Today, I visit my blog to talk about this girl: Wednesday nights, Julianna goes to “church school” (because it’s easier for little kids to say than “religious ed”) while we’re having choir practice. Usually, in the chaos of grabbing boys from the nursery, cleaning up octavos and books, and getting an overtired family of six…
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Staying Home vs. Working Mom
Last week, we watched the movie Suffragette. I hope many of you have watched it, so I don’t have to explain that it was…sad. Sad beyond expression. But one thing that really struck me in that movie was the fact that Maud worked full time—more than full time—outside the home. She sent her kid off…
Read MoreThe Problem Of Teaching A Child The Faith
It’s got to be tough to be the kid who has two musical parents who are extremely involved in their church. He has a set of gifts that are his birthright—a great ear, the ability to pick out tunes in multiple keys and sometimes even harmonize them, plus a blossoming skill on the piano and…
Read MoreThe Grace to Let Enough be Enough
“What come next?” There was a period of several months recently when Julianna was constantly asking this question: when a song ended on a CD, at the end of a scene in a movie, whenever we got back in the van after running an errand or going to a lesson. Lately, it feels like the…
Read MoreMercy In The Age of Facebook
Because the spiritual works of mercy have always been a little tough to pin down, I offer this today: The Spiritual Works of Mercy – in the Age of Facebook Mark Piper 🔶 To Give Counsel to the Doubtful, in person, without a shield of anonymity, with charity and goodwill as your motivation 🔶 To Instruct…
Read MoreTwo Pieces of Candy
I must have been six or seven, not yet old enough to be fully aware of the vague sense of financial worry caused by growing up on a farm in the 1980s. But plenty old enough to know better. I stole a couple pieces of candy from the open Brach’s bin at the IGA. I…
Read MorePictures From The Big Day
A young lady’s big day in the Basi household begins with dancing with your little brother… …continues with joining the choir for one of your favorite songs (“Love Has Come, by Matt Maher”)… …peaks with receiving your first Communion (officially this time)… …forces you to tolerate having lots and lots of pictures taken…. …
Read MoreMaybe I Really Am Living With An Angel (A Mercy on a Monday Post)
It was last December when I read the post that kicked off this exploration of mercy. This post, specifically, in which Rory Cooney suggests that we have a bad habit of substituting confession for actual mercy. I thought, “Wait…there’s more to mercy than confession?” Then I thought, “Maybe I’d better dig into this a little…
Read MoreDown Syndrome and the Sacramental Year
It’s That Year for Miss Julianna. Second grade. If you’re not Catholic, you may not know what I’m talking about. But second grade is a big year, involving firsts of two major sacraments: Reconciliation and Eucharist. In other words, it’s crunch time for this mama who’s been convincing everyone she knows what she’s talking about…
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Kathleen M. Basi 