Teen Quote

Overheard from the backseat of my car:

Teen Friend, "That book isn't going to corrupt your soul, is it?"
Teen Son, "No."
Teen Friend, "Are you sure?"
Teen Son, "Yeah, it's a good book. There's nothing bad in it."
Teen Friend, "Just checking."

Now that's a good friend.

Kid Quote

S.T., "God told me that I shouldn't eat my vegetables."
Me. "He did?"
S.T., "Yep, God and I talk all the time."
Me, "You do?"
S.T. "Yep, and He says not to eat vegetables."

Homeschooler Goes To School

Child #3 asked to see what it would be like to go to "real" school. She says she's not interested in going forever, just a week. So, today she went off to our parish school. Being Catholic Schools Week, they're planning all kinds of fun activities. Maybe I should have waited for exam week to send her.

I realized getting up at 7:00 this morning, (ugh), that my darling daughter might need a bag lunch. And maybe I should send her with a pencil and some paper. Then there was a debate about whether or not she could take her allergy medicine with her. She couldn't understand why the medicine would have to be given to the school nurse when she is a perfectly responsible 12-year old.

I'll let you know how the week goes. I just hope they don't make me work Bingo Night.

Happy Catholic Schools Week

Many years ago, when my oldest child was entering the first grade, I wondered if he would need to attend CCD classes in order to receive the sacraments. I went to the parish DRE with this question. She responded, "Why would you put your children in CCD? Your children already go to Catholic school."

It took the DRE to point out that my homeschooled children attended a real, true Catholic school. St. Thomas Aquinas, patron of Catholic schools, is also our patron.

Today is the first day of Catholic Schools Week. It's homeschoolers week too. So claim it and celebrate your Catholic school.

Endorsement for the Companion

This has to be the most beautifully written endorsement I've ever received:

"The Catholic Church has been at the forefront of every historic development in education: from the European universities to the thriving system of Catholic schools in the United States. Enriching that ministry of Total Catholic Education is a growing number of parents who homeschool their children. This choice, rooted in sacrificial love, comes with many responsibilities and challenges. Mrs. Wittmann's insightful and inspiring book will be an indispensable help to these Catholic families." -- Reverend Kris D. Stubna, S.T.D., Secretary for Education, Diocese of Pittsburgh

Thank you Fr. Stubna.

Writing and Publishing Workshop

I'm so excited. Michael Aquilina III, who was published at 14, is giving a kid's workshop on writing and publishing at the Pittsburgh conference. Not just on writing, but on getting published!

I love this because when I was a teen, I had two different school counselors tell me to forget about ever being a writer. The first, in 8th grade, told my parents that my dream of being an investigative reporter was just that, a dream, and they needed to get my head "out of the clouds." The second counselor, in 12th grade, was helping me decide on college degree programs. He told me to forget journalism because "there are tons of people out there with journalism degrees who never find jobs as journalists." Neither counselor ever read a single thing that I wrote. It didn't matter if my dream was backed by talent.

For this reason, I started Writers' Club three years ago. Local homeschool kids who want to make a career of writing meet once a month (part of our Teen Wednesdays). They help each other with their current writing projects. My part is to provide a little guidance and insight to the publishing world. Kids need to be given the tools to see their dreams fulfilled rather than being told to get their heads out of the clouds.

PS I gave up the dream at 18 and majored in applied mathematics with a minor in computer science, because that's what the job market commanded. I picked up the dream again in my 40's. I don't have an English or journalism degree, but I do have a Chicago Manual of Style.

Pittsburgh Catholic Homeschooling Conference

The Pittsburgh diocese is hosting their first ever Catholic homeschooling conference. And I'm really excited that I've been given the opportunity to participate as a speaker.

The really neat thing is that they will be offering children's activities throughout the day. This is a first for me. I've visited homeschooling conferences all over the country and usually parents are asked to keep young children at home with the exception of nursing babies.

If you're in the Pittsburgh area, make sure to come and visit me.

