can make a better soup than Primo! Huzzah!}
7. Hence, Patrick and I are taking Noah to the farmer's market today. We're going to get some veggies for ourselves, but particularly for our kiddo. Maybe exposing him to the people who grew his food will help him further understand the dignity of mealtime, and allow him to be that much more grateful. {That probably sounds a little idealistic for a 5 1/2 month old to pull off. This will be a very graddddddual teachable moment over the next few years.}
* I hope you all have a lovely weekend! Given that my husband was off work yesterday, mine is already going exceptionally well! *
I'd like to share one of my favourite quotes on being a SAHM from GK Chesterton:
ReplyDelete(It seems particulary apt given that it mentions teachers!)
"When domesticity, for instance, is called drudgery, all the difficulty arises from a double meaning in the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home, as a man might drudge at the Cathedral of Amiens or drudge behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colorless and of small import to the soul, then as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean.
To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labors and holidays; to be Whiteley within a certain area, providing toys, boots, sheets cakes. and books, to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute."
Jenna, I cannot imagine why any teacher would tell her students in gr. 3 what path she foresaw for them. I wonder what her reasoning was. How very strange. Embrace your SAHMhood - you have not bought the feminist lie and you, your husband and children will benefit in every way because of your choice. You are a post-feminist. It is a tough road to travel as SAHMhood can be a judgement just by its existence and thus people need to justify their own choices (often at your expense). I have also learned that I need to be far less judgemental of those who haven't made the same choice as me as it is impossible for some. Nevertheless, just do what you do well or, rather, faithfully. I think that one of the greatest benefits of SAHMhood is that as a woman I can not run away from what's happening in my own soul - I have to stay the course and God can do His work in me. Also, one fabulous nugget of wisdom that I heard this summer is the following: God often uses exhaustion to do His greatest work in us. OK, that's all.
ReplyDeleteJenna, I highly recommend reading Home Alone America by Mary Eberstadt. Mary often writes for First Things now, and I love everything she writes. I first found this at a Veritas table at a pro life conference two years ago, it is a book on the hidden costs of day care upon children. Mary is a STAM with 4 children, an accomplished writer and a great affirmer of women like yourself.
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