Modesty Top Ten List                                             

Reflecting on modesty can seem an exercise in pointlessness.  Everyone seems to wear what they want these days, whether short shorts, exercise shorts, ugly tankinis, or even bodysuits that show absolutely everything.  Clothes that leave nothing to the imagination can actually stifle the imagination.  Modesty is designed to create an aura of mystery about the body, a specialness reserved for the dedicated spouse alone. 

Top Ten Reasons Why You Will Never Regret Being Modest

10. The NSA will have absolutely nothing to smirk at.

 

9. The online realms of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like will be free of your embarrassing photos. 

8. You will be taken more seriously if you know how to dress well in public.  This is handy in many situations.

7. Your ex will not be able to use your photos for bribery. 

6. Attracting the right kind of attention will bring you closer to people with your best interests in mind. 

5. Any future employers will not see unfortunate photos of you and choose someone else for the job. 

4. If you ever run for public office, all of your modest photos will actually help you get elected.

3. You will not attract predators or stalkers, especially online if you keep it real…and hidden. 

2. Your family, especially your children will never be scandalized by your lack of sartorial judgment. 

1. Your dignity and therefore, your self-esteem will be much higher by exercising modesty. 

All of the above are true, even for athletes who wear special clothing for their sport.  Wearing lighter clothes in the arena for a volleyball game is different than purposely calling attention to your nakedness.  I hope this list is helpful...it is the result of many hours of observation on the subject of modesty.  To your health, safety, and inner beauty!  

So Much to Say, So Little Time

Welcome back, Erin!  This is your blog.  I've been missing you.  

Yes, yes you have.  I am now the mother of six, so perhaps I can be forgiven.  I've been rawther busy with the brood, with more midnight diaper changes, feedings, Rosaries, etc. As a dear friend of mine pointed out, I make 7 x 3 meals per day, that's 21 meals a day, 7 days a week which totals 147 meals to throw together. My wonderful husband enjoys cooking on the weekends when he has time, and my oldest daughter can now make meals herself, so the number I actually make is slightly less than 147.  The comparison between that number, and only 21 meals a week for a single person is shocking.  

It's also shocking how the state of our state, our economy, and our culture fairly screams for more people to write about common sense.  When you consider how few people have intact homes, you can understand how much education is needed in our beloved America to bring about a better quality of life.  Learning common sense has to come from parents and grandparents first, then the village.  Kids who are raised in broken homes, with scandal, drugs, and abuse cannot be expected to learn the Ten Commandments if they have no one to teach them.  

And make no mistake, what is happening to our American kids is nothing short of scandalous.  We need to bring back the good guilt in this country, so that when people move in together and start intimate relationships with absolutely NO foundation, their consciences will wake them up.  In this way, we can prevent child abuse, partner abuse, and a whole host of other evils.  Scandal has become yawn-worthy in our time, and that's tragic.  I call it like I see it. I still have parents who are married to each other.  I'm not perfect, but I would like to be a role model to those who have none.

After two years of inner debate, I've decided to totally and completely be myself on this blog.  It's my blog. I'm a Catholic homeschooling mother of six, and as much as I would like to reach the ENTIRE world with common sense, I have to be myself, even if that means alienating people who are turned off by Christianity.  (Yes, Catholics are Christians, although many people who call themselves Christians don't act like it!)  At least on a blog post, the reader has time to get to know me, to work out ideas and philosophies with me, and to enjoy a longer journey.  Facebook just doesn't cut it.  I'm extremely frustrated with Facebook, so I think I'll take the time to really get back to my writing, in the hope that I can help people, and even make them laugh while smacking the Internet upside the head with a good dose of Irish bold.  We have to be bold, courageous, and energetic while attacking evil and the root causes of decay in our society.  To be shut up in a corner is to live half a life. 

Here's to all the women who refuse to be quiet.  Common sense dictates that there is, in fact, a time and a place to be loud.        

Of Honking and Chaos

Driver's tip: please stop honking at people the second the light turns green.  We are not all texting and driving, as sensible people know how dangerous this is.  For the sake of everyone, I offer this amusing vignette of what ACTUALLY happens when you honk at, let's say, a mom with five children.  Five very noisy children.

Mom: "Shush!!! I can't hear!  Was that a honk?  Was that a siren?  Anybody see a firetruck?"

Kids: "Wahhh! That scared me!  Mom, that scared her.  Mom, who is that honking?  Mom, can you turn up the radio?  Mommy, he's picking on me!  Mom, she stole my book!"

Mom:  (ignoring the kids and vainly looking around for danger) "Quiet!  I mean it!  I think it's okay. I'm sorry that you're scared.  No, I will NOT turn up the radio. How can you possibly hear it?  I'm going to separate you two! No T.V. when we get home!"

Meanwhile, the mom's car is still sitting at the green light, which has turned red.

Safety first, people.  You are only supposed to honk if you are startled, and there is imminent danger.  Missing a green light is not as inherently dangerous as honking and scaring someone, and potentially causing even more chaos.  At the very least, give the horn a small tap if it is absolutely necessary.  Not a long, wailing sound that is indistinguishable from the noise in the backseat.
Thanks!  You're a peach!

Laundry tips Part 2: Humor

"Would this be the appropriate time for a colorful metaphor, Captain?"  ~Spock to Kirk, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

I admit that it's hard to have a sense of humor when you are forced to throw something in the laundry bucket or the machine at 2 a.m.  However, common sense usually prevails once a prized piece of clothing has been ruined by letting it sit for too long with a stain.

Don't let it sit.  Throw protein stains in cold water, add a dash of vinegar for the smell, and let sit overnight or for at least 6 hours.  Then wash the article, again in cold water and the stain should come out.  Very bad blood or pet stains usually take a couple of washings.

Also important is to scrape off as much disgusting stuff, like throw-up, with a spoon or knife BEFORE letting it sit.  This will save you clogging up your washer, and having to deal with it later in a worse condition.  And for heaven's sake, don't dry anything with bad stains on it before washing it.  If you throw it in the dryer first, (in your sleep-deprived haze) you will permanently set the stain.  If necessary, use sticky notes on your washer and dryer to remind yourself which is which.  Neon pink or yellow sticky notes work well.  It's also good to leave them around your house when you are in a fit of pique. Garbage can note reads:  "YOUR turn."  Diaper pail: "Need aromatherapy spray!" T.V.:"Less is more."

The grand finale of laundry tips is: help your children learn how to do laundry as soon as they can reasonably fold or sort something.  My son has been doing his since age 5.  It's not a perfect system, but he has his own day, and has to fold and put away his clothes on that day.  No shoving everything in a drawer a la Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes.  Thank you, Bill Watterson for the laundry humor.

Laundry tips

"I feel like the latest edition of something or other."  ~Arthur, Lord Goring from An Ideal Husband


I'd like to offer advice that everyone can use, from laundry to politics.  With that in mind, here is the first installment of practical tips for laundry.

Tip #1:  Many stains can be put in one of two categories: Sugar or Protein.  If it contains sugar, wash it in the warmest water the fabric can stand.  Cotton, if pre-washed, can usually stand "hot."  If the stain has protein in it, wash it in cold water.

Examples of sugar-based foods would be juice, candy, and cereal (usually has more sugar than protein, unless the stain has a lot of milk, but crushed-up cereal is often found on baby clothes).  Fruit of any kind requires warm water, and blackberry stains can only come out if you pour boiling hot water through the fabric.  You can put a bowl in the sink, and pour water from a teakettle over the cloth.  Be careful to let it sit for ten minutes, so you don't burn your hands.   

Examples of protein-based stains would be egg, milk, other dairy, and any bodