Category: Faith

Kristen Howerton, my friend and editor at ShePosts, posted a similar message on her personal blog, Rage Against the Minivan, with the following sentiment:

There is a rally to restore unity movement going around social media circles. Where the Daily Show’s rally sought to bring it down a notch for America, some of us are trying to bring it down a notch for the Lord. This is my submission.

I LOVE this idea! So I’m jumping on the “minivan” with my contribution:

Being PRO-LIFE means supporting all life.

*this means the poor, the elderly,the sick, the disabled, brown,

black, & white, religious + non, you, me, and everyone else on this planet.*

“Mo-mmeeeeeeee! I have to go PO-TTEEEEEEEEEEE!”

These words rush through my house as urgent and unexpected as a grass fire, and with the same potential for disaster and devastation.

It doesn’t matter if I’m elbow deep in dinner prep or coasting down the 101, I have stop whatever I’m doing and get him to the nearest toilet…. like immediately, because there’s not such thing as “thinking ahead” in the world of a three-year-old.

Now means NOW!

I try not to sigh too loudly or roll my eyes or get aggravated as I hold him over some nasty rest stop toilet… even if I DID ask him twenty times before leaving the restaurant, “Do you have to go potty? What about now? Do you have to go potty now?”… because I truly am so very proud of him.

He’s been very good about telling me when he has to go and likewise, I’ve become a pro at detecting his “tells”- the frantic darting from object to object, the nervous chattering, and of course, “Mo-mmeeeeee…..”

Scout only has the odd accident these days and it’s definitely been a process getting to this point. Only few months ago, I thought potty training would be the death of me.

At one point, I looked into purchasing Huggies… as in the company. They weren’t looking to sell.

There was one day at the playground when Scout had utterly refused to go to the bathroom only to pee in the sandbox two minutes later.

As I walked him across the field and back to the car to change clothes, a couple of Mormon boys sidled up to us.

Short-sleeved button-downs, black ties, and Bibles…

It was busy day at the park, so I must have seemed like an easy mark once I singled myself out.

Clearly, they did not notice the clenched jaw, dark muttering, or cartoon steam rising from my head, which was all I could do to express my frustrations because you’re not supposed to yell at your kid when he has an accident (or FIVE… in one day).

What you’re supposed to say is, “Oh, it’s okay, Honey. We’ll try again”… but it’s NOT okay. Not at all.

I was NOT okay with the piles of laundry or scrubbing my sofa or mopping the floor.

I was NOT okay with my house smelling like a gerbil cage or people telling me “It’ll happen. Don’t worry”.

All I wanted to do was yell at my kid about the accidents!!!

Instead, I took it out on the total strangers who unluckily decided to approach me that day.

“Look! I know what you’re selling and I’ll convert right now, if you tell me what it will take to potty train my son. Do any of your Latter Day Saints have any teachings on THAT?”

… and with that, they offered to pray for me and ran away. Quickly.

I don’t know if they prayed for me or not, but Scout certainly improved on the potty training front and I found an effective way to chase off people trying to convert me.

My past techniques for both mostly involved holy water and hissing.

As usual, we got completely off topic at book club the other night and ended up discussing parenting. Not a total surprise as this is a book club associated with the local moms’ group I just joined (but more on that later…)

Someone brought up the Duggar Family and I brought up liking their show on TLC, “18 Kids and Counting”.

There. I said it. I like watching the Duggar family.

Okay so they have a crazy number of kids, but they also seem like a genuinely happy and faith-filled family. The parents have done a great job instilling their kids with a strong set of values, and they “practice what they preach”… so to speak. (You can read their “house guidelines” here).

As a practicing Catholic raising my children within a similar set of morals and beliefs, I happen to admire this about them. I only hope my kids turn out as well-mannered, respectful, and kind as theirs seem to be.

And sometimes it’s just nice to see watch something lighthearted and fluffy at the end of the day…

Well, one of the other moms could not have disagreed with me more, stating that she’s interested in the Duggars’ parenting book, but finds their religious fervor “creepy”…

“Did you know that they don’t let their kids to watch TV and control what they see on the Internet?” she asked.

(Well, YEAH. It’s only mentioned in the intro of every single episode!)

“Well, you know they’re not doing a very good job of preparing their kids for the ‘real world’…blah, blah, blah...” she continued to chastise until I pointed out that, except for the 18 kids, the Duggars don’t seem all that different from the most of the parents I’ve met so far in California…

Ahem, ahem. YOU!

… and yes, this is the same crowd of “what’s Nickelodeon?” fame.

In the very short time I’ve known these ladies, we’ve discussed all manner of parental ills from feeding kids artificial ingredients to lavishing excessive praise, and especially excessive (meaning “any”) TV watching…

In general, they seem to have come to the exact same conclusions about parenting the Duggars have, citing all the “typical” reasons…

“Yuck! Only BAD mommies let their kids watch Dora and eat frozen chicken nuggets…”

“The school system is so… LACKING…”

“English is not to be spoken in our home. We want to hold on to our heritage and traditions…”

Yet, once these same limits are attributed to religion beliefs, it gets called “creepy”. So tell me, Readers, what is it about FAITH that oogs people out?

No judgment. I just want to hear your thoughts.