Feast of All Saints 2018

This was a different year for Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, but very pleasant and refreshing!

I share my experience for other mothers of large families who feel like they have to be able to Do It All but Can't.

Two weeks ago, I stood in the kitchen crying to Chris about how I couldn't possibly do everything that was upcoming over a 9-day span:

• maintaining a full homeschool load, 
• trick-or-treating (preparation, mess afterward, kids eat too much sugar, stay up too late), 
• all the work that goes into taking the kids to the parish All Saints party the very next morning,
• obligatory Mass that day, 
• plus I had to pick up the entire house for the monthly housecleaners (not to complain, but my part of the preparatory job takes 3-4 hours), 
• the laundering the eight sets of sheets they just washed on the same day I'm catching up on all the clothing laundry because it's also the same day I'm packing up the family for a road trip, and 
• then missing a day of school because of said road trip, and 
• then being on the ground with only three days to spare to plan Mary's tenth birthday celebration (an elaborate one because it is double digits).

Thankfully, God gives us husbands who are more pragmatic and less tender about never wanting to disappoint the darling children.

Chris advised me immediately to start throwing ballast overboard: Cut activities! Nothing is a sacred cow!

Through a circuitous route, Chris' admonishment led to a fellow large family, who also felt that they could not manage all the work required for the parish party, inviting us over for a very simple All Saints dinner and party.

Mary and Joseph sitting alone way up front

Because of the timing of the party, we attended the Wednesday evening Latin Mass, which we prefer to a Novus Ordo, to fulfill our Thursday obligation. Well, that meant we were missing trick-or-treating because the Mass was at 6:00 p.m.

We even asked our kids what they'd prefer and they voted for going to our friend's house rather than the parish party, even though it meant missing out on trick-or-treating, too.

Mass was lovely and unearthly quiet (because who would be there during trick-or-treating?). We sent Joseph (5) to sit up front where his sister (9) has sat for years, and he behaved his best ever: angelically quiet, prayerful, and listening to instructions. I see a new seating arrangement for our family!

After Mass, we went to dinner, the restaurant gave us a back room to ourselves, turned off the music and television per our request, and we played darts and had one of the best family dinners we've had in a while.

We even got stuck driving through a ritzy neighborhood while dozens of kids ran around trick-or-treating and our kids did not whine, complain, or mention their loss except to cheerfully admire the others' costumes. I could hardly believe the beauty of the whole situation.

We woke up rested on All Saints Day because we hadn't gone trick-or-treating, and we did school and house preparation chores instead of racing off to a morning party. In the afternoon, the kids arranged 90% of their own costumes while I cooked a batch of chili and typed out three saint clues for the kids to take to the party.

David (14 months): A ladybug on Noah's Ark

Thomas (3): St. Juan Diego

Joseph (5): St. John the Baptist

Margaret (7): St. Margaret of Scotland

Margaret (7): St. Margaret of Scotland

Mary (9): St. Clotilde of France

Mary (9): St. Clotilde of France

John (11): The Bonnie Prince

 The Bonnie Prince is a new devotional image about which you can read by clicking here.

John (11): The Bonnie Prince

All of us endeavoring to become saints!

The family party was such simple fun! We ate a delicious potluck. The kids told each other all about their saints, we prayed the rosary as a group, roasted s'mores over a bonfire, the kids played outside in the dark while the adults talked, and they came home with one sack of candy each, containing all of about ten pieces of candy. My kids were thrilled by it and, even though our family is far from being health nuts, I'm thrilled that we won't have ten pounds of candy causing problems in our house for weeks.

And now it is the Feast of All Souls and I'm ready to move on to my next two big endeavors with kids who are cheerful and not exhausted. This year was a 'win' all around! It gives me much meditation for what I might want to do in 2019.