Having babies is universal. Seriously.

Dear friends, you love "Auntie Leila" as much as me, don't you? This post I linked to recently was so refreshing. Go on and read it. Meanwhile, read some of her other clever, witty and wise posts. I am a big fan of the laundry series. It's really quite edifying.

Did you know her husband is a professional writer? It's funny because the kind of work my husband does requires him to read Phil Lawler's posts daily on the Catholic Culture website. The kind of work I do inspires me to read Leila's posts daily. So we often discuss over dinner what each had to say. Quaint, really.

I really enjoyed this post by Mister Lawler (aka The Chief, if you're read Leila's blog), a continuation of what Leila was already saying.

It was especially meaningful to me because apparently, when my mom told some of her friends that we were expecting Isaiah, a few of them said "Well, that's because they're Catholic." Yes, right. Muslims, Protestants and atheists don't believe in having more than one child. Only us nutter Catholics do that.

So it was a source of encouragement to read both of their perspectives on having children, and remind myself, there's nothing crazy at all about having children. Duh.

So, just go ahead and read these two pieces. Enjoy them. And enjoy your kids.

One more thing: I think I'm going to use this phrase one of the commenters uses to the ubiquitous "are you done yet?" question (one of those delightfully intrusive questions people feel entitled to ask):

Heck no! You can't take over the world with only two kids!

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 4, 2011 at 9:16 PM

    You might like this article:

    http://www.modernmom.com/blogs/julie-cole/six-reasons-to-have-six-kids

    I especially like #2. I think that I am "done" though, but then I am old -- a crotchety almost-37 and we have 5 at home, anyhoo.

    Rebecca (I don't know why the comments won't let me enter my actual name)

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 5, 2011 at 10:20 PM

    And how about this: When someone looks at your very young children then shrugs and says, "Well, better you than me!", you can just shrug and say, "Yup, you're probably right." OR "My kids would agree to that." (I always thought I'd become LESS snide and sarcastic once I became a mother...)

    ReplyDelete
  3. SarahSeptember 5, 2011 at 10:58 PM

    I know it's dated, but I still love the phrase "Excuse you?" I was pregnant and shopping at Walmart. I had a older man tell me "Don't have any more." and walk away. All I could muster was "Excuse you?" as he walked away.
    It's different when it's family, who I feel have a right to respectfully offer their opinion (once). Then you have to be more tactful, but you usually have more than one moment to explain yourself. But strangers? Why do they say anything? Do they think it'll change something? Never mind prayer/discernment/discussing with my husband, some rude man told me I'm done having children.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jenna CraineSeptember 6, 2011 at 7:42 AM

    Yes I really can't believe the audacity total strangers have towards parents / pregnant women. Francis Bacon says "Marriage reconciles man to society." It's true, as soon as Patrick and I were engaged, people we never spoke to otherwise would come up and congratulate us. But I would like to add to Mr. Bacon, "Parenthood makes one wear a bull's eye on one's face."

    ReplyDelete

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