Wheels On This Bus Went Kaput- 7QTF

OK, you'll have to excuse my lateness again. I was in a minor car accident Friday. I'm ok, everyone's OK. I'll stress it was minor. Thank goodness no one else was in car, driver of other car is ok. Praise God! However, the minivan is not OK to drive, as the ol' radiator is steaming a bit, and I'm pretty sure the freon hose busted, maybe a couple other things. We have Progressive Insurance; so I called up hoping to get Flo.

Well, major bummer. She's just an actress that bundles insurance things. Ugh, so typical of sales. Hey, I still asked. I think they thought I was crazy. So I can't drive it, they gave us a rental SUV. SUV < minivan, or any other kind of large passenger van. You try to get 4 carseats/boosters in an SUV with two strollers, diaper bag, stuff, more stuff. LOL Just doesn't fit.

So on to the quick takes where we discuss funny things I've observed in our 3 days without a video player in the rental SUV.

Here we go! Da, dah duh dah, da duh dah...

~ 1 ~

This is what 20 seconds of our drives together as a family sound like.

Shameless promotion of Sir Squeakers.

~ 2 ~

We love our video system. Stephi didn't think we needed it. I somehow thought it was the coolest thing ever. I always wanted one, and for some befuddling reason, I thought I'd be able to utilize it. Don't know what I was thinking since I drive most everywhere.

It has saved our sanity many times in the last 4 years. J-Man gets car sick if he is looking at a book, or toy. Squish won't stop talking about something unless we play his video. Boo (our beloved little backseat driver) bemoans every poor driving choice the front seat makes. Unless the video is on.

So I made it very clear to them that:

A. Dada is a moron for getting into an accident on Friday afternoon, as ALL collision and bodyshops close at 5pm. WHY? No one gets into accidents on weekends. This seems like such a bad business model.

B. There is no, I repeat, NO video player in this car. No Veggies. No Baymax. No Disney.

C. There is music. We will listen to music and talk to each other. (The latter may not have been the best idea, lol - replay video in take 1.)

~ 3 ~

I jest. My kiddos do well in any car. They love to travel. They also really love to talk and ask questions if you get them started. They find the most fascinating things to talk about. Like their day at school, what friend ended up in the "Warning" color zone, how excited they are for their Halloween costumes: AntMan, Baymax, a Rocketship, and Undecided, and lately things like "Oh there's a cemetery!" "Why do we put dead people in the ground?" "Won't we walk on top (gasp) them if we do that and go walk in the cemetery?"

They're always game to travel. I like to use errand time to get some one-on-one time, but sometimes the other two find out and suddenly appear with sandals on, ready to go. It doesn't matter how short or long the errand may take. They'd rather be going somewhere doing something than most anything else. Steph and I are constantly asked, "When are we going to go to __________ (fill in the blank.)"

They've also mentioned how much they like the white SUV. Sigh. JMan enjoys being able to reach the cupholder. Squish likes to try to kick the back of my seat. Boo like hiding in the back corner

~ 4 ~

Then the first thing we had to do was load up everybody the next morning in the white SUV and drive to church because Baby Squeakers was baptized Saturday! He's ready for #PopeFrancis to visit America too! We have these neat banners in our Church by the entrance. Thought this photo op was too cute to pass up!

Father did such a beatiful job, and the olders all did absolutely wonderful. JMan isn't sleeping, just blinking. He wanted to make sure I told y'all.

~ 5 ~

The best part about Baby Squeakers, post-baptismal dousing, is that his ability to cry, scream, fuss, was instantly subdued. No smooth ride in our huge white SUV could accomplish what God could. Incredible is the only way we could describe it. It was like a God-given peace was sent on this angelic little soul, as if He said, "Shhhh, my child. You're mine now. Be calm, be still." I was reminded of a Steven Curtis Chapman song I used to sing/play in the choir up north in Orchard Park called Be Still. Gosh I miss my old choir days.

Steven Curtis Chapman singing 'Be Still and Know'. from the album "Speechless." Property of Sparrow Records (1999).

The lyrics that always get me are, "Listen to the rhythm of His unfailing heart of love, beating for His little ones, calling each of us to come." I guess to me, this song is how baptism makes me feel, and what I believe it means to give your child to God in the waters of the holy sacrament. I link here to a nice concise summary of the sacrament for you.

~ 6 & 7 ~

So I now have to figure out the logistics of getting back to work this week and navigate work/home balance again. I'm going to rant now. USCCB and America, listen up. We really need paid 12 weeks parental leave for moms and dads. Let's really be pro-family already. Shame on us American Catholic Church for not allowing the teachers in our schools, the employees at our parishes to have paid parental leave. You can't truly support a culture of life without supporting a culture of family. I truly hope Pope Francis says something on the topic of how our church needs to be leaders on this front.

Catholic men and women in our country need to know that if they want to have children, be it one, be it more; that the Catholic Church in America has their backs with one unified blanket policy of paid parental leave for the mother and father. Parents who work for the Catholic Church should never be faced with the choice of UNPAID LEAVE (FMLA) or taking some of that and using "accrued vacation, sick, or personal time." I'm not talking a year like other foreign nations now. I'm not talking half-a-year. I'm talking 12 weeks, or at least 6 weeks. You know the child is going to get sick the second week back to work, because you have to put them in daycare. Daycares won't even take your child until they are 6 weeks old. What happens then? Nope, sorry, no decent period of paid leave. Many parents have to go back to work because they need the money to support their family. Our society today is not the society of our parents' generation. Grandma and Grandpa aren't always an option and around to watch your kids. Many friends are all working too, and yeah, highly likely that your spouse is as well.

Ok, so maybe here I'm going to agitate some readers and/or bloggers, at least the stay at home folks or the homeschoolers. So be it, that's ok. I love you all. It's a wonderful thing to be able to do, but we should not force our Catholic selves into any one way, and speaking as a man, nor should we box our wives into that being their only option that she should stay home and raise the kids. It's a great way. Many people do it well, have wonderful families, but guess what? It's not the only way, and you're not in the majority of America. Please listen to what I'm saying if you are a man or a woman, work or stay at home. Would you not want the opportunity in this great nation to be able to be home with your newborn, or have your spouse be able to be home with you and your newborn and not have to worry about bills getting paid?

I was so grateful for my 3.5 weeks off, but you know what? These past 3.5 weeks my family grew closer and stronger together. Our home filled with more love than maybe we have had this entire year. That's the benefit this can allow right? Strong families, strong homes? Shouldn't that be the backbone of our Church?

As a Catholic Church universal, I'm calling us out. Let's figure out a way to make a pro-family policy happen that works for big churches, small churches, big schools, small schools, Catholic Charities, or Catholic healthcare. Let's show this country what we're really all about or are we really about it?

#JMan #Minivan #Boo #Squish #Squeaks #Baptism