I was asked to provide my honest reflection and opinions of the new book Walk in Her Sandals edited by Kelly M. Wahlquist. I received a free copy of the book to review, but all opinions are my own.

This is a special CWBN Blog Hop! You can see the other blogs in the hop here.

The first thing that struck me about this book, Walk in Her Sandals, is that these are meaty chapters. This is not a frilly women's spirituality book that has many words yet says little.

The fiction imaginings helps the reader become immersed in what might have been going through the minds of women close to Jesus around the time of his Passion. What might it have been like to see such drastic changes in their loved ones who followed Jesus? What was it like to hear the stories about Jesus from those who actually saw them happen? What would we really do when faced with the fantastical yet real?

It's uncomfortable to think about, isn't it? It's uncomfortable to wonder if you would have really been a Christian if placed in these women's shoes (or sandals). It could not be excused as something "I just grew up with" or "what I've always done". For these women, saying they were followers of Jesus could not be hidden beneath such platitudes. They carried a true burden of faith. This is part of our Christian heritage. It is part of what it means to inherit the Christian tradition - to not shy away from what is hard or what is uncomfortable.

Often our greatest gifts are also our greatest burdens. Women know this in a very intimate way. Pregnancy is tough, and dealing with our fertility (whether hyper-fertile, sub-fertile, or infertile) is something we don't get to just forget about. That does not make these bad things, in fact, I would argue that the burden of our gifts make them greater gifts still because we have to continue to accept them as gifts.

This book has one of the most intelligent and honest reflections I've seen about maternity in a general Catholic women's spirituality book. The story they chose to fictionalize is the story of Miriam who is following Mary Magdalene to the tomb of Jesus on Easter Sunday. There is not a pregnant woman in sight, yet there is something very true about maternity in this story. It is the story of women being called to carry life, and that starts with a spiritual acceptance of life.

We often talk about "spiritual motherhood" in the Catholic Church, but I don't think it comes off well. Too often it's seen as some sort of bone we throw to women who are struggling with infertility. Like somehow caring for strangers is supposed to take away that longing for an infant of your own to cherish. Or it's assumed that we have no need for spiritual motherhood once we have our own biological children. Neither of these things is true.

We are all called to reach outside of ourselves, of our own little groups, and of our own families to care for the Other. Spiritual parenthood is not something exclusive to women - men too are called to spiritually father. One of the best insights I've heard on spiritual parenthood actually came from my bishop during a diaconate ordination. In his homily, he shared the advice he gives to priests who are having a hard time praying and being so constantly available to others: it's not about you. You aren't praying to "get something out of it". You aren't caring for a friend in need to get good karma. You are doing it to practice loving.

At a very fundamental level, Love is one of the most basic vocations in the Christian life. Love is the thread that runs through this book, as it runs through the Passion of the Christ himself. The book begins on Palm Sunday, through the Passiontide and Easter Sunday, and ends on Pentecost.

If you are looking for something to help you reflect more deeply on Christ, scriptures, and our lives as Catholic women this Lent - this might be the book for you!

It is designed to be done in a group, though I could see going through this book as a private devotion as well. Copies can be ordered on the WINE: Women in the New Evangelization website. There will be an accompanying journal available during Lent!

What experiences have you had with faith? What are you struggling with as Lent approaches? What have been your experiences with spiritual motherhood?

My Thoughts on the Catholic Mom Challenge

Linking up with This Ain't the Lyceum for 7 Quick Takes!

A while ago my friend Sterling Jaquith sent me a copy of Catholic Mom Challenge: Striving for Sainthood to review.

At the time I was also reading A Mother's Rule of Life. It is also aimed at Catholic moms trying to bring a little more order to their lives. I found the Catholic Mom Challenge very relatable, and applicable to Catholic women who are not physical mothers too. Here's why.

1

She emphasizes what to do when things go wrong

This is probably the most important part of any organizational system - a plan for what happens when the system falls apart.

This includes red flags to watch for that indicate something is going off the rails, and encouragement to admit when it's not working. There's a reason pride is one of the toughest deadly sins!

