Self Feeding: I didn't know there was a name for this...

My littlest girl has started solid foods. This was not at my determination. Well it was, but it wasn't. The way I grew up my mom did not use baby food. She just gave the baby little bits of whatever she was eating. I thought this was the way everyone did it. I had no idea what baby food was for.

When my first little guy was a brand new baby I asked my older, child vetted sisters, when should I start feeding him solids. They both told me around six months he would be interested in food. That's when he will start pulling it off the plate and putting it in his mouth. This is what I went with. I would often eat with him by my lap and as soon as he started grabbing food and putting it in his mouth, than I started letting him have little bits of whatever I had.

I have done this with each subsequent child. Now number four has done the same thing.  It's pretty easy. I love it. It works for my kids. It works for the way I parent. It may not be the 'scientific' way, but it is pretty natural. I believe this is how people introduced their kids to food before science got involved in child rearing. Not to say that all science is bad, I just think that when it comes to child rearing, instinct is more important than studies. We have successfully survived as a species for quite awhile, without statistics and clinical studies.

But not just that. Also the fact that science is always changing. The one day it is bad to give your kids salt. The next it is good. Then it's bad again. Then good again. Now fat is bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. But the fats like canola oil, aka rapeseed oil, which the USDA says is so good for you, turns out to be a contrived oil that is good for Canadian agriculture, not particularly good for you, http://www.naturalnews.com/034733_canola_oil_rapeseed_food_labels.html

Then the fats that were deemed evil, because they are saturated, (Boo!) like butter and Coconut oil, are actually good for you due to their high digestibility and vitamin solubility. Things that people have been eating, because they are real and not completely contrive from indigestible material, ie hydrogenated oil (http://agriculturesociety.com/politics-and-food/whats-the-truth-about-cottonseed-oil/)

My point is not that we all need to be purest to survive, or even to thrive, just that I think our ancestors knew a little bit more about raising children than science discovers. Basically it seems to me that modern 'scientists' are trying to reinvent the wheel. Rather than trying to discover new ways of feeding our kids, why don't they research why the old ways worked so well. Lets try to understand why things are the way they are not try to redefine what they are.

Steps to a Blissful Sunday

To day is Sunday. Sunday is a day of rest created by God for man. That's right God created this day of rest and worship because we need it. I know I do. The problem is as my family gets older and larger, the day has become less boring, and less restful. Now I appreciate a boring Sunday because we are now busy 2 out of four weekends a month. 

But this Sunday has the makings to be blissful. 

First I had to wake up way to early this morning, because my son received the Light of Christ medal for his cub scout uniform. The little modest ceremony took place at the 8:00 mass which meant we (husband and I go to bed at 2 am) had to get up at 6. We struggled out of bed. I struggled to get the kids ready, to go outside and warm up the car, we struggled to get there on time. We made it. We celebrated mass. We received Christ, then a blessing for our throats, and John received his award. 

Getting up early has given us the whole day to relax and reflect. We got donuts on the way home. I have dinner in a crock pot. I am simmering orange peels with cloves and cinnamon on the stove, and my house is trashed. It may never be clean again, while at least not today. 

Today I reflect on my choices and struggles. My struggle is keeping house. I stink at it, but I'd rather stink at that than at anything else. So I painfully offer my house to God today. I ask him to bless it. Bless those who dwell in it, and those who will visit it. I need today, without it my week wouldn't come close to standard. 

Catching up the over view

Thanks to my dear friend Renee, I feel inspired to blog!! But I really have been remiss in my blogging so I feel like doing a quick run down of my feelings and experiences for about the last month. We'll see where this jumbled mess of thoughts ends up.

First I have been going through some major stress, in comparison to the rest of my life. I would have to say only junior year of high school was more stressful than now, and I'm not even sure if I can really compare the two because real things, not the stress of peers and fear of being a social outcast, are what's doing me in now; however although more tangible, I guess real and tangible and not even close synonyms, more real these problems are, the more joys I have and have because of them.

I have four awesome kids that have increased the amount of love, life, and joy I experience. And these awesome people and the one in heaven, have cause me great amounts of stress, joy and sorrow. And I am pretty sure that I am a better mother now with four than I was with one. Better that I love more, I am more patient (believe it or not), and yell less (at each individual child, probably yell more on the whole). I treasure my moments with my kids more. I hope that I will be a better mother with 8 than I am with 4 and a better mother of 12 than of 8 (Shhhh don't tell anyone about the 12. I look crazy enough already).

I'm still on the stress thing... Stress caused by my weight, weight from my last baby. I just can't lose. Exercise and dieting might work, but I'd have to stick to it for more than 5 days, and I just can't.

But then I read an awesome blog by Renee, http://3acres.blogspot.com/2013/01/7-quick-takes-friday-finally.html
She talks about going paleo, well not actually paleo (which I will never!!!!! do) but giving up grains and dairy, something that I would never have considered before reading her blog. She not only gave encouragement to the person, who feels as though they would die from lack of bread and dairy (ie myself) but also tells the foods she used to cope with it. And my, my they sound good.

So now I think maybe, I should try this giving up grains and dairy thing. But then I would have to give up coffee. That sounds horrible and good at the same time. I could put coconut milk in my coffee, but my sister found out that it screws with progesterone levels. Since I have miscarried, and I could theoretically be pregnant at any time, this freaks me out a little. So to start a diet without coffee... To be suffering without both that would be a sacrifice, and forcing myself to eat meat and vegetables without cheese... Seems like a good Lenten offering.

I guess I didn't get to the overview but next time...

Celebrating St. Nicholas

It's finally here! I have been waiting for St. Nicholas day since summer! Every year I bake 1st. Initial cookies. The kids put out there shoes. I fill them with candy and put the cookies on top.

