I mentioned before how I love tradition. I am a sucker for it. I love big traditions, little traditions, Church traditions, family traditions, all kinds. I love reading about other peoples traditions too. (If you have some you'd like to share with me, I am all ears!)
I love having 4 daughters to share traditions with. Some of these are things from my childhood, or from Mr. Cat's childhood. Others are things we've been doing since the beginning of our parenthood. Still others are things that are new. It is my hope that these traditions, these lovely bits of our family life, will become memories that my daughters cherish and treasure, and will one day pass on to their families (if the family life is what God calls them to).
We started committing to attend weekday daily Mass around a month ago. At our parish, 4 days out of the weekday, Mass begins at 7:30 AM. Those who know me well know that I am NOT a morning person, not by any means. I relish my sleep. I need my sleep. I have found as I get older that sleep is not something I can skimp on. I used to be able to get by and be just fine with 4-6 hours. Now that I am aging, I am finding my body does not cooperate with me on less than 8 hours a night. Thyroid disease and anemia aren't currently helping in that area. Anyway, I like my sleep.
As a home schooling family, we have, for the most part, always been able to make our own schedules. I loved that I didn't have to rise early, properly caffeinate myself, and get up cranky grumpy kids to get them all ready for school at what I consider to be an insanely early hour. I love not having that hassle. (The two years that my oldest spent in the public school system were very tough for me, and I dreaded each and every morning probably more than she did.) I enjoyed letting the kids awaken when their bodies told them it was time to get up. I enjoyed being able to sleep in myself, and wake on my own. Then reality hit me.
Really, are my children going to be able to always set their own schedule, and always going to wake up in their own time? What about college and early classes? What about future employment? What about morning prayers, or waking babies, or whatever God has planned for their future? As their mom, I am supposed to set them up for success in all areas. I began to worry I was instead setting them up for failure, or at the very least, not preparing them for reality.
After reading an article that an amazing friend and fellow Catholic home schooling mom wrote regarding the attendance of daily Mass, I felt that familiar tug on my conscience. Adding in daily Mass was something I knew I needed to do.
I'll get into that another time, as I am getting way off track here. Suffice it to say, we are learning our new routine. We eat when we come home from Mass. Because we are keeping a stricter school schedule, it needs to be something quick and easy. We usually rotate between cereal and other instant breakfast foods.
3 weeks ago or so, I decided to make pancakes for breakfast. We were all tired and cranky from our new morning schedule, everyone was bombarded with the intensity of the new (for us) curriculum that we are using this year, and I felt that we needed a pick me up. I usually use a griddle when we make pancakes, but it was up in the laundry closet on a high shelf, with something sitting on top of it and I just didn't feel like it. With my low iron levels, I have been cooking in the cast iron skillet as much as possible, and even though I knew it would take extra time only making one pancake at a time, I decided to use the skillet.
We ended up with some thick, delicious pancakes that looked like they could have come out of a breakfast restaurant place. I don't normally even eat pancakes at all, yet these had my mouth watering. What was best was how instantly my girls perked up, and how pleased they were, and how thankful. I realized that something that took such small effort on my part brought about such a great reward for all of us. We were a little later starting school that day, but with the promise of the weekend coming, and bellies full of yummy goodness, they all sailed on through and finished up their work week earlier than normal.
So now we have pancake Fridays. I was feeling sick last week, recovering from a nasty migraine, and so I missed pancake Friday that week, but the girls were so pleased when they saw me reach for the griddle this morning when we got home from Mass. Poor Mr. Cat was headed off to start his school day and was lamenting on the fact that he misses pancake Friday. Perhaps I will have to add in a new tradition just for him.
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Well, this isn't the ending, but instead of starting at the beginning, which would be way too lengthy and time consuming, I will start at the present, and work my way backwards. (sticking in a length disclaimer: this will be lengthy. I promise to try to keep my words to a manageable content in the future, but this is about as condensed as I can get it and still make the point.)
Today -
I am a Catholic woman, wife, and mother. A convert, really, even though I was baptised into the Church as an infant. I never had catechism, and never went through my sacraments as a child. I was a protestant for many years, trying out various denominations, trying to find a "fit" and at the time of my decision to follow the conversion path, I was an active member of a southern baptist church. My entire family converted, all 6 of us. My husband and I were welcomed into the Church in April of 2012. My oldest 3 daughters received their First Holy Communion that May, and my oldest daughter, her Confirmation. This past May, my youngest daughter received her First Holy Communion. I try to attend daily Holy Mass with my family.
I am a home schooling mom. This is my 8th year total, and 7th year consecutive. Or something like that. Our faith was not the main reason for our decision to home school our girls, but it has been an important part of our curriculum choices. That hasn't changed.
I have the vocation to stay at home with my children, raising them, and teaching them, and doing any number of domestic things.
I am the wife of a full time college student.
I am the wife of a disabled combat veteran, and the wife of an Army retiree.
I am living in an apartment in a small town in Florida. My apartment complex is sandwiched between a hay field and a cow pasture.
This is the present. Now I will back it up a bit, and you can see some of the major life changes we've gone through in the past .......(whatever)
This summer -
In June, I found out my mom was sick, and cancer was suspected. I flew to see her, and provide as much support for her as possible. I expected a long, arduous journey with cancer, but I was hopeful for her, and my plan was to get her as settled as possible. I arrived on a Saturday. By the following Wednesday, she was gone.
The summer started when school let out for the husband. We were an unemployed household. He applied every possible place he could think of, and yet, no job was to be found. Where we live in FL, the summer is pretty slow due to the lack of snowbirds. There was no being picky, there was just nothing available. During the school year, we survive on Mr. Cat's retirement/disability pay, student loans, and the GI bill housing allowance. During the summer months (and the month school is out during winter) there is no GI Bill or student loans. That leaves us with not enough to live on. At least, on paper.
This past spring 2013 - Mr. Cat was finishing his second semester as a full time college student. The girls and I found a home school group. We were really starting to meet people and get involved in our parish.
Last winter 2012-13 - Our first Christmas in Florida
Last fall 2012 - We moved into our little apartment, close to the college and our parish. Mr. Cat enrolled in college full time, using the GI bill, which was our backup plan for "just in case".
Last Summer 2012 - In order: Mr. Cat retired from the Army. We got our house in GA ready for rental, picked up and moved everyone to FL. We were going there because he had a job that was "unofficially his, blah blah blah just a formality, blah blah blah". We had no place to live, and moved in with some extremely generous and gracious friends. He did not get the job. We were left scrambling to figure out what to do.
The year prior to that - Mr. Cat found out he was being medically retired from the Army and it was a long long process.
The muddle of years before and before -(not in order) I was an Army wife. I birthed 4 daughters, and survived one 15 month unacommpanied tour to Korea (starting with a 2 week old baby), 2 deployments to Iraq (one with a birth in the middle, one ending in medical evacuation), any number of occasions of solo-parenting.
Anyway, you get the gist. Basically, the last couple of years have been real doozies for our family. We are finding our way. Slowly, but we are getting there. We aren't where we planned, or even wanted to be, and in many ways, it almost seems like we have taken a giant step backward. Yet, here we are. Right where we are supposed to be. I have 2 parting words to leave you with: Divine Providence
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