2

Explicit help on how to include your husband

Reading Sterling's book made me feel like she understands the dynamics at play in a marriage and gives very specific dos and don'ts for talking about issues. Including "Don't go rogue" - probably the one I most struggle against.

3

"Be a Scientist"

This might have been my favorite part of the whole book. The idea of taking a look at the problems in our lives like a scientist - someone looking for data and logic - is genuinely helpful for me in overcoming problem paralysis. 

You know the one. You know there's a problem, but you just can't think about it for too long before your whole sense of well being is derailed. The idea here is to try checking your emotions and looking at the data. This is not a forever solution, but a way to allow yourself to see the problem from a new angle.

4

It's all about habits

Good and bad, we all have habits. Changing them is a steady process. I love Sterling's discussion of the difference between willpower, feelings, and discipline. Understanding if we are really struggling with willpower or discipline can make all the difference in creating good habits that stick!

5

All the worksheets!

I love worksheets and lists! They calm me. Sterling even made videos to help guide you in filling these out.
I love that she includes review worksheets. No system to perfect right off the bat, and I love that this program gives you the tools to help hone what you started.

6

Doing a little bit at a time but also jumping right in

Seeing the whole list of things that need to change, improvements that need to be made, habits to kick can make you freeze up. Or maybe you think it would be better to wait until a mythical "later" when you aren't too busy or stressed.
Y'all that "later" somehow never becomes now. At some point, you just have to start!

I love all the real talk Sterling has about mental health, finances, and physical health - all the things we might want to tackle or thing about, but are necessary to create a system that works.

7

It's all about striving for sainthood

Sterling's point about the need for peace resonated with me. The point of this is not really about organization, being less stressed out, and having a cleaner house (though that is an effect.) The point of cultivating these good habits is to have the peace to strive for holiness.

Looked at through this lens, having a system that works for you in managing your home, health, spirit, and soul isn't just a nice thing to have - it's a need, and something worth prioritizing.


Are you someone who makes changes better in a community? Join the Catholic Mom Challenge facebook group! There will also be an online workshop for this program starting in January, so keep a look out for that! You can sign up for a challengers email with daily inspiration on the Catholic Mom Challenge website.
The book is available as an e-book or paperback on Amazon. Check it out!

Library Haul 11/1

Linking up with A Gentle Mother for Library Haul.

Happy All Saints Day everyone! It was a wet Halloween for us last night, and a chilly morning, so we're planning on cuddling up with some library finds!

The Life of Elves

I had read Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog a few months ago, saw this on the shelf and decided to give it a try. I'm very impressed! Barbery knows how to use words that sweep you up and push your fictional imagination without seeming like she overused a Thesaurus. 

This story is all about magic, the landscape, and hidden communities. Perfect for my pseudo-Irish weather today!

Little Mouse

Therese picked this one out and I'm more impressed with it than I thought I would be. (She often picks books based on their unusual size - very large or very small). This is the sweet story of a monk who adopts a little mouse as his daughter, and their quest to find her a suitable husband as she has said she wants to marry the strongest creature. 

It turns out very cute.

999 Tadpoles

I had seen this book recommend a number of times as a "big family book". It is very cute how the extremely large frog family stick together and mom and dad frog are shown as a team. My kids particularly like reading, and acting out, and "run for your lives" bit.

What were your library finds this week?

Library Haul! 10/25

Finally linking up with Christina at A Gentle Mother for library haul!

We get a lot of books every week (like 20+) so I'm just going a put a handful up at a time. 

You're welcome.

Build, Dogs, Build: A Tall Tale

Oh my goodness does John love these books! There is also Work, Dogs, Work and Dig, Dogs, Dig.

I try to space out when we get them so John will be open to reading something else. By the end of the week I want to read anything else, but I do love to see him associating books as something that can bring him a lot of enjoyment and excitement.

Cheaper by the Dozen

We're starting a new chapter book this week!

Our past chapter book read-alouds have been: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Little House in the Big Woods, The Ballet Shoes, and Farmer Boy.