My family has a traditional sugar cookie recipe used for St. Nicholas day. This year I made cookies, filled their shoes with (chocolate) gold coins and gave them candy canes, and I made traditional Speculatius.

St. Nicholas was bishop of Myra in the 4th century. Story has it that a poor widow was with out food and money and St. Nicholas at night filled her shoe with gold coins. The candy canes recall the shepherds staff, which the bishop uses to lead Christ's "sheep". 

I'm not sure that the initial cookies have any religious associations, they are a tradition in my family. My Mormor, Swedish for grandma, made the cookies for her 13 kids, each with a different color frosting. My mom made them for me and my 6 siblings. I make them for my four little ones. I made a small cookie for the baby.

I am so happy to have a small respite from Advent, even though we are only a few days in.

Advent: The Journey to Christmas

A woman, when she is in labour, hath sorrow, because her hour is come; but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. (John 16:21)

During Advent, I and many of my brothers and sisters in Christ, will be giving something up. This is a tradition that goes back a long ways. I'm not sure how far back,. but the Church has a tradition of fasting before feasting. It is an allegory of the world. We suffer now, only to behold Christ our King later.

Israel fasted and prayed and underwent much tribulation as they waited for the Messiah. Mary and Joseph journeyed to Bethlehem as they anticipated Jesus' birth. And Jesus says to us in Luke 5:33-35, 

"And they said to him: Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees in like manner; but thine eat and drink? [Luke 5:33] To whom he said: Can you make the children of the bridegroom fast, whilst the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then shall they fast in those days."

We are remembering the time before Christ, and we are anticipating his second Coming, so now we fast, preparing our souls for heaven. We fast to strengthen our spirits and teach them that we do not need things like coffee (what I'm giving up), but we need Christ.

The fasting can be from anything we enjoy. We can abstain from tv, or candy, anything really. Just to remind ourselves, it is not yet the time for rejoicing, but the time for preparations.

God Gives The Greatest Good

I was talking to my son last night. I was trying to explain to him about how God loves him. Earlier that day he had asked me what a miracle was, and I thought this moment was the time to explain.

"God loves us so much that sometimes He shows us with a demonstrative sign, a sign that we can see or feel or touch, called a miracle. Like when someone is very sick and doctors have tried everything, but they can't cure the illness and then suddenly that person is well. That would be a miracle."
John responded,
"If God loved me so much, why did he give me three sisters?" John loves his sisters. He just doesn't understand why he has sisters and not brothers, which would be much more like his vision of a perfect life.

After some thought, I tried to explain to him something that most likely some church doctor has explained, and I'm just a little slow on the uptake. God gave him sisters because that is the greatest good for John.

I don't know why I never thought of the will of God like this before. We make choices, we make good choices and bad ones and even a-moral ones, and God takes those choices and gives us the greatest good from them. And we can choose how we perceive what God has given us.

I will never forget a story from a book I read in High School. I don't remember the title, but the true story happened in a concentration camp during world war two. Two sisters were suffering with bed bugs in one of the bunkers of the concentration camps. One sister insisted that they both thank God for everything, even the bed bugs, every night. They found out later that those bed bugs kept the guards from coming into the bunker and discovering their bibles. Those bed bugs were the greatest good.

But more than that, sometimes we can't even perceive what great good God has in store for us, because ultimately every thing that God gives us in life, brings us to heaven. If one chooses to take everything that is given him and loves God for it, imagine how easy his path to heaven, because that is the ultimate good. That is all God wants. He wants us to live forever with Him in heaven, and He gives us constant opportunity regardless of how many times we reject His will.

The mind of God is a mystery, but know that He only desires you, and this life is your path to heaven.

**********
My friend Jess reminded me the book was The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom

Pain in Child Birth and Original Sin

I want to make clear that this post is not an attack on anyone. I firmly believe that people have the right and responsibility to make their own choices regarding medical care. I writing this to spark thoughts about these issues and understandings

It seems to me that women in America want very much to have painless childbirth. I can't say I blame them. It hurts... a lot. Women that are not part of my weird little tiny circle of homebirthers, say they want the drugs, there is no way they would go through that, without drugs. Obviously drugs are available and sometimes necessary, so fine. However there is a definite child birth culture that seems to demand painless child birth, and I'm a little puzzled as to why.

First of all you most likely will not get drugs up until you are almost done anyway, which means you will still have to go through hours of pain building up to that point. In my mind the contractions that are too painful to talk through are still pretty easy compared to the ones that come after the ones that are too painful to talk through, but I would never know that if I didn't go through them. That almost has nothing to do with my point.

Women have been having painful child birth since man was created. So now suddenly we have a choice to have painless vaginal childbirth, or almost painless, I think it's a case by case basis, or be totally knocked out and have a C-sec. I am only discussing these in elective cases. But are these choices truly painless, or even dramatically less painful?

The other thing is that from a Judeo-Christian stand point the pain of child birth was a specific punishment for original sin. World wide suffering and a tendency to sin are also consequences, but pain in child birth was pretty specific. In high school a girl in my religion class asked, it was more of a statement, "Because now we have epidurals, does that mean we have over come the punishment for original sin?" Though no, we haven't, it is interesting that she would make that jump. Don't you think?

Please, don't misunderstand. I am absolutely not saying that having an epidural or a C-sec or interventions for pain relief are some how sinful, or that they are a violation of the natural law. No. I am only pointing out some realities, some which may not be relevant to everyone. Just things to think about.

Because child birth is such a very personal thing. I really want to mention one more time. This is not a criticism of any person's choice in how she delivers. I just thought it was an interesting collection of thoughts.