Auntie Leila on Advent

We're finding ourselves in a very busy life season right now. This tends to leave me feeling rather frazzled, and that has only been heightened by the nagging worry that I "ought" to be doing more with the kids for Advent.

Today I read Auntie Leila's post on Advent, and I'm feeling a bit more peaceful now. Because you know what? As usual, she's right. ;)

The simple act of lighting a candle in the home, if done peacefully and attentively, can open the door to wonder. Wonder is at the heart of Advent.

We can get frazzled and feel that we're not doing enough, that our children don't understand enough. Really, their understanding will grow with each year that they experience the same beautiful, simple rituals at home and at Church. . . . What I think the children tire of, eventually, is our jangling attempts to elicit some response from them, which, in the end, comes to this: That we seek affirmation from them. When really, we should confidently offer them what we know to be good, and trust that the good will be accomplished.

I don't need to have a perfect advent craft or activity planned for every single day. What I do need to do is be mindful of the season myself, and then offer the basic reminders to my children as well. So we light the candles at dinner. We pray and we sing advent hymns. We read books about Jesus and St. Nicholas during our morning story time. We unwrap our creche with care and set the animals in their stable. Perhaps we bake cookies.

And that really is enough. I don't have to *make* Advent special; it already is. I just need to point the way toward Jesus in terms and symbols that little boys can start to understand.

a Reasonably Clean welcome!

Rosie (daughter of the wonderful Auntie Leila) is hosting a link-up for the Reasonably Clean welcome areas of our homes. If you've read much of Auntie Leila, I'm sure you know that "Reasonably Clean" is one of her themes. (after all, if you aim for perfectly clean, you don't have time to read that novel...)

Last time the challenge was to make our kitchen sink pretty. This time, to make our entry welcoming. Not only for friends, but also for ourselves!

Anyway, Rosie's post inspired me to get up off my duff and DO something about the mess that has been depressing me all day. I took "before" pictures for contrast and motivation:


The front garden, completely ignored. Daisies gone to seed in the back, mint gone to seed in the front. Ugh.


The toys...well, there's not a lot I can do about those. I hope that they say "children live here, and yours are welcome too!" :)


The entryway, full of random stuff. I've been tripping over it for two days - time to move it out!


This counter is my nemesis. Somehow everything collects on it! I think it has magnetic powers.


The table top has magnetic powers, too. This is remarkably clean, actually.


Amazingly, there is no laundry on the couches!


The general mess on the floor needs to go, though!

So those are the "before" pictures. And now...the "after"!


That looks welcoming!


The garden has been entirely fixed up. Dead plants cut back, dead leaves raked and deposited in the worm bin, daisy seeds and sweet peas planted in hopes of a secondary summer growth (we can do that in sunny socal!) And everything covered with beautiful rich dark worm dirt.


We took a break to eat cherries and finish up a couple of fun projects (which had been sitting on the counter!)


Hey, we can walk without tripping now! All the way through!




And my counter is gloriously clean. A mug of pens, a basket of fruit, and a plate of cookies are the only things on it!

Frankly, I feel fantastic now. :) I hope this post and all the others have inspired you to go make your entry a welcoming place!

Parenting boys?

Auntie Leila's counsel is not to be missed. Today she's offering her 10 rules for mothering a 13 year old boy. Even if your boys are still quite young, as mine are, Leila's suggestions are worth reading and tucking away for later use.

While you're there, browse through her archives. They're full of wisdom, humor, and lovely photos.