This is the story of the Gilbreth family. Set in the 1910s-1920s, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth are Efficiency Experts (Lillian would go on to become one of the first successful female engineers in America) raising their 12 kids. Written by two of the kids, this is largely the story of their Dad and made better by being a true story.

We haven't even had it for 24 hours yet and we're already on chapter 4. It's addictive, hilarious, and highly recommended!

Gilgamesh

This is not for the kids (just in case you hadn't guessed.)

I'm starting a poetry study for myself using the annotated bibliography in The Well Educated Mind.

I've been able to fudge my poetry knowledge from knowing Shakespeare well, but it has been a hole in my knowledge base. Time to remedy that!

There are whole blogs devoted to following Bauer's lists, but I highly recommend checking your library for the book itself. The annotated bibliographies note editions that are particularly good, sections to focus on, and the chapter intros contain great overviews of themes, styles, and history one needs to know in order to read that type of literature.

What are your library finds this week?

Introducing The Zelie Group and JEI (Just Enough Info)!

The past few weeks a couple other Catholic mommy bloggers and I have been working on getting a new internet community going to support each other in this vocation. We are drawing inspiration  from St. Zelie Martin as a model for living deep faith while working and raising little saints. 

The Zelie Group will be a place to share this journey of motherhood, and lift each other up even from a distance.

In an effort to get to know each other, the bloggers of The Zelie Group are starting a new weekly link up: JEI (Just Enough Info). We have found that the internet can be a place where we struggle to be seen as whole persons, and we want to change that in this little corner of the internet.

Each week we'll be asking different sets of questions. If you're a blogger, link up your post! Readers can answer in the comments.

This week is all about books in honor of back to school time!

1. What are you reading right now?

Nerd alert time! So... I'm reading 3 books right now. According to my husband that's doing good for me.

I feel like I'm going to be reading After Virtue for a while. It's dense, but oh so good! 

Part of my never ending effort to keep up with my super smart husband and priest friends.

I'm going to be leading an Endow group starting next month on The Dignity and Vocation of Women. With the announcement of the formation of a Vatican commission to study the question of women deacons, I figured I should probably read up on the question before spending my Friday evenings talking about women in the Church.

Just so I don't get too heavy in Church/Philosophy reading, I threw a fun history book in there! I'm not very far in yet, but it seems entertaining and an easy read so far.

2. Which of your kids books do you wish would magically disappear?

Goodnight Gorilla. Hands Down.

Why would I want to MAKE UP the words to a bedtime book?! Is that not, like, the author's main job?

Little kids don't just like stuff a little bit, they want the thing they like over and over IN THE SAME WAY EVERY TIME.

I also hated these books as a babysitter. I'm not telepathic, and thus did not magically know the Giraffe was named Fred and he has a whole backstory one has to tell.

Do not inflict this book on your poor, unsuspecting, babysitter!

End rant.

3. What was your favourite book when you were little?

I suppose the answer to this largely depends on what age of little we're talking about. 

In terms of actual kids books I adored The Olden Days. 

It's all about how people lived in 1800s New England. You get to see things like how a grain mill worked, blacksmith shop, and how to make cheese.

It is apparently so vintage you can buy it on Etsy. I suppose I was a hipster child.

*********

Your turn! Answer the questions in the comments or link up your post!

Make sure you read the rules of the link up and follow each of the hosts in some way.

Jessica – Pinot Noir and Prayers | Instagram | Facebook
Alicia – Sweeping Up Joy | Pinterest | Facebook
Kirby (me!)  – Under Thy Roof | Instagram | Facebook
Amy – Prayer, Wine, Chocolate | Instagram | Facebook

Kerry - Fishbowl Fortune | Instagram | Facebook

If you're linking up, feel free to use this image.

Questions for next week:

1. What is your best school memory from your childhood?

2. Do you have any back-to-school family traditions?

3. Markers or colored pencils?

My Top 7 Reads from Summer 2016

Linking up with This Ain't the Lyceum for 7 Quick Takes!

