Gloria in Excelsis Deo: {SQT} The Allhallowtide Edition

1. Too Much, Too Soon

I knew the prior week had been "too much wonderful," but I really knew it when I came down with mastitis. God writes some of His rules right into our bodies, and one of them is that women with young babies need to be so careful about limiting their activities. Too much work lands a woman in bed with mastitis.

I spent the latter half of Saturday and much of Sunday dozing in bed with this little guy till I felt better.

2. Next Generation Chores

I've revamped our chore list, as I do a couple of times per year. I realized that my boy soon to turn five really doesn't do any chores . . . and it's so good for their little characters to start doing real, albeit modest, work for the family at age three.

At first the preschooler, upon hearing that he is going to start doing some chores, is excited to be included. Yay! But after a couple of days, the novelty wears off and now the 'spit and vinegar' starts to come out of the child, as he protests having to actually do some regular work . . . even if he's playing . . . even if he's 'busy.' And here begins the character development: parents standing firm and calm, yes, these chores are going to be completed. The protest doesn't last forever, and then there are more good, cheerful workers in the family.

Six-year-old washing dishes

I had most recently had kitchen chores rotating on a daily basis, as written in a chart on the kitchen wall. Well, this worked well but resulted in constant checking of the chart to see who was doing what. I decided for now to shift the chore assignments only weekly so that we get used to who is doing what without such frequent questioning. (Especially for families with much older children, I see another system used in which children are given responsibility for an entire chore always, like one teenager does all the family dishes, and another teenager does all the family laundry, and so forth.)

Joseph (4) is now in charge of emptying the dishwasher and putting away shoes; those will be his main daily chores for now--without rotation--besides his personal care chores, such as smoothing his bed, brushing teeth, and putting dirty laundry in his hamper.

Then Margaret (6), Mary (8), and John (10) will be rotating weekly through clearing and wiping the table, loading the dirty dishes, and picking up and sweeping the floor--besides a bunch of other house chores.

Four-year-old emptying the dishwasher

This new rotation means that the six-year-old is learning how to load dirty dishes for the first time . . . and doing an entire week's worth of them (every meal) to boot! She's doing great so far and I'm very pleased with her can-do attitude. The protests from the four-year-old each time I announce that the dishes need to be unloaded are becoming shorter, so that's moving in the right direction!

3. Outdoor Moments

We don't know why Thomas was scowling.

Mary's first fish caught

A walk in gorgeous fall weather

We picked up 75 pieces of trash on one of our walks through what looks like our pristine neighborhood . . . but one can find all these little bits with sharp eyes! Picking up trash was the children's idea, and they made it a fun contest.

Collecting trash

4. All Hallow's Eve

For our Halloween fun, check out this blog post.

5. Feast of All Saints

For our All Saints adventure, see here.

6. Under the Weather

A bunch of these clowns (all the boys) are sick with a cold, so we had to sit out the All Souls' Requiem Mass, Scottish Dance, and CCE. On the bright side, I sure have appreciated the quiet relaxation at home.

Sick but still having fun

7. Christmas Music

I don't like the anxiety I'm feeling when I see those Facebook memes about how there are only eight Fridays (or whatever) till Christmas. It cannot be! I have two birthdays, Thanksgiving, and several celebratory feast days to get through before then.

All we've managed in terms of preparation is to pick the Christmas songs all the children are learning on piano and violin for the Christmas recital.