Marty Who?

Here we are again. Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras. The night you need to figure out what you are going to do for Lent. Because, really, who decides weeks out in advance? (If you do, please go back and read my first post which discussed the type of people who shouldn't be reading this blog.)

Is Lent early this year? Does it change? I think it does because Easter can seem late or early and Lent has to be 40 days right? I dunno, it just seems to have snuck up on me once again.

In my ever increasing effort to raise my children in a Catholic home I wanted to discuss Lent. However, because we were eating late and I was more concerned with the logistics of getting the most amount of family members to church tomorrow with the least amount of disruption of school and evening activities, I had forgotten to bring up the subject of Lent itself.

Thankfully, God has placed a Saint-in-Training right in my family. Josie said "Let's go around the table and say what we're gonna do for Lent." Great, even more proof that this child has a Fast Pass to Heaven!

Why we started with Brother, I have no idea. It was certainly not a good choice. I can't remember what I said to start things off. Obviously, nothing explanatory.

Brother's response was "Well, somebody can get me some new sneakers because mine are getting old."

Tali: "It's Lent, not Christmas!"

Lyra: "Don't you know anything?"

Me: "Okay, maybe I didn't explain it well enough. Lent is the time before Easter when we think about how much Jesus suffered before he died. You want to give up something that would be hard so you could remember how hard it was for Jesus to do what he did to save us."

Lyra: "Yeah, like when he was in the desert." (Impressive! Maybe she does stay awake during CCD)

We try to get back to Brother. I ask him, "What do you do a lot that would be hard to give up?"

He tilts his head in deep thought and says "I'll give up wearing jeans!" This comment brings upon a new round of insults from his sisters.

We decide to skip him and go to Tali. "I'm going to give up sweets." Charlie says "Wow, Tali." She shrugs, "Well, I'm gonna try not to eat them." (I give her about 2 days before she decides that anything less than 10 pieces a day is keeping her end of the bargain.)

Brother jumps back in, "I'm gonna give up gum."

"Oh my gosh!" (Said with dripping sarcasm and disdain)

"You don't even chew gum!"

"You don't like gum!"

"Well, than I can give it up for the rest of my life!"

Dad decides to join the conversation: “Giving up something you like to do would be a good idea. How about giving up X-Box?”

I was concerned the girls were gonna get whiplash with such enthusiastic head nodding. (Sadly, the Wii broke shortly after Christmas and I don’t have the money to replace it yet.) Brother is the only one who plays with the second hand Xbox he and Charlie found at a garage sale. He has two games football and something else, but he only plays football and it drives the girls crazy and it’s too hard for Sawyer so he doesn’t play it either. Hmmmm, I wouldn’t mind not hearing the “tweet” of the whistles for awhile.

Brother, overly anxious to please his Dad immediately agreed. The girls all rolled their eyes and I know they were thinking the same thing I was. He will get up and go directly into the playroom and start playing at about 6:15 in the morning. He has earned his place as my lost cause.

Lyra volunteered that she was going to stop biting her nails. I really hope she can. I would love nothing more than for her to have some semblance of fingernails left. Even if it means buying a case of Bacitracin as she will surely put longer nails to good use on her siblings faces, backs, and arms.

Dad says “Okay, I am going to give up bacon, lose some weight and not drink beer.”

Lyra murmurs “That will be suffering!”

“Suffering for us!” I mutter.

(Earlier, he had told Lyra he wasn’t going to drink during Lent. Her eyes were wide
with concern and she said “Not even water?” He said “No, I mean drink alcohol.” She said “Good, cuz I was gonna say I think you can like die if you don’t drink anything, like not even water.”)

Sawyer, who has just begun to sit with us during dinner and has even been known to take a few bites of what we are eating lately, said “Chocolate Milk!”

I said “You need more milk, Sauce?” And he said “No, I will give it up.”

The girls were really impressed for a minute. We all were. Then Lyra or Josie said “What about school? You drink chocolate milk everyday at lunch.”
(One of the lunch ladies told me today that sometimes that’s all he has for lunch)
I’m trying to figure out how to say that he can’t give it up when he did so well picking something. He said “I can give it up at home!” I thought it was brilliant!

Josie said she is going to try really hard not to have to put her name on the board at school. I laughed and said “No, really, what are you gonna do?” She said, “I’m gonna do my homework every night so that I don’t have to write my name on the board.” This is news to me. Apparently, she’s forgotten or not done her homework four times in the last several weeks. Things have been crazy lately and she’s got something every day after school except Friday. I thought that was fair, because she also said she wants to really work hard to do her eye therapy homework every night too. It’s been really hard to fit that in and I need her to take some responsibility with it. Besides, Josie is well on her way to Sainthood so every 40 days is like Lent to her.

So then, they all look at me. Yikes! I told them I was going to do a few things. First, I was going to try to give up soda...

I suddenly worried that the ax man was behind me with the way their jaws dropped, their eyes bulged, and they all seemed to cringe. Then I finished my statement. I will give up soda on days of fasting, so Ash Wednesday and on Fridays.

I thought Josie might burst into tears from sheer relief. But don’t think for a second I missed the smirk on Lyra’s face or Tali’s raised eyebrows. They don’t think I can do it. Sadly, I’m not sure I can, but I’m gonna try really really hard.

I also told them that I was going to work around the house to get things organized. I’d like to do about ½ hour in the basement or somewhere else in the clutter each day. I told them that this would be an offering to Jesus and to Daddy since Daddy has a hard time with messiness!

I figure Jesus would want me to be a good wife right?!?

I just saw an article on 40 bags in 40 days and that was exactly the type of thing I was thinking. I hadn’t put it in those terms, but I thought it spelled it out wonderfully.

So who knows what Lent will bring. Lenten promises seem to work out better than New Year’s Resolutions as there is the Light (pun intended) at the end of the tunnel!

Plus, as I was saying good night to the kids, Josie said, “Mom, I also want to read two pages of my new Bible every night.”

It warmed my heart as I smiled at her and thought to myself, "Whose child is this and where the heck are her parents?"