I said it in one of the early posts, but I love Wednesdays. On Wednesdays, we drop off #1 at preschool and go to 8 a.m. Mass, followed by "Mach" which stands for Mothers And Children. My middle son loves it so much, as did the big one when he went last year. The baby just tolerates it, but that's good enough for me.
We meet Wednesday mornings throughout the school year in the basement of our church. There are usually about 8-12 moms there. Many of us go weekly, and some show up monthly or just whenever they can. There are some moms with older kids, but in the core group who is there every week, the oldest kids are about seven or eight. There are several pregnant moms right now, and many newcomers who have just babies, too.
Mach is such a supportive and encouraging group of people. Online you read about "mommy wars" all the time and I absolutely have never experienced any of that in this group (or at all, really). We don't all do things the same, and we do disagree, but still we are supportive of one another. We have breastfeeding, formula-feeding, cloth and disposable diapers, natural/organics and Goldfish/Fruit Snack, vegetarian and meat eaters. And it works great!
We have the best discussions. One of my favorite things that we do is share ideas about what is working or not working in regards to a particular topic - like meal planning, household chores, children's theology questions, seasons of the church, and even the colors that look best on our skin types. We take turns leading the discussion each week and the variety of topics we share is so exciting. In the second hour, we've been reading A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms by Lisa Hendey, so we get to meet and learn about a new saint each week. We learn a lot and have so much fun together. Another thing I love is silly Catholic jokes. Most people wouldn't get them, and maybe that's what makes them so hilarious to me.
This group and some dear friends from it are the main reasons I was able to successfully transition from working to staying home, and I'm so grateful for it!
In other news:
I listened to a podcast of the Jennifer Fulwiler show today. It was an episode from a couple of weeks back and she had Monsignor James Shea from the University of Mary in Bismarck on. He talked about being stranded on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for 20 hours in a snowstorm. His interview starts about minute 54, and at the end Jennifer does an excellent tourism ad for North Dakota!
http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/show/jenniferfulwiler/id/4119550
I haven't read this through yet, but I totally will: Digging In The Word: Philippians 3. The two young priests behind this project are so awesome. I only know one of them personally but both of their homilies (which are also posted weekly on the site) are terrific. They are informative, powerful, convicting, and challenging. You should subscribe on iTunes. For real. Do it.
We meet Wednesday mornings throughout the school year in the basement of our church. There are usually about 8-12 moms there. Many of us go weekly, and some show up monthly or just whenever they can. There are some moms with older kids, but in the core group who is there every week, the oldest kids are about seven or eight. There are several pregnant moms right now, and many newcomers who have just babies, too.
Mach is such a supportive and encouraging group of people. Online you read about "mommy wars" all the time and I absolutely have never experienced any of that in this group (or at all, really). We don't all do things the same, and we do disagree, but still we are supportive of one another. We have breastfeeding, formula-feeding, cloth and disposable diapers, natural/organics and Goldfish/Fruit Snack, vegetarian and meat eaters. And it works great!
We have the best discussions. One of my favorite things that we do is share ideas about what is working or not working in regards to a particular topic - like meal planning, household chores, children's theology questions, seasons of the church, and even the colors that look best on our skin types. We take turns leading the discussion each week and the variety of topics we share is so exciting. In the second hour, we've been reading A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms by Lisa Hendey, so we get to meet and learn about a new saint each week. We learn a lot and have so much fun together. Another thing I love is silly Catholic jokes. Most people wouldn't get them, and maybe that's what makes them so hilarious to me.
This group and some dear friends from it are the main reasons I was able to successfully transition from working to staying home, and I'm so grateful for it!
In other news:
I listened to a podcast of the Jennifer Fulwiler show today. It was an episode from a couple of weeks back and she had Monsignor James Shea from the University of Mary in Bismarck on. He talked about being stranded on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for 20 hours in a snowstorm. His interview starts about minute 54, and at the end Jennifer does an excellent tourism ad for North Dakota!
http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/show/jenniferfulwiler/id/4119550
I haven't read this through yet, but I totally will: Digging In The Word: Philippians 3. The two young priests behind this project are so awesome. I only know one of them personally but both of their homilies (which are also posted weekly on the site) are terrific. They are informative, powerful, convicting, and challenging. You should subscribe on iTunes. For real. Do it.
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