New Website Almost Complete

My web guy, Kaleb of Mad Hatter Design, has been working like crazy redesigning my Catholic homeschool website. He had all the work just about done and then the cover art for the new book came in. He fell in love with it and, as a result, he completely redid the whole design.

Do you like it? Leave a comment for me and let me know what you think.

To see the whole test website, click here: Maureen Wittmann Test. But don't bookmark it yet, the final URL will be Catholic Homeschooling. And keep in mind that there is still some mopping up to do. Plus Kaleb is going to add a crucifix or rosary to the final design.

If you are ever in need of design work (logo, business card, or website) you should ask Kaleb for a proposal. Not only is he talented, but great to work with.

"Let the Children Come to Me"

Not too long ago, I found myself writing a letter to a reporter from our local newspaper. He had written an article that included the following statement (paraphrased):
The boy's parents knew as Catholics that if they didn't have their dying baby baptized that he would end up in limbo.

Limbo has never been dogma. We don't know that our unbaptized babies are denied heaven.

My friend Linda, sends this article from Zenit on the subject:
Father Cantalamessa on Limbo and the Unbaptized

Catholic Author Mark Shea's Endorsement

“The Catholic Homeschool Companion is an invaluable resource for any Catholic parent who seeks to form their children, not only in knowledge, but in wisdom and love.” -- Mark Shea, Senior Content Editor, CatholicExchange.com.

Mark is also author of:
By What Authority? An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition
Making Sense Out of Scripture: Reading the Bible As the First Christians Did
This is My Body: An Evangelical Discovers the Real Presence

After Abortion

Keep checking out After Abortion. All kinds of photos and information on yesterday's March.

If you know someone who is suffering after abortion, let him (men suffer too) or her know that there is help. See Rachel's Vineyard for a start.

March for Life

Yesterday was the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and today is the March for Life in Washington, DC. Last year my teenagers, along with several of their teenage friends, attended the March. It was a day they will not soon forget. They were deeply moved by the whole experience. They begged to go again this year, but it will have to wait until next year. I look forward to taking them and a busload of their friends in 2007.

Let's keep all the marchers in our prayers today, as well as all women who have had abortions or are considering abortion. Let's especially pray for the conversion of a heart for all those who work so hard to keep the right to choose death for their babies.

The March will be covered live on C-Span from noon to 4 pm. EWTN will be live from 11 am to 4 pm. I believe that is Eastern Time.

Prolife blog to visit:
AfterAbortion
Check out the links in the right column.

Another one to visit:
ProlifeBlogs

Hat tip to Amy Welborn for posting these links at her blog.

Cathy Duffy Recommends The Catholic Homeschool Companion

The book's first endorsement:
"This is truly the “companion” all Catholic homeschooling families need. Some of the best and brightest Catholics contribute their expertise on a wide range of topics critical for successful homeschooling. In addition to the expected articles on teaching phonics, math, and foreign language, you will learn how to get your teens into college, how to prepare your children for the sacraments, how to use the computer for virtual schooling, how to work with children with special needs such as ADD and autism, and much, much more." -- Cathy Duffy, Author, 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum (Grove Publishing)

The Daily Gospel

Another great daily email is The Daily Gospel.

You can set it up to get all the readings or just psalms. You can also set it up to get emails everyday, Sundays / holy days only, or workdays (Mon-Fri).

It's really lovely to start each morning by reading the psalms.

Good Clean Funnies List

Rob is on a great email list: The Good Clean Funnies. You get an email each working day with a good clean joke. They're hilarious. I just had to pass this one on to you:

My wife and I were sitting in the living room and I said to her, "Just so you know, I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug." She got up, unplugged the TV and threw out all of my beer!

Kid Quote of the Week

SuperToddler:
"I don't want water. Water is boring!"