I have a habit of stacking the books I've finished on my little side stool next to my side of the bed. I clean it off about once a season. I've blazed through A LOT of books this summer, so I thought I would list some of my favorites from the completed summer books stack.

1

The Summer Before the War

This is a big fat novel and I loved it! It's set in pre/early-World War I English countryside. I really love that time period. The sudden change in daily living, and the dramatic effect on a shared cultural psyche is just fascinating.  

2

How to Be a Tudor

I got this because I loved Goodman's How to Be a Victorian. She focuses on the history of daily life (based in England) of regular people in different time periods - starting from when people woke up to when they went to bed. 

She does some experimental archaeology too. She will make and actually try things like sleeping on reed beds, doing hard farm work in a corset, and recreate historical recipes.

She is part of a team who have done a series of documentary style recreations for the BBC. Here's the first episode of their series on the Tudor Monastery Farm.

3

Bringing Up Bebe

I wrote my review of this here. It's nice and thorough so I'll send you over there.

4

Man in the High Castle 

They made this into an Amazon TV series, but the series is extremely loosely based on the book. I'm (very slowly) working my way through the series, and just inhaled the book. They're so different that they could be seen as different stories in the same world.

I like these stories that are experiments in world building. Answering the question "what if things turned out different?" What if this one thing changed? What kind of world would that be?

5

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

It felt like a truer summer when it can include going to the bookstore to get your copy of the latest Harry Potter book!

My kids got to experience going to a Harry Potter release party at the local bookstore. Harry Potter lighting bolt scar temporary tattoos we had, bookstore employees dressed up in really impressive robes, and Harry Potter cookies!

*I'm going to really attempt not to include spoilers, ok*

I really did like the book overall (really a script). I think it will probably look absolutely magical onstage. There were some scenes that I just don't know how they would do it onstage, but I'm sure their set designers came up with something clever.

I have beef with some continuity mistakes that seem like silly mistakes if JK Rowling was involved in the script. 

6

Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum 

I've read this a number of times already, but I like to read it before starting a new school year with the kids. It makes me feel more like I got this if I can remind myself of the overall plan. Berquist also has a really soothing way of talking about homeschooling and learning that serves as a great little pep talk before the new school year.

7

After Virtue

What I'm currently reading!

It's not light. At all. It's nice, dense Philosophy, but it's really helpful. I did not take any formal Philosophy classes in college, but I met my husband while he was in the Philosophy Ph.D. program at UC Berkeley. I've been playing catch up ever since.

A lot of what MacIntyre says makes logical sense, and validates thoughts I've had from following logic. But I think it's better to have an evidence based opinion, so now I'm trying to get the grounding for my thoughts.

That's what I've been up to! What have you been reading?

How French of a Parent Am I? - A Review of Bringing Up Bebe

I've had a number of requests to read Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman. She's an American writer exploring French parenting as she is raising her daughter and twin sons in Paris.

Honestly, I was little sceptical of this book because it had been brought up so often. Fad parenting is way too popular in my area for comfort. But I finally concluded that I had to actually read the book before I judged it, so I would give it a go.
It was a fast and addictive read. I read it in less than a day. Here's where I mesh, and don't, with the French parenting choices portrayed by Druckerman.

Pregnancy

Druckerman makes a lot of the French pressure to keep up your looks and not gain too much weight during your pregnancy, and to lose it quickly after birth.
My gut tells me this is something that might vary depending on location and social group - even in France.

I've had a pregnancy where I gained a lot of weight (John) and one where I lost weight (Therese). Neither really had anything to do with the "paying attention" to food that Druckerman says French women do to stay slim.

My emphasis during all pregnancies has been on maintaining strength and flexibility, and eating what I need. (Birth is a marathon, y'all.) I keep as active as I always am, with adaptations as my belly gets bigger. I don't gorge on sweets but I don't deny them either. Never going to be a fan of needing to obsess about food - even in an attempt to be healthy. I've seen too many people go down bad roads that way.

Birth

Apparently natural birth is just not a promoted thing in France. It's assumed you'll get an epidural and deliver on your back in a hospital.

