7 Quick Takes Friday

After Christmas and New Year's, and Grampa Neil heading back to California yesterday, I'm back attempting to write 7 Quick Takes Friday posts!

1.

Margaret (4-3/4) is now in the stage I remember fondly from her big sister at this age: she writes me littles notes all day and leaves them around the house. She presents them proudly at times and I earnestly hope I can decipher her attempts at spelling so she doesn't feel embarrassed.

"Mama, please teach Joseph. Signed, Margaret"

"Cat sat on the rat. Signed, Margaret. To Mama"

"Daddy, please teach John."

My favorite:
"Mama and Daddy, Please help Mary learn to be obedient."

2.

Bonus Reading: Learning how St. John Bosco tamed his wild street boys and endeared himself to them is always worth our while as parents. Check out this nice article: "Unholy Anger: Disciplining Ourselves Before Disciplining Our Children" by John F. Crosby.

3.

Babies laughing at 5-6-7 months old are so precious, like medicine for the soul!

4.

Bonus Reading: Kleenex alert! "to the mom wondering if it matters" by Rachel at Finding Joy.

5.

Thomas is 5-1/2 months and I think he'll be crawling within a month.

I sure enjoyed that phase in which I could plump him down on his bottom anywhere, he was stable enough to sit up well, and he played contentedly with toys given to him. I have enough experience now to have appreciated every minute of it because I knew the stage would pass all too quickly!

Now he is in the phase of yearning with an unquenchable desire to crawl: I sit him on his bottom and within seconds, he lunges forward. He gets one leg pinned beneath him and becomes stuck, eliciting cries of frustration. So I go back and sit him up again, and within seconds he is stuck in a half-crawl, crying for help. We repeat this a lot. There is nothing content about a baby on the verge of crawling!

6.

Mary has taken up a new spot in the house for violin practice.

7.

Today we are back for the spring semester of CCE! We enjoyed our six-week break so much and are now eager to get back to the book work, our art and music learning, our friends and pick-up football, and my fellow moms.

Even though I still feel like I'm daily drowning in my attempt to fulfill all my responsibilities, I make a mental effort to list and value the many blessings of this stage at which my children are increasingly capable. While getting ready for CCE this morning, my 9-year-old fetched supplies from the garage, filled all the waters, and cooked the pancakes while I prepared the lunches and nursed the baby. My 7- and 4-year-olds are tasked with entertaining the baby often, and I learned last night that my almost-3-year-old has the dexterity and wherewithal--when Mama doesn't respond to his calling because she is nursing the baby to sleep--to get himself out of bed at night, walk to the bathroom, unzip his footie pajamas (!), relieve himself, get himself dressed again, and tuck himself back into bed.

Each stage of motherhood seems to have its strengths and weaknesses.

Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday over at This Ain't the Lyceum.