Book Nook

This is one I've mentioned in another Book Nook, I think, but it bears having its own post.  Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler are a great team, and they don't disappoint in Zog.  The story follows a dragon called Zog through his years in school, as he tries to be the best in the class.  It's a very fun book.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

For your viewing/listening pleasure:

Knitting Thursday

Sorry for not posting one last week.  I didn't have a whole lot to report last week, as I was just putting the finishing touches on Kieran's sweater, and I'm not online as much right now with it being Lent.  I finished Kieran's sweater last Friday, and blocked it on Saturday.  I have to confess that I hadn't actually blocked a sweater before, but it's necessary with the Sherwood sweater to make sure the cables stand out the way they should.  I could've made his sweater longer; I keep saying all his sweaters need to be longer, but then I don't always make that change.  I did add a few rows to the bottom when I made this one, but I should've added more.  Ah, well, it does fit him, he just won't be able to wear it next year.

Once I finished his sweater, I had enough left on that skein to make the matching hat.  This knit up quite quick since it was on larger needles and all the cables were on the same level, so the majority was just ribbing.

Having finished that, I started making this dress for Charlotte.  Hopefully I can finish it by her birthday.   I can't believe she'll be 1 in just over a week!

NFP & Divorce

OK, I have a pet peeve when it comes to how NFP is presented.  Well, a few of them, in fact, but the one for today is when people try to "sell" NFP based upon the low divorce rate amongst those using NFP.  This is even worse when that is used as a selling point with Catholic marriage preparation, in my opinion.

So why does this bother me?  First off, can we really say that NFP itself causes this low divorce rate?  As far as I'm aware, the majority of people using NFP are those who are devout Catholics, and they probably wouldn't be using it if they didn't already subscribe to Church teaching regarding marriage.  If that is the case, then they wouldn't be likely to divorce anyway, using NFP or not.

Second, it leaves out the fact that NFP isn't required.  I highly doubt that the divorce rate amongst Catholic couples using NFP versus those not using NFP or anything else is that different.  And really, if they're getting married in a Catholic parish, then saying that NFP users have low divorce rates shouldn't really matter, since anyone getting married in a Catholic parish should be able to say that.  Yes, I'm aware that that isn't always the case, because many are woefully unprepared for marriage for one reason or another, leading to the many annulments that are granted.  Hopefully that begins to change given Papa Ben's instructions to be more careful in preparing couples for marriage.

Divorce statistics definitely won't be a part of my presentation on NFP at Engaged Encounter this weekend, and hopefully I can also avoid my other pet peeves when it comes to presenting NFP. ;-)

Book Nook

Today we have another book from my childhood.  I remember reading But No Elephants by Jerry Smath when I was little, and so I wanted a copy for my kids.  My sister then sent her childhood copy of it to Kieran, while my dad also got them a new copy (the last page is torn in our childhood copy).  It's a really cute story.  A pet salesman keeps offering various animals to Grandma Tildy, who takes them one by one, but always adds the refrain "but no elephants!".  As you can guess, she ends up with an elephant, and while they're not sure it's going to work out with him, he proves quite useful in the end. http://www.himandus.net/elefunteria/library/books/juvenile_1/2983.jpg

Maybe I Am Crunchy Enough. . .

Since Charlotte was born, I've toyed with the idea of doing Elimination Communication (EC) with her.  I have a few friends who do/did this with their children, and I remember Baba, my grandmother, talking about how she did it with her children (she didn't call it EC, but that's pretty much what she did).  When Charlotte was born, I could tell her signals fairly easily, but I didn't do much with it.  We were in the midst of potty training with Kieran, which was a chore in itself, and I told myself I'd wait until Charlotte could sit up well.

Once she started sitting up, I gave it a few tries, but wasn't consistent, and she didn't seem to enjoy sitting on the toilet too much.  We were still working with Kieran, and I thought it was just too much to also try to do EC.  I figured I just wasn't quite crunchy enough, and that was fine, so I stopped trying with it.  I did still notice her cues, at least some of the time, I just didn't get her to the toilet.

Fast forward to the past week or two.  I'm getting fed up with how long potty training is taking; part of the reason for that may be because I couldn't work with him much during my pregnancy, and haven't always been able to work with him and chase after Charlotte.  I really don't want a repeat of this.  So, I started trying EC with Charlotte again, and we've had some success!  Kieran gets a kick out of cuing her, too.  She always tries to go if I cue her, and once she's even told me she needed to go so I could get her to the toilet.  No, she didn't use words, but made it clear to me that she needed the toilet.  No, other people probably wouldn't have known that's what she wanted, but then, others don't know her other signs for hunger and other things, either.  At the very least Charlotte has an awareness of her own body and knows that the diaper isn't ideal.  It really isn't a hassle, either - no more so than changing a nappy.  So maybe I am crunchy enough.  I will try this with future children, too, though I still doubt I'm crunchy enough to do it from birth.

Ashes to Ashes

Well, Lent starts tomorrow, so I won't be around as much.  I've been needing to cut down on computer time, and will be doing so during Lent.  I'll still be on some, but not much.  Since I agree with Sister Mary Martha that we shouldn't use Lent as an opportunity to give up something we should give up anyway, I'll also be adding in some more time for prayer.  Perhaps I can even get to morning prayer with the monks, though I don't know how feasible that will always be with the kids.  I wish you all a blessed Lent.