I don't know if I can convey the depth of not caring I have for other women choosing to give birth in hospital or birth center or home. I really don't care if you got an epidural or not, and I don't think having a c-section says anything about what kind of mother you are - nor is it some badge of pride to have a med free birth. We're all different people and we're going to need/want different things.

I care about the mom and dad feeling heard, safe, and cared for in the whole birth process. Past that...nope. 

Sorry everyone.

I didn't do well with cliques on the playground as a kid either.

Breastfeeding

Controversy Time!!

Because I think breastfeeding is a more emotionally charged topic in the US then birth (if that is possible.)

So Bringing Up Bebe says the French barely breastfeed. It's just not a big thing. Druckerman contends that it has to do with mom's need for autonomy. The general expectation is that breastfeeding will not be a long running endeavor.

Breastfeeding in the US is over-hyped, in my opinion. I wish it was an exaggeration to say that failure to breastfeed is seen as a failure to mother in the US, but it's really not.

I think both the French and the Americans do this wrong. There has to be a way to support moms without putting down other moms. We all need to calm down, just feed the babies, and make the choices that work for that mom, that family, and that baby.

Spoiler alert: that's basically how I feel about all parenting choices. 

Sleep

The French do something called "the pause". You wait a few minutes to respond when you hear baby wake up in the night. It gives them a chance to go back to sleep on their own, and lets you determine if they are really waking up or if baby is just in light dreaming.

I had the same reaction that the French moms did in the book. It wasn't even something I registered as a parenting technique. Once Druckerman laid it out though I had the same "oh yeah, we do that" reaction the French mothers had in the book.

Accidental French-ness!

Play

I've written before about how I don't follow my kids around the park. Druckerman brought up something that some Americans do that really bugs me: narrated play.

I just don't get this one.

It often involves the parent tailing the kid all over the playground speaking in a loud, high-pitched, voice about EVERYTHING the child does, touches, or might see or hear. 

It sounds like an adult re-enacting Caillou. It's terrible. For the sake of all of us, please don't do that at the park. 

At home - fine, whatever - but we're all stuck at the park. Little darling is capable of discovering sand without information about it being squeaked at her. Promise.

Food

This is another place where I somewhat do the French thing because that's just what worked for me. 

I make most of our food from scratch (because it's cheap), and can easily spend 2-3 hours making dinner. There is no way I'm making multiple different dinners for picky eaters. They don't have to eat everything, but they have to try everything.

Often I'm surprised by what they like. Therese can eat an entire bunch of kale if you make them into kale chips, but will just take a single bite if they're sauteed. They LOVE sushi, but dislike chicken nuggets. 

Who saw that coming?

This a photo of the 1 year old eating all the Kale over her Mac and Cheese. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don't really do food in courses they way the French do in the book - after spending that long cooking I want OUT of the kitchen. So everyone can learn to deal with eating the food I put out at once.

Totally on board with the French approach to sweets. I'm not a fan of flat out bans on whole food types. Unless there is a significant allergy or health condition involved, I think shunning categories of food breeds unhealthy thought processes relating to eating. 

I don't do moral evaluations of food, and I really don't want my kids to view foods as "good" or "bad". Because they're not. Everything has a proper place in life.

Authority

The French are shown in the book to have very clear lines of authority between parents and children. The kids get strong boundaries but they have a lot of choices within those boundaries. But the final authority always rests with the parents.

I've never had a problem being in charge. My family refers to it as "getting your Kirby on" when you need to speak up for yourself or hold ground.

I want my kids to learn how to make good choices, but in order to do that I have to provide some parenting scaffolding (to use an education buzzword.) There ARE dumb choices kids think are great ideas. If they won't be too badly hurt, I let them figure that out on their own. Other times I need to own my authority and say no.

I expect the kids to respect my no, and they generally do. Kids have an amazing capacity to rise to the occasion - the parenting skill lies in observing and determining what is a reasonable expectation.

AKA. I get a lot of use out of my Anthropology degree.

