By Veronica One of my oldest daughter’s first games was pretending to be Mary. She would put a blanket on her head as a long flowing veil, wrap a baby doll in a blanket and place it in a laundry basket. Then she usually knelt and sang “Away in a Manger.” And since then, Bible…
Author Archives: Veronica
The Moment I Became Mommy
By Veronica I was coming home from a solo trip to the library. I had stopped at the Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru for an iced latte on this lovely hot day. My daughters love to eat the leftover ice from fast food drinks – it is just the right size for small hands and mouths. So…
Praying for a Child’s Future Spouse, and Why I Don’t Do It
By Veronica Among my friends, it is common for parents to pray for the future spouses of their children. Even when a child is a baby, mom or dad may pray for that baby’s future husband and wife. They pray that the future spouse will make good choices in life, that they will be prepared…
Parenting Like Susanna Wesley
By Veronica I used to work with a woman who came from a family of twelve children. When she described her family, she would complain, often quite bitterly, that she never got to be alone with her mother. My officemate did not talk about all the wonderful traits she had acquired in her large family…
Stamina
By Veronica Back before I had children, I walked for exercise. I love walking. I love getting to know the landscape and the neighborhoods and the birds and the human oddballs. My method of walking for exercise was very simple: I walked away from my home until I was so tired that I could not…
The Problem with “Unattended Child” Laws
By Veronica After several tragic deaths of children left in hot vehicles, cities and states across the country have been enacting “Unattended Child” laws. Depending on the law, parents are threatened with a misdemeanor and a fine if they are caught leaving a child unattended in a car. While I understand the desire of lawmakers…
Accidents Happen
By Veronica One day when I was pregnant and feeling helpless, I told my husband that I was glad that he was here to protect the kids. He said, “Thanks, but I can only protect them from so much. I’m not much good against meteors, for instance.” I laughed, and thereupon absolved him from any…
Buses and Bloggers: A Proposal
By Veronica Do you ever get weary of the wrangling and arguing on blogs? A week ago, a blog-friend and I considered having our own fake internet fight, but were too tired by real blog squabbling to even mock it adequately. All those people filled with pompous judgment can wear a reader out. So I…
The Bathroom Is My Tuscany
By Veronica I have had a stressful day with meetings and whinings and the start of spring allergies, so here is a post from Toddled Dredge from 2006 – updated! I promise! It is still true, though my stamina for children has increased greatly since writing it. When I was single and struggled with occasional…
Blasphemy
By Veronica “There’s no such thing as…” my three-year-old blurted out in the middle of church yesterday. I don’t know what word she was going to say next – it could have been anything from unicorns to effective low-flow toilets – but I swooped her up and carried her out of the sanctuary anyway. I…