17 Comments

"The lament and praise of a good mother." Wow, Maile Silva's essay just gave me the chills. I'm going to be turning that over in my mind for quite some time, I think. Thanks for sharing it.

Expand full comment

It really is so good!

Expand full comment

Also, re: this week's poll: Baking is there, but not eating the Christmas baking. I clicked baking but I meant EATING. I guess it works, because you have to bake it before you can eat it...

Expand full comment

Ha! I'm the total opposite... I love baking, but not the results—I then have to offload everything lest it sit in the house and go stale.

Expand full comment

Haha! I'm on the hook for our 4 family Christmas cookie recipes and 2 family candy recipes at a minimum every year. And I love eating them all!

I do enjoy the baking, too. I do NOT enjoy doing roll-out cookies with my kids, but fortunately, they are now able to do those recipes independently!

Expand full comment

Yeah, that was never my favorite either, and it’s a lovely milestone to hit that “I’m happy to provide the tools and ingredients if you want to do it” stage in parenting. 😉

Expand full comment

Casually tearing up watching the coke commercial 😭

Expand full comment

Right? It's a COMMERCIAL. And yet it's so good. Tells a whole true story in one minute.

Expand full comment

The commercials! Loved the Coca Cola one. So sweet and relatable.

Expand full comment

It’s so great, right?

Expand full comment

Those commercials brought tears to my eyes thank you so much for sharing I can't wait to show them to my husband.

Expand full comment

They're really lovely.

Expand full comment

Thank you so much for the coke commercial reminder! I have loved it since before getting married, but it hits a little harder with two little kiddos running around now.

Expand full comment

Yes! I think every single parent can identify with it.

Expand full comment

Hardest poll yet. I love the Christmas movies, but only when watching them with those special people. I just finished watching The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with grandchildren.❤️

And thank you for sharing the commercials. I’m not crying, there’s just something in my eye.

Expand full comment

A home library stocked with good books is essential for helping children love reading. There should be a good mix of adventure stories (particularly for boys), family drama (Jame Austen’s novels), philosophy, (Plato, Aristotle, Boethius), history (ancient - Thucydides, Herodotus - and modern ), religion (Imitation of Christ), fantasy (Alice in Wonderland).

By the way, I saw on your website that you are going to Greece in 2024. I live in Greece, on an island called Tinos that is the most Catholic of the islands (which is an oddity in vast ocean of Greek Orthodoxy). Tinos is next to Mykonos. But it is quieter, more spiritual and less overrun by tourists. It has lovely villages that date back to the Venetian occupation of parts of Greece. Half of the inhabitants are descendants of the Venetians, which explains why they are Catholic.

Expand full comment

Lovely! Thanks for the tip — and yes, I agree with your ingredients for a solid home library!

Expand full comment