Date Night/Marriage

One of the first lessons we had during marriage prep with our awesome priest was that the marriage should always take priority over the kids. That sounds terrible at first, and is really hard to do in practice, but I see what he was getting at now.

Bringing Up Bebe shows the time after the kids are in bed is now "adult time". French parents are unapologetic about needing that time. 

Without taking time out from being mom and dad, it is oh so easy to lose that base of being wife and husband. We only go out on a date maybe once a month. The other weeks we try to set aside an evening to hang out at home. Our current favorite thing after the kids are down is to bring a big candle and chairs up to the roof of our building. On a clear night, it's a great view of the Bay.

This night it was too windy to get the candle to light, and too foggy to see the bridge, but effort was made!

The book brings up how the French do not expect men and women to be equal at home. I agree and disagree with this one.

The honest truth is women do bear much of the weight when it comes to carrying a child, parenting, and running a home, and there can be a lot of stress on the marriage when things are expected to be perfectly equal. I don't think men are incapable of helping with parenting and housework. I think most can be good at it given the chance to develop the skills.

The women weren't born knowing how to do this either.

Daycare and Working vs. Staying Home

Again, I really don't care people.

I happen to like staying at home and taking care of the kids- this works for me and my family right now. All decisions - be it schooling, parenting, jobs - are all made on a case by case, year by year basis.

I reserve the right to change my mind.

It's not threatening that other people make different choices. Really.

Overall

I found the book interesting because I love learning how other people do things (hence the whole being an Anthropology major thing).

Will I change anything based on this book? Probably not. What I would do, I do already. 

It is a fun, and fast, read. I enjoyed it.

It's important to bear in mind with all of these "how people parent in other countries" books is that that parenting style grew out of the needs and history of that place and people. Some of it might work for you, but I shy away from elevating the parenting of another culture as a monolithic better.

It's very tempting to think the grass is greener somewhere else, but it's worth noting where American parenting has some upsides. Many European countries are overwhelmingly homogenous in terms of demographic make up and in parenting style. There is often "The Way" most everyone parents.

I happen to appreciate that we have a wide range of parenting styles in the US. Diversity is a good thing.

Travels in the Summertime - 7QT

Linking up with This Ain't the Lyceum for 7 Quick Takes!

We are well into our summer of traveling! Here's what's been happening, and on the docket, coming up for our little (temporarily) jet setting family.

1

Matt had a business trip to the Twin Cities last week. When he goes on these trips, with a blissful hotel room all to his lonesome, instead of capitalizing on non-baby interrupted sleep he gets up early and goes running!

And takes lots of pretty pictures while doing so.

This St. Mary's at dawn. DAWN.

2

We had a grand total of 11 hours between Matt coming home from Minneapolis and me leaving for Dallas!

Bit of a whirlwind.

3

My longest childhood friend got married in our home parish this past weekend.

Yup, we were a little spoiled with gorgeous architecture.

4

It also meant I got to spend Father's Day with my Dad, and a visit to my grandfather, for the first time in many years.

My parents and all my sisters came to the wedding too.

Almost age order y'all.

Got to drop off our our second to youngest sister at college orientation before I went to the airport! She's the first one going to school close enough to drive. So, naturally, she had a good set of groupies for this rite of passage.

5

Side note to say I basically inhaled this book on the flights.

I don't think I've read a novel that long (496 pages) that fast since the last Harry Potter book came out.

I've had a lot of strike outs with fiction recently, but this one was amazing!

Lucky Day library shelf for the win!

6

Now we are preparing to bring the kids to Texas and then off to Ireland on our 2nd honeymoon!

John has been telling us for weeks about how he's going to take care of Max and Bear (dogs), feed the chickens, go swimming, and "go fishin' with Big Chief in the fishin' hole".
I'm pretty sure the "fishin' hole" is just called a lake, but I'll let him keep that cute little term for a while longer.

Here some of his adventures last year.

Fishing for babies is a good use of a plastic practice lure.

7

I've learned a few tricks for traveling with kids, and traveling when you have to change sleeping location often. A good sound machine is golden! Yes it's a little clunky to pack, but it's so so worth it to fall asleep that much faster in a new place.

