• Leaving church

    I reached a new low two weeks ago. My patience wore through and no amount of sympathy or understanding was going to save me.

    We were sitting in church and Beth’s verbal ticks were firing on all cylinders. They were loud enough that I had trouble hearing the lessons being read, so I tried asking Beth to lower her voice. We think she has some conscious control over the behavior because she seems to be able to moderate her volume in other settings. So when she didn’t quiet down I told her she was going to have to sit outside if she kept it up. We sat in the back so something like this wouldn’t draw too much attention or embarrass her (or myself, perhaps creating a self fulfilling prophesy).

    Well, she didn’t quiet down so I asked her to go out to the narthex until the sermon was over.

    She said no.

    “Come again, oh child of mine?”

    That’s when I just about lost it, but I bit my tongue. When the sermon ended I told her we were leaving. When we got home, Beth sat quietly outside on the front porch, giving myself a time-out more than anyone.

    And that’s when I started to question myself. It happens a lot when I resort to punishing the kids, but in Beth’s case I’m especially anxious about confusing symptoms with disobedience. I don’t want to punish her for being sick. I want to reward good behavior more often than punishing for bad. I want to be a good parent. I want to be bigger than her illness. I don’t want to be that angry parent we’ve all seen somewhere – flying off the handle any time their child strays from the narrow path they’ve laid out for them. I want her path to be wide, with as many forks as possible.

    Today we’re skipping church. I just don’t have the energy.

    Catholics don’t have a monopoly on guilt. I should know.

  • Greetings from planet Earth

    Sleep deprived, tired from a long day at work, I decide to record a message.

    No script. No preparation. Purely off the cuff.

  • Senator Arlen Spector (D-PA)

    I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the news this afternoon around lunch time. I was kind of frustrated too. No one else in court was either surprised or interested.

    It’s not like the balance of power just shifted in the legislative branch of government.

    Ah, but you see: it might have. When Al Franken is seated (the likely senator from Minnesota), the Democrats will have 60 seats… a filibuster proof majority. But I probably don’t have to tell you that. No, it doesn’t mean all of the Democrats will hold hands, sing campfire songs, and vote as one to pass Obama’s progressive agenda. And for my conservative friends… no, it doesn’t mean the Senate just turned into the Soviet Politburo.

    But it does open up a whole lot of opportunity… and responsibility. The Democrats will own the next year and a half, for better or worse. I just hope they won’t govern to retain power; that they’ll do something with this opportunity. Oh, and please, please Mr Spector, don’t reprise the role of Zell Miller.

    The biggest individual beneficiary may be Mr Coleman, the former senator from Minnesota. I bet he won’t have to worry about paying any of his legal bills (if there was any question before).