Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. Mass on Mother's Day ended with the standard Mother's Day blessing in which all mothers (and men who are hard of hearing) remained standing. Fortunately the blessing was long enough that, although lacking in the auditory department, most of these men were still somewhat perceptive enough to sit down mid-way through the blessing. Nevertheless, a few stalwarts remained til the end. Those who remained standing were largely unaccompanied by females strong enough to jerk them back into their seats by the coat's sleeve. However, I am willing to entertain the possibility of a new gender-protest movement within the Church. Gotta keep things interesting.

2. Mother's Day was followed by Ben's 5th birthday. We took lots of pictures but St. Anthony is still attempting to locate the cord necessary to the downloading of those pictures. Yes, I looked under the couch.

3. Despite any photographic proof, Ben's birthday was an overall success with a trip to Algonquin Park, a meal at the Wilno Tavern with paternal grandparents and a supper of hotdogs and fries (his request). He also told me that, upon his fifth birthday, he would start eating salad. I have yet to see any evidence of his new found resolve.

4. However, his fifth birthday has brought on a greater degree of spiritual sensitivity. Today at lunch he told Joseph that he (Joseph, not Ben) needed to go to Confession to get "all that bad stuff burned out of you". He did comfort Joseph by telling him that he would not get burned in the process. Interesting what they pick up.

5. Isaac is sleeping through the night. Some of you will say, "Isn't he 8 months old? About time." While others will look despondently at their three year old and stop reading this blog.
How did we do it? We made him cry it out. I waited til this point to do it because I was traumatised by Joseph's crying it out. I think that he literally cried for two nights straight before sleeping the third all the way through. On the very plus side, Joseph has slept every night through since those two fateful nights at six months of age. Because of this experience I was wary of doing the same to little Isaac. Dave assured me that Isaac has far less will than does his older brother. He was right.
Isaac cried for two 20 minutes sessions the first night, one two-minute session the second night and whimpered once on the third night. It was if he wanted to say, "What were you idiots waiting for?"

6. It is First Communion Sunday this weekend. This is a big event around these parts. The outfits are ready, the relatives are arriving, the food ... has yet to be bought, and the house is clean.
Are the hearts ready? I hope so.
I think that they are a lot better prepared than I was at their age. My only memory of my First Communion is of staying up way too late with a pile of my cousins, scaring the bejeebers out of the littlest one (sorry, Bridget) and being threatened with a spanking by my father. That and a white eyelet dress with a dropped waist and a yellow satin ribbon. I imagine that my most memorable sacrament just might be my last.

7. I had better stop. Hannah just told me that Isaac is eating newspaper.