Posts under 'Family Tales'
We are dogsitting Sammy. Sammy is a bichon frisse, which is one of those totally ridiculous dogs you just can help but love because he looks like you could wind him up with a key. This is what Luna, our three year old neighbor, had to say when she came over to spend the day with her nanny and our housemate, Sharon.:
Luna: “Sammy has a pee-niss.”
Sharon: “Yes. Yes, he does have a penis.”
Luna: “Sammy’s pee-nis is in a furry place…..Sammy’s penis is cozy!”
Yesterday I caught Eden staring out the window with her hand over her heart, waiting to see if the lightening would strike the Space Needle and reciting this:
I pledge alligance to the thunder storm,
They give me laughs
And times to run to the windowseat with my sister.
Amen!
Given that most Christians in America today consider the Pledge of Alligiance a prayer second only to the Our Father, I figured this little ditty to the power of mother nature would convince everyone that we are raising a fine littlr batch of pagans.
P.s. When I typed this up Eden read it and asked, “Mama, are we pagans?” — which reminded me of yet another kid-and-mother conversation which made Paul clap his hand over … {read more…}
seeing fall birds
eating pumpkin pie
snow (sometimes)
jumping into leaf piles
eating pumpkin pie
new clothes
jumping into leaf piles
going to school
new clothes
snow (sometimes)
going to school
seeing fall birds
by Eden Claire Mee Chapman, age 7
I have an article up at the Huffington Post today! It’s about becoming fearless again after being sexually abused. Writing it was a very empowering experience. May it in some way, bring healing to all who hear part of thier story in the telling of my own.
You can click on the title below to read and comment on my piece: Fearless Bodies Fearless Voices.
Eden’s Image of the Holy Spirit.
Read about it here.
Okay, I promised to tell you about the other forms of prayer we use during our Morning Cuddle time, so here are two more:
Rhyming Prayer:
When the kids are feeling giddy and not ready to settle into a time of focused prayer or meditation, they often request that I make up a ‘rhyme-y prayer.’ To do this I just pick simple things that they will be doing on that particular day and give thanks or ask a blessing for them. For instance, one bright morning in October I prayed something like this:
“Thank you God … {read more…}
I’ve been posting several times a week over at Minti. If case you haven’t had a time to mosey on over there, here’s a post about praying with the kiddos that the urban abbess readers might like:
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One of the things that interest me most about parenting is watching the spiritual development of my children. I enjoy watching and watering their little souls, and they engage with the world around them and the emotional and spiritual unseen world that seems to occupy so much of my girl’s time. As an ordained minister and a Jesus-y kind of person, I’m pretty attentive to soulcare and spiritual growth. But I’ve also see how damaging organized religion can be to supple … {read more…}
I’ve opened up a new blog over Minti, an advice-o-pedia for parental types. I’m doing a series of posts there about children’s spirituality, along with random lists of my favorite tips and reccommendations regarding the world of kids. Stop by to give advice, get advice, or just laugh along with the rest of the breeders.
I’m back from our wonderful trip to NYC and full-to-the-top with energizing artistic vibes. We spent days and days just soaking up the architecture, art, and all manners of ingenious solutions to life in the big city. (Traffic a bitch? Just deliver your Chinese take-out in a bike basket.) We also ingested a goodly dose of authentic bagels, street vendor pretzels, and mama’s cannolli. Some of our experiences were downright religious — I was moved to tears more than once by the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and dear little Eden broke down half way through the Lion King because of the shear beauty and pageantry of it all. As Eden says:
“New York … {read more…}
My children refer to our various and sundry “big trips” as though they are reaccuring national holidays. Two years ago, after a trip to Hawaii, we were sitting around having after school snack when Cate asked: “Momma, when’s Hawaii?” Slightly perplexed I replied, “What do you mean ‘when’s Hawaii?’” “You know,” Cate said, through a mouthful of chewed goldfish crakers, “When’s Hawaii? First comes Christmas….then Valentines…then New Year’s….When comes Hawaii? Is it before our birthdays?”
As it was raining, cold, and already dark at 3pm, it seemed especially cruel and unusual to explain to a four-year-old that Hawaii is not, in fact, a reaccuring event. Rather, given the economic reality of the Mee-Chapman household it is most likely a … {read more…}
