7-Quick Takes – the pre-Lent/Valentines Day Edition

1. 
My arthritic flare, for the most part is over. BUT, I’m still dealing with tendonitis of the ilio-tibial band in my knee – which is almost as painful and causes me to walk a little like Quasimodo. I also note that my left leg is a lot weaker than the right now even though I have been going to PT and trying to work on it at home. I guess it’s just going to take time. 



2.
Izzy sold her wares at the OMEA this week. She came home with a tidy little profit – and is now convinced that she really has to make herself a Facebook page of some sort because a lot of her customers asked about it. 

3.
Three semesters completed – three times on the Dean’s List. 

4.
Valentine’s Day is Wednesday. We’re still celebrating – although that will be mostly done on Tuesday and then again on Thursday (when I go to snatch up the candy sales!)  


Here are some pics of things we have done in the past for V- Day!

5.
The Lenten page will be up on Monday! Check it out for all kinds of readings, inspiration and ideas for getting through the season of Lent!

6.  Today was the feast day of St. Scholastica.
She was an Italian woman who lived in the late 5th/early 6th century and is known for her devotion to God and to her brother. She founded a convent when her brother, St. Benedict founded his own monastery.

There are a couple of things I love about St. Scholastica – the legend goes that towards the end of her days she was enjoying a very lovely visit with her beloved brother, but when night came he got up to leave. Scholastica begged him to stay as she feared it would be their last visit together. But Benedict apparently was a stickler for the rules of his own order and was determined to leave when Scholastica said a little prayer and God brought a great rain storm down upon them. As a consequence, Benedict stayed, much to the delight of his sister.

Consequently, Scholastica is the patron against storms and inclement weather. When I was growing up I remember my Lithuanian grandmother burning leftover palms in the sink and praying loudly for storms and tornadoes to pass us by without any harm. I think she would have really appreciated St. Scholastica!

But what I really admire about St. Scholastica and her brother Benedict is that they were the epitome (to my mind anyway) of what siblings should be to one another. Certainly, they both had their own struggles and their own lives to lead, but it seems that they enjoyed their visits together and appreciated one another’s company. They made time for each other one of their priorities.

Last week I posted an article from Psychology Today about Sibling Rivalry and how the dysfunction of childhood can leave deep scars and painful memories into adulthood. What struck me in the article is how culpable parents are in the wounds their children suffer in this regard.

I don’t have any easy answers on how to avoid this, but I do think it’s important to tell each child how much you love him/her every day. I’m hoping that with them knowing, seeing and feeling mother love personally they will never doubt that they were loved for being themselves. Mr. Pete shows them that as well, but in other more fatherly ways that I’m sure they appreciate.

I also think that homeschooling them has brought my kids closer together. They all have friends too but they are very comfortable with each other.

I wish we had some historical information on what Benedict and Scholastica’s parents did to raise such holy and loving siblings. That would be some interesting and useful information, and they quite likely, are saints themselves.

7.

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