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…
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Queen for a Day. I mean, Week.
I have a very serious post brewing, but I can’t formulate “serious” on the heels of a Super Bowl party with eight children (ages toddler to tween) and four adults in the house. So instead, today you get Julianna stories. You don’t mind, do you? It’s been birthday week for her, and what with phone…
Read MoreThe Hazards of Living In A Musical Family, and other Updates on my Babies
Alex After the LEGO movie a couple of years ago, Alex started singing “Everything is awesome” all.the.time. Woe was me. Then, knowing I loathed the song even more than I loathed the movie, he started teasing me by singing “Percy Jackson ro-ocks!” on the same tune. Then he got tired of Julianna’s obsession with Frozen,…
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…
Read MoreThe Trouble With Shoes
Girls are supposed to be into shoes. Right? That’s what I hear, anyway. I’m kind of an outlier. I have plenty of shoes, mind you, but nothing, nothing like most women. Having sold shoes for a couple of years, I’m all about function and proper support, which (let’s be honest) most women’s shoes are neither.…
Read MoreJulianna’s Love Affair With Richard The Horse
The first time she saw this horse, eighteen months ago, she screamed. They lifted her up onto his back, and she screamed. And screamed. And screamed. It went like this for the first 2 1/2 lessons, until someone thought to sing. “A Spoonful of Sugar” changed everything. She fell in love with “Richard Horse” almost immediately,…
Read MoreThe Challenge of Julianna’s Charism
She comes into our rehearsal space every week at eight p.m., walking her cute side-to-side walk and shouting, “Mommy, guess what I have! Guess what I have!” On choir nights, the boys go to the parish nursery to hang out with an amazing woman, a schoolteacher who volunteers her time so we don’t have to…
Read MoreA Portrait of Julianna, Age 8
People are frequently curious about what a child with Down Syndrome is like. I certainly wanted to know that when I was new to the world of disability. So I like to check in on “who Julianna is” every so often. It’s been a while since I did this, and Julianna is growing. Not particularly…
Read MoreFamily Business, Round 2: Julianna, Nicholas, Michael
More family tidbits today, to hold my place until we get back from the Adirondacks. Up today: Julianna, Nicholas, and Michael. Julianna Oh, Julianna. She has been showing interest in Barbie dolls and imaginative play at last. But it’s causing me a little trouble, because I can’t figure out how much she understands about reality…
Read MoreIn Which Julianna Finally Succeeds In Hijacking The Eucharist
It was a bad day in choir. The big boys were out until 10 p.m. the night before for baseball, so of course, Nicholas was falling to pieces long before we finished choir warmup. I’ve been waking at 4:30 for several days, so my patience was stretched pretty thin. And Michael? I don’t know what…
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Kathleen M. Basi 