Put to the Test

Everything that I've been reading in Gregory Popcak's book about stress was put to the test the other night. When I dropped the big kids off at a friends house and Super Toddler realized that he wasn't joining them, he got very upset. He screamed for the entire 20-minute drive home, "Stop the car Mommy! Stop! Stop! I want to go to Jacob's!" He barely took a breath. I don't know how he didn't end up with laryngitus. I have to admit that when he yelled, "Put on the brakes, Mommy!" I totally cracked up. Like, yeah, I'm going to put on the brakes in the middle of city traffic.

Anyway, I kept Godly thoughts. And it wasn't easy. But I did it. And within minutes of arriving home, he was climbing in my lap cooing, "I love you Mommy, can we cuddle?" I think he was grateful that I didn't kill him.

I'm going to drop Greg an email and ask him to write a new book: God Help Me: This Toddler is Making Me Looney Tunes!

Disciplining with Humor

There is an old Yiddish proverb: What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.

I have a son who has Asperger's syndrome, which is a high-functioning form of autism. He is a great kid, but is prone to meltdowns. And he doesn't respond to discipline in the same way his siblings do.

It's all a very long story, and one day I'll write an article about it, but what I want to share with you today is one of many things that I've learned from this child.

Because I cannot be harsh with him, it will only backfire, I've learned to discipline with humor instead. If he starts acting up, I can usually stop it from escalating into a complete meltdown by making him laugh.

For example, I might tell him, "No laughing allowed in this house young man. You better not even think about laughing." And sure enough, his scowl will disappear and he'll start laughing. Then I'll start laughing. And soon everyone's forgotten any anger. Then I take the opportunity to point out that his previous behavior was wrong. If it is called for, he'll receive a punishment. He is attentive to me and receptive to the discipline because now he feels good. If I reproached him as he was melting down, my words and actions would've been for naught.

This approach not only helps him, but me too. I much prefer laughing over yelling.

Tip of the Day: Don't Let the Three-Year Old Carry the Cake!

From the archives of The Thrifty Homeschooler:

Dear Thrifty Homeschoolers,

Here is a tip that I just learned a few days ago. It was my husband's birthday and we had a lovely evening out, just the two of us.

I didn't have to pay for babysitting because I traded babysitting time with my neighbor. We didn't even have to pay for the dinner as my dad gave us a gift certificate to Olive Garden. (Thanks Dad!)

So we came home from dinner with just enough room in our tummies for delicious black forest cake, only I make it with strawberries instead of cherries -- yumcious. It was a beautiful cake, with lots of whipped cream atop the plump juicy strawberries. My three-year-old daughter must have thought so too, because she decided to carry it from the kitchen to the dining room as dh and I were walking through the front door.

The next thing I knew, my 13-year-old son came into the living room white as a ghost mumbling something about an upside-down cake. My neighbor, dh, and I walked around the corner and there was the beautiful cake upside down and our darling daughter smiling from ear to ear!

I was speechless, my jaw hanging to the floor. I looked over to my darling husband, wondering how he was going to react to the loss of his cake. Instead of being angry, he was about to bust a gut! I think that it was the best laugh that he had in along time. As he said later when telling the story to a friend, "Just the laugh at seeing the cake on the rug was worth as much as if the cake had it been in perfect shape!"

As the children cleaned up the floor and dh cut the top off of the cake, in an attempt to salvage at least part of it, I went to our extra fridge in the basement to get the big bucket of Breyer's ice cream. At least we would have delicious ice cream to go with our cake bottom. But when I opened the freezer door to get it, it wasn't there! Then a dreadful thought came across my mind and I opened the door to the refigerator. Sure enough, in helping put away groceries the day before, my 7-year-old son put the ice cream in the fridge instead of the freezer. (Thrifty Tip #2 for today - make sure that you make it perfectly clear to children that when you tell them to put ice cream in the freezer, that you mean the door on top!)

So we had ice cream soup and cake bottom for dh's birthday. We're still laughing! Sometimes you just have to flow with what life sends your way. Next time you want to blow your top, laugh instead, okay?

Blessings,
Maureen :)

Positive Thinking

My friend Linda can always be trusted to send great articles to me. This one fits right into what I've been reading in Greg Popcak's book: Key to Holiness and an Abundant Life