Day: July 31, 2008

My world

Bits and pieces

darcee5 Comments

Every once in a while I look through the list of search terms people use to get here and put together a post answering those pressing questions that led some poor, lost soul here.

Some of the latest:

What are the lyrics to “Things you don’t say to your wife”?
I have no clue, but if you would like to listen to it again here it is:

 

 

What are Catholic prayers for dogs?
Ummmmm.  I have no idea.  According to American Catholic the usual “Blessing of Pets” goes something like this: “Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless this pet. By the power of your love, enable it to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.”  That is pretty much what I have heard.  Historically animals were of bigger importance to everyday life, but of less emotional importance than pets are today.  My personal opinion there is something a bit off in how some of us treat our animals.   NPR recently had a very interesting Talk of the Nation about Pets (well worth the listen no matter what your personal opinions on pets/money/care are).   But it doesn’t surprise me that the Church has a long tradition of blessing animals.  Pets, farm animals, food – the fact is that animals are an important part of our lives – the Church acknowledges this fact in prayer.

But back to prayer for dogs.  Catholic prayer can take the form of a set prayer (Hail Mary, the Lord’s Prayer) but this isn’t the only type of prayer available to Catholics by any means.  If you want to pray for Fido you can pray however you like.  I remember my daughter praying to St Francis when our cat Tom died.  She prayed that he would look after Tom for her.  I assured her that when she got to Heaven if she needed Tom to be happy Tom would be there for her (totally by-stepping the discussion of pets having souls and all that).

Bloomers – Yes, my younger daughters wear bloomers under their dresses and skirts.  They actually love their bloomers.  We are not one of those “dresses only” families.  (nothing against those who are, but we just aren’t)  but my little girls love to wear dresses and they like to tumble about.  So I like the bloomers on them.   I like McCalls pattern 4505 it is easy to sew and makes a lovely little bloomer that is comfortable and modest. 

Do you wear underwear under a karate uniform? Lord I hope so.

My autistic child is having meltdown every day.   I am so sorry.  Meltdowns are very common with autistic children it can be hard for them to communicate their needs and wants and that frustration can led to meltdowns.  There is also often a lack of impulse control associated with autism.  Do children outgrow them?  Sometimes.  I have friends who tell me how their children’s behaviors have improved over the years.  For others that is not the case and the meltdowns continue.   If you are having problems with meltdowns I highly recommend talking to a behavioral consultant or Psychiatrist.  Outside help can make a huge difference and be very helpful.

Have you played D&D 4th Edition yet? No, the books finally got here last week.  Today my husband’s BBF is calling him to torture him over the fact that they are playing tonight and we are not.  They are only a couple thousand miles away – it would be worth the road trip – right?

Catholic stuff · My world · rants

Working With Blinders On

darcee1 Comment

40 years and a couple weeks since Humanae Vitae was written and so much of society, secular and not, just seems to not “get it”.  One of the “better” pieces is here – at least John L. Allen isn’t actively condemning the church, but the comments that follow it are close to rabid.  If you do a Google search on the news for “Humanae Vitae” you will find a slew of folks opining about how out of step, out of touch or just down right evil Rome is to hang on to this out modded teaching.  Yes, the blinders are firmly on.    What they miss is how much of the heart of the Catholic Church, the young families and the college aged Catholics are pretty firmly behind the Church on this.   The assumption seems to be if you don’t buy into the cultural norm of what sex is and means then you must be nuts (or brain washed, or have a really awful sex life).    But I do not see that as the case.

From where I sit there isn’t a lot to be said FOR the pill.  So you can have sex anytime you want.  But do you want to?  Sure you can put off child bearing or artificially space your children, but is that really a good thing?   If marriages were stronger, children were happier, rape was less frequent,  motherhood was respected, young women were judged on their minds and character instead of their beauty I might think that the “pro-birth-control” people at least had a point.  But this isn’t the case.  All of these things have become worse since the pill was introduced not better.   The media doesn’t even seem to think about this all as related and society doesn’t seem to question the conventional “wisdom” at all, they tighten up the blinders and tut tut the Pope and talk about the backward Catholics that follow the teachings of Rome as being out of step with reality.    Personally I sort of like being counter cultural.