Living At Wit's End

The Little Man said to me the other day, "This is my first Pandemic!" After giggling a bit, I replied, "Buddy, I'm 51, and this is my first global pandemic too!" Over the last few days, several things have stuck with me, and while I am trying to focus on getting certain things done around the house, I felt it was important to address a few thoughts I had.   I will probably get a lot of flack for some of these thoughts; it doesn't matter, I believe I'm being called to speak up. This indeed is an uncertain time for not just Americans but our entire world.   As Matthew McConaughy has said, "We have an enemy, in coronavirus that is faceless, raceless, sexless, non-denominational and bipartisan…" It is scary because of all the unknowns.   As humans, we want to control things; we want to know the outcome, and in this time of immediate news and social media, we are being bombarded with information overload, all leading up to BIG unknowns...

All the "Back to School" pictures on social media got me thinking about my kids' past conversations, comments, and questions.   So, in the interest of starting the new school year, I thought I would throw this out there.     You might be a homeschooler if you've ever heard these statements, questions, or had a conversation similar to one of these…     · There's a beginning of a school year? ·         Q - When did I start school?  A – The day you were born. · What's a grade? ·         Jane is in 2nd grade; am I in a grade? ·         Why did Bill get a number at the top of his paper? ·         Why did Sue get a letter at the top of her paper? ·         What are Valentines? ·         Why do I h...

(This post was meant to be much earlier in the year but life has been a bit more hectic than usual around the Living at Wit’s End abode.   I hope it will spark some ideas for you, for next year.) Our family has a lot of traditions throughout the year, but especially during the holidays.   Lately I’ve explained one of our traditions a lot.   Since so many people seem to be interested in the idea I thought I would share it with you as well.   My kids aren’t sad when the holidays are over, mainly because very soon after New Years we celebrate again.   On January 6 th , Epiphany, we have a great party to celebrate the three kings visit to see Jesus. On Epiphany we start the day by going to mass together.   In the evening we have a nice dinner (no real traditional meal), sometimes it is party finger food and other times it’s a little more formal, sit down, dinner.   That all depends on how busy we have been during the week and or how tired I a...