Happy New Year!
Of course we are still celebrating Christmas! Phil and I want to wish you all a blessed season of the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord. It always feels so awkward to me to post photos of us, and the light is terrible in these days of gloomy rain, but here we are and we truly do wish to greet you!
If you hadn’t seen it, I wanted to say that The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is indeed in stock and ready to ship from Sophia Institute Press! (I am not sure about Amazon — eventually they will have it in stock, but the truth is that it’s better for everyone if you order it from Sophia. That said, when the time comes, please leave a review on Amazon so others can find it!)
There were so many woes before this happened (the whole thing went to press in August if you can believe it)… but at Sophia they did their best, even paying for Priority shipping for those who ordered before Christmas to ensure you got your copies.
I have to say that I could not be more thrilled with the production of the books! The design is amazing — just exactly what I had hoped for when I had the idea of an old-fashioned three-volume set that could be given as a gift and treasured for years to come. I’m sort of a fraud in that the fact that I can get out there and just tell people what to do covers up for my lack of expertise in any area, but the books’ high quality and the illustrations accompanying it (done by Deirdre!) hopefully make up for shortcomings on my part. You can always say to yourself, “Well, if she can do it, so can I!” and then my work here will be done!
As to New Year’s resolutions, as always, I say “figure out what you’re having for supper and do the laundry” is the best resolution. This year I want to add one more resolution that might help family life if you are not already putting it into practice.
I suggest that you and your spouse arrange things so that you spend time each evening together. Don’t depart to different areas of your home. Be in the room together!
If you have young children, put them to bed and then have some relaxing time in the same room with each other. Even if you are catching up on emails or reading, do it together in the same room. If you have older children, have them bring their books in and enjoy quiet time with you until they go to bed.
As spouses, be open to being interrupted by each other. Resolve to be cheerful and even encouraging about hearing an interesting or funny passage from the book the other is reading, or un-annoyed by the passing along of something cute or thought-provoking the other has come across.
As the years go on, it’s easy to fall into the habit of thinking the other doesn’t want to hear a story that just occurred to you or be read a bit of poetry, the way you did when you were first getting to know each other. But when you’re old, you’ll have nothing to talk about if you don’t bring up what you were thinking or what you overheard (or read)! And if you react with irritation at those things, or with an air of waiting for the interruption to be over so that you can get back to what you were doing, you’re shutting off the interactions that make life together possible and indeed a joy. Certainly if you head for different rooms when you’re still young, you won’t be comfortable being together when you’re older… and have no children to fill the house with noise any more!
So let’s work on being together most evenings at least for a time, with easy, companionable silence and open sharing of thoughts too!
At least, that’s my idea. Make of it what you will!
Next week I will have the usual links for you and a giveaway for the Summa!
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