Joseph Christian was born September 10th. Delivery and hospital stay went smoothly. He was baptized two weeks later. I love Catholic baptisms. The whole congregation was asked to join in renewing their own baptismal vows as Joseph and another little girl were baptized. The whole community joined together in professing our faith in God and committing to accept Christ and reject Satan. Something we need to do often, even daily.
Life with a fifth baby isn't as unsettling to our routine as adding the first or second or even third. I spoke with a lady at the hospital who had ten children. She said that after the fourth, adding another one is easy. And she is right. Experience makes everything familiar and easy to find a good rhythm to life. We are a little sleep deprived but we know that this season is so very short. Before long, he will be sleeping through the night and we will miss the snuggles at 2am.
The boys are thriving in public school. They've asked several times if they can go to public school forever. I had to explain that I can't commit totally to that because I can't see into the future and what challenges may arise. But so far so good. They've started riding the bus which requires a short walk to the bus stop. I walked through it with them going over all the rules and they've not had any problems other than another exuberant boy who knocked James down. He later apologized and all is well. The first day, I called one of the special education teachers to see if she had seen Davy. She had and he had excitedly told her about riding the bus. I told her that I was just a little neurotic and didn't want to wait all day to find out whether or not they made it to school safely. It's soooo hard watching them grow up and become more independent. I know it's necessary and I can't hover over them all the time. But it does take a lot of faith to remember that God can watch over them much better than I.
Several have remarked how I must feel like a load has been lifted to not have that pressure of homeschooling. And they're right. I had no idea how much of a weight it was until they started public school. I didn't fully appreciate how much time and thought it required. Even with a newborn, it feels like I have so much more time and there are so many more things that I can do for my family. I've thanked the teachers for helping bear this load with me. It has taken several teachers to help keep Davy's work straight. His main room teacher said that she didn't know how I did it by myself.
But with this extra time, comes a bit of a reinventing period. I'm thrilled to have more time to keep the house clean and do some extra baking. I have time to coupon and shop the sales. I am hoping to add more projects for learning for the little ones. I also want to add more Catholic traditions. There is such a vast richness to our faith with opportunities to share in the cultures all around the world since we are a global church. I am praying for wisdom that I will prioritize properly and not sacrifice the time with my kids for clean floors or family time for organized closets. Hopefully I will manage to do all that needs to be done as I manage my time well. But when a choice arises, I pray that I always chose the better part as Mary, Lazarus' sister did.
My eldest turned 10 on the Feast of Holy Archangels and my husband turned 40 on the Feast of Guardian Angels. We have also studied about angels in our catechism study from St Joseph Baltimore Catechism. So I am taking a suggestion from Many Little Blessings to memorize the prayer for our Guardian Angel.
Angel of God
My guardian dear
To Whom His love
Commits me here
Ever this day
Be at my side
To light and guard
To rule and guide. Amen
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