CHILDREN

The thread begins with most of us while we are still a child, ourselves!

I am going to try to get chronological here with a story at each stop on the timeline.

For example - this one came up at facebook this afternoon. A friend and her ailing daughter pictured down - safe and okay,

but a virus ran its course at the child, and Mom worked at home , in sympathy with here darling, a bit under the weather herself…..It reminded me….

Suddenly , I remembered those days with our own children and a thing that helped me at that place in things, and so made this comment at her post:
I was lucky to be part of pioneering work with young children in those days. 
When my children were ill with a thing that was striking their whole class, somtimes

I would just bring home two or three of my children's mates who were also ill,

and whose Moms had to punch a clock in in an office to pay the bills.

It Worked...
and the quarantine room of this new thing called daycare was at the family room in our place.

The children were ALL kept in the family room with adjoining bath and everything germ-free before during and after.  
The moms dropped off and picked up as usual, but from my place.
They were “home sick” , and yet they could play, make faces at one another and the day went faster...

partly because they also seemed to like the specialdeal setup. Cool.

Here is a list of pages related to children at this site and others…….

• Children’s Day ! Like Mothers , Fathers and Grandparents Days….so good!

• Deployed husband and new Father enjoyed my photo essays about our son

• A Mothers Day note to my Midlife Children 2017

• Christmas 22017 - Family Tradition of Advent Wreath Explained for the Children

• To our Daughter “Only Daughter” in 2016 at her February 19th Birthday

• Winter Storm 2018 shut-in fun binge-watching old TV series favorites

• Lament at missing children from Thanksgiving Table , too long away - November 2017

• A Christmas blog story about my own childhood and proud parents December 2017

• A Family dedication to Tolkien from the 70s, resulted in a collection of Middle Earth Artworks like this one.

• Patriotic image for Children and Families of the Deployed and for our military heroes everywhere.

• The Rockville Saint Bernard’s Church Nativity Creche Figures Restoration…my Team 2007

• Labor Day 1953 story written in 2016, A Patriotic and loving family memory

• “Accidental Activist” to explain their Mother’s Rants for a Cause 2015

• For our Children - Story of our Wedding in 1966 - written for Valentines Day 2018

• “People are not for Hitting” psychology note from the 70s written at Back to School time -September 2018

• A page in progress about being American and very grateful and proud about it - Miss Memorial Day

• Another page in progress: outline of immediate family history with reference to geneology…unfinished.

• A “windup” page for now - About the Artist for my children’s information as well as the public, if preferred.
  
  

  
  

Church and children still needs a wise and loving spirit.

Today it was about wanting to ask them their feelings and thoughts about The Greatest Story Ever Told - the Bible Stories of the Old and New Testaments.

So many of the mysteries of those stories are easy to explain and make it easier to "suffer the little children to come unto me" as Jesus said.  

Even the word "suffer" - we use today as a description of pain and sorrow, but when it was first used, it was the common word for patience and permission.

 allowance and endurance, in a socially pleasant and EXPECTED way.    Permit the children's need to come to God in study and prayer and love.  

It is how they grow.

There were  places that confused and even frightened or offended us as children - most can be explained if we care to do so.   

For example:
Today the image of Mary the Mother of Jesus was enjoying the company of Children praying with her in mind.  

At this age, we must be sure to make it clear to children that The image is an image - it is not Mary - The image there to help make a better mind/spirit/reality connection to the spirit of the Blessed Mother. The statue or image or picture or rosary is  not worshipped as a holy substitute - just a holy symbol to help make it real. The way we love our cars that gets where we want to go....that is what Sacred art does and so we love it for the help it provides, in our path to God.


Fun details should be shared with the children - they can connect better if they understand better.
For example:  The statue of Mary is in draped robes because that is how the people dressed in the days when she walked the earth - even today,  in Mary's part of the world, some wear loose robes and head coverings every day instead of more modern sewn clothing - they do so to keep cool and covered from very hot sun, and let breezes reach their skin for comfort.   If their lifestyle finds them outdoors a lot, the robes help cover them from sand and dust that can be difficult in very hot places. 

When we pray to Mary and make the gesture of offering up prayer with polite body language and presenting roses at her feet and for her crown, that also is because, in Mary's day, one wore flowers in the hair to celebrate or to give or receive special attention - every day this was done. Flowers or other gifts placed at the feet of any honored person was the way of normal manners and courtesy in those days - every day, people bowed to the ground to show respect and love, placing a gift at the feet of the one we honor, was simply the normal thing to do, two thousand years ago....and still is done today on occasion.   When we place a gift at the feet of a person or at a place, we are speaking with actions - saying, "I honor you, I am impressed with you and your thought, word or deeds, and I feel happy to be humble for a moment and declare you a superior to me, by putting the gift at your feet as I gaze upward at your face if I may.