My other tricks include baggies for all little do-dads. Each kid gets a labeled baggie with their underware, socks, swimsuit, hat, etc. (aka. "things all kids WILL forget when packing")

I follow certain rules like ALWAYS bring a fleece/light jacket, swimsuit, and a dressy option. Because you never know.


What are your favorite traveling tips? Any fun adventures for you and your family this summer?

What I've Been Reading Lately

I've been a little tired out from the current events cycle right now. I know it's important, I know I should be informed to be a good citizen, but sometimes one needs to let the worries of the world not become the predominant thoughts of the day.

Thankfully, I'm a fickle reader. My husband likes to tease me about how many books I have going at once. I just like to spread out the love to many genres! Here's what I have been dabbling in lately.

1. The Little Oratory by David Clayton and Leila Marie Lawler

I've liked this book for a while, and keep coming back to it. If you are a Catholic convert or just a Catholic wanting to make Catholicism a stronger part of the weave of your family life, then this book gives you all the details you might need (and those that never occurred to you to need.)

I love how it addresses that it can be really really hard to get kids to participate in reverent prayer, but it is still worth doing. Even when I regularly have to say things like "do not put your whole arm in the holy water!"and "rosaries are for hands, not for feet or mouths."

David Clayton's brother and sister-in-law also attend our parish and I get to go to a potluck with him tonight. *happy dance* I'm only nerding out a little bit and will try really really hard not to act like a Catholic groupie. Not like Easter vigil. I did not succeed in the non-groupie impression then.

2. Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by Laura Berquist

This book is the basis for the type of homeschooling and learning that clicks for me. The book itself really starts with it's recommendations for the Kindergarten level, but I like to have the road map in my head for what we what to do with education and where we're going with it. It really helps me withstand the playground anxiety that manifests with the constant concern other moms have about what I'm doing.

No, my kid is not in preschool.
No, I don't intend to start later.
No, I'm really not concerned about socialization at all. If you notice, he is currently socializing with your kid just fine.

I'm thinking of putting it on a laminated card. It would save me a lot of time. I'm only kind of joking...

3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Just in case you thought this was going to be a post all about Catholic stuff, nope! I really like the Harry Potter books. I like to re-read them pretty much every summer.

I've decided that our Halloween party this year is going to be Harry Potter themed and I figured it would be good to go through the books again and see if there was stuff I had forgotten about. Did anyone else forget there was totally a school song in the first book?!  Dumbledore puts up the words and everyone sings this song to whatever tune they want. It never comes up again. What happened with the song?!

If you are concerned about the whole Harry Potter and witchcraft thing, Haley over at Carrots for Michaelmas has a pretty great post on why it's not really an issue (and I tend to agree with her on this one).

4. ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger

So I'm not totally avoiding the whole current events thing. I often will randomly grab a book from the non-fiction new books section at the library just to keep me from getting too squared away in a literary comfort zone. So far this book has been good for getting a clearer picture of the IS timeline and it grounds all of the moving parts for me.

I am not the best gleaner of information from electronic sources. I have a much easier time remembering things I have read on paper. Books like this help me tie in the news stories I have seen over the past year into a coherent story in my mind. This will almost certainly not be the only book on the topic I'll pick up. My general rule of thumb is to read three (if possible) books on any particular topic because even things that seem to be just history facts will be filtered through a lens of some sort. The clearest picture will come from one formed from many.

5. Fascinating Womanhood by Helen Andelin 

So I have to keep trying to read this book. It falls squarely in the self-help category, and can sometimes seem so 1950's, but a lot of it is pretty true. I like how it gives you action items at the end of each chapter. I could really do without the testimonial "this book is so awesome" stories that get scattered in the earlier chapters though.
This is the book to read if you want to work on your marriage/relationships and are acknowledging that you might need to change some habits of your own in order to change your relationship habits.

Sometimes it can be a little too true, and I feel like throwing it across the room, but slow and steady wins the race right?


So that's what I'm reading at the moment! What have you been up to in the reading department?