A Blogger's Dilemma (My Life Is Not Really Blog-Worthy)

If you're not one of my two regular readers, you may not realize it, but I haven't posted anything in 11 days.  And I haven't written about anything truly thoughtful or thought-provoking in... I don't know... either one month, or eight months (that's when I started the blog...) Take your pick.  

I figured it out.  It's a two-fold issue.  (1) My life isn't really that blog-worthy.  Which is not to say that I don't value and appreciate my life.  It's more that it's hard to find any justification for documenting it on-line and even harder to expect that anyone is interested in reading the drivel that I may come up with.  and 2) The current state of my mental processing unit does not lend itself to deep thoughts.  "Bog" is the word that comes mind, not "Blog."  My mind is mush lately.  No scintillating or controversial or intellectual or even remotely sarcastic thoughts are brewing in there.  I've got nothing.  

This is my blogger's dilemma.  In painful comparison to the other wonderful blogs I enjoy reading, I don't have much to offer.  I don't have much to document.  And yet.  I like my life.  And I enjoy keeping track of it here... the lovely moments that are fleeting and perhaps forget-able, but not if I keep it here.  The smiles of my children, the entertaining things they say,  the projects that we work on, the activities that we do, the chores that we tackle, the books that we finish, the thoughts that I think on days when I remember to reboot my brain - they're the stuff of my life.  And humble though they be, these little particles of ordinary-daily-dailiness are the things that, when combined, make up this life that I like so much.  To me, they're worth recording here.  It's not a record that will shake humanity to the core. It's not even a record that's likely to inspire a handful of folks in the Western Hemisphere. It's just a little piece of me that's worth working on, if only for myself.  And if I happen to retain my two faithful readers, how delightful! I'm happy for you to follow along!  Though I get it if you choose to spend you time with a more riveting blogger.  I totally get it.  

The title of it all, after all, does acknowledge the ORDINARINESS of my life.  It's right up there at the top of the page for me and anyone else to see and know and believe. So there's no need for me to pretend that my blog will rock the interwebs.  And anyone who's joining me need not feel cheated when they realize, there's really not much here.  I'm keeping it simple, because that's my life and my mental-capacity right now. 

With that in mind, I thought I'd share 11 of the ridiculously ordinary things that have been happening in my home and in my brain for the last 11 days.  This is not a blogger's dilemma. This is Ordinary Lovely...

 (1)

Papa teaching Clare how to roll down hills 

(2)

The big kids got to sweat a little this past weekend at a soccer clinic run by a family friend.  

(3)

I recently resorted to a new form of parental supervision.  It involved me laying in the couch in a state of total exhaustion, praying to my children's Guardian Angels to pick up my slack. The boys played outside without argument or incident for three hours that afternoon, one of which I'm pretty sure I was dead asleep. At first I felt a little guilty about it, but then I Googled it and it turns out it's totally legit.  Here's what I found at Catholic Online:

A Mother's Prayer to the Guardian Angels of her children

I humbly salute you, O you faithful, heavenly Friends of my children! I give you heartfelt thanks for all the love and goodness you show them. At some future day I shall, with thanks more worthy than I can now give, repay your care for them, and before the whole heavenly court acknowledge their indebtedness to your guidance and protection. Continue to watch over them. Provide for all their needs of body and soul. Pray, likewise, for me, for my husband, and my whole family, that we may all one day rejoice in your blessed company.  Amen 

My own prayer was not quite so eloquent.  It went something more like this... (to be read with a desperate tone)

Dear Guardian Angels of my two energetic and sometimes thoughtless boys,  I'm exhausted and no part of me can be out in the backyard with them right now.  I am begging you to keep them safe, to guard their words and manners towards one another, to guide their behavior and their actions, and PLEASE spare them from the (oftentimes dangerous) consequences of their own creative genius.  (Moms of boys, you know what I mean.)  Amen.  

(4)

Found this sticker waiting for me when I went to use the toilet the other day.  

(5)

The boys found their first cicada shell of the summer and documented the location on the playset.  
(What, you couldn't figure out that said 'cicada'???)  

 (6)

Just to give you an idea of how bad things really are around here, one of the blog post titles I've been toying with is "Clutter and Your Filth Threshold:  Never Say Never."  

(7)

Clare has a new face that she's making...

(8)

(This is my favorite!)  Yesterday the boys tried to play a trick on me.  I was supposed to check on them at rest time, see these on their pillows and know that everything was as it should be, while they were off playing oh-so-clever-and-sneaky-like in another part of the house!   Hahahahahahaha!  Loved it!  

(9)

A couple months ago I read the book Children and Parents by Fulton Sheen, and since then I've been thinking about the different challenges/aspects of parenting boy vs. girls.  I've been thinking about what kind of girl Ruth is and what kind of mother I want to be for her.  She has so many different "facets" (I know every kid does!) but I'm just trying to figure out what kind of little girl I'm working with here.  I mean, look at her...! 

(10)

Also from the Fulton Sheen book... Just to make sure I don't get too comfortable and complacent in my parenting...

"Why impose habits of cleanliness, politeness, or honesty?  All parents who exempt themselves from exercising intelligent control and discipline over their children are social nuisances long before their children become delinquents."

"The peak of moral authority is reflected in the attitude of the parent who says, "I ask for obedience, because I am responsible before God for you."  The child in his turn, if morally educated, will have in his heart the sentiment: "I will obey my parents because they take their place of God in my home."

"Every child is given to the parents by God as so much wax or clay to be molded into the image and resemblance of Life and Truth and Love.  If the parents take their eyes off the Model, the image will be become imperfect.  Only those who have learned how to obey know how to command."

"Where there is true authority, there is never and necessity of the parent having to defend his dignity; rather the parent defends the child against himself.  True authority makes the child conscious of his own fault; false authority makes the parent defend himself."

"If one puts garbage into the stomachs of children, it will be easy to forecast their health; if moral garbage is put into the minds of children, it is easy to predict how these idea will become acts."

and finally, (11)

I'm thinking we may need to get some egg-laying chickens of our own. Just see how Clare enjoyed her first deviled egg...

So, I'm back.  But I'm definitely not promising anything spectacular.  Happy Tuesday!