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Homeschooling a pretty special kid

7 Things about Mary, the Mother of God

January 2, 2015 By: Tini Templeton1 Comment

 

There are many things I love about being a Catholic Christian: The uninterrupted history of the Church dating back to Christ Himself; the academic rigor of the theology (really!); and the universality of the Church, and how stepping into a Catholic church just about anywhere feels so familiar. In fact, the word “catholic” actually means universal. You can look it up.

But one of the things I love most is the liturgical calendar, and how much sense it makes. I am reminded of that because yesterday, January 1, was the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The feelings and thoughts of Mary stirred at mass yesterday are still very much with me, so I thought I would share a few of them:

 

 

  1. If you don’t know, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God is a feast day celebrated by the Catholic Church on the Octave (8th day) of Christmas. So it falls on January 1 rst. Always. Every year. Which is convenient, since most people who work (outside the home) have off for New Year’s Day. So you can go to mass.
  2. The Church calendar devotes a whole day, every year, to celebrate Mary’s role as a mother. The Church must really love and respect motherhood. Hey, I’m a mother too. I can relate. I love it.
  3. It makes my heart sing to see my church FULL on a weekday, even if it is a holy day of obligation. ESPECIALLY when it is a holy day of obligation. I know there is much discussion in the media about the decline of the Catholic Church, but I don’t see it from where I sit.
  4. Singing at mass. On a weekday. Songs that I know, like “Hail Mary Gentle Woman”, “Immaculate Mary”, and “Holy is His Name”, which is the Magnificat set to music. (The Magnificat is Mary’s Song of Praise, starting at Luke 1:46.)
  5. The Gospel reading contains on of my favorite verses, Luke 2:19. “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” So in case you were wondering … Yes, Mary DID know.
  6. Today’s second communion song was the cantor doing a solo of “Ave Maria”. All three verses. In Latin. I wept like, well, like a mother. And not just because it reminds me of my grandmother playing the organ at mass. It was just so very sweet and beautiful. The congregation broke into spontaneous applause when she was done. During the mass, y’all!
  7. Did you know the gift of eighth day of Christmas is “eight maids-a-milking”? Something vaguely maternal and not too coincidental there.

I cannot think of a better way to start a whole new year of motherhood. Can you?

 

This is my inaugural post for 7 Quick Takes, hosted at This Ain’t the Lyceum. You should check them out.

 

What are you doing New Year’s, New Year’s Eve?

January 1, 2015 By: Tini Templetoncomment

My eight-year-old has some very strong ideas. Well, all of her ideas are pretty strong. You could say she’s a bit bull-headed determined. And there is no reason to think that New Year’s Eve was going to be any different.

From the moment we arrived home from our Christmas road-trip to the grandparents (at 10:25pm on December 27th, natch), she has been planning our New Year’s Eve party. Or I should say, she has been telling me that I need to sit with her and plan our New Year’s Eve party RIGHT NOW. Bear in mind that before this moment, there had been no discussion of a New Year’s Eve party. Or any party at all. Nothing. She just decided, “Well, OK. Christmas is over. That was lovely. Now let’s do New Year’s.” And she wanted to do it in style.

According to her, any proper New Year’s party should include:

  • Streamers decorating the walls.
  • Balloons
  • A balloon drop – at midnight
  • Staying up until midnight – four hours past bed time
  • A countdown
  • Sparklers
  • Party poppers and Crackers (I think the kind of crackers with gunpowder, not salt)
  • Funny hats
  • Noise makers (beyond the explosive kind, listed above)

I have to hand it to her, it’s a pretty good list. No idea where she came up with it – no idea. As far as I know, she doesn’t spend any time on Pinterest. But where the idea originated is irrelevant. We were doing this.

You may have figured out from my snark tone that I was not completely on board. I would have much rather spent the days between Christmas and New Years:

  • Catching up on laundry
  • Clearing away some of the Christmas chaos
  • Preparing lesson plans for a new semester of homeschool
  • Watching really bad pre-New Year’s college football bowl games
  • Planning my new year (not actually celebrating it)
  • Pulling my fingernails out

But my little tyrant angel was undeterred. And I had no real reason to say no, and certainly nothing better planned for the evening.

And so, we had a quiet little affair, serving cheese & crackers, bubbly grape juice and brownies brought over by a friend who joined us for the soiree to play the part of the “party guest” and generally be a good sport.

We toasted with cotton candy soda we saw on Pinterest.

We bought a “Party Set” of glittery hats, tinsel leis, and party crackers at Target for a whopping $13, and picked up some confetti poppers at the grocery store for a dollar.

We took advantage of King Julian’s New Year Countdown, and while my daughter was not fooled into thinking it was midnight – she tells time to the minute, which is a whole other story for another time – it did give us a way to initiate the balloon drop.

Netflix/Facebook

The balloon drop was a plastic party tablecloth, a bag of balloons and some painter’s tape we had on hand. We added a tinsel rip-cord from the party-in-a-box for a festive touch, and in the end, it worked remarkably well. When the little munchkin pulled the cord and the balloons tumbled down on her … pure joy.

Turns out, we didn’t need a lot of people. Or food. Or handmade, glitter-encrusted decorations. Just a willing spirit and a $20 trip to Target. And brownies.

New Year’s Eve party? Check!

Now the only question is, what we are doing NEXT New Year’s Eve.

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2014 By: Tini Templetoncomment

Welcome 2015.

A whole new year to pray. learn. live. breathe.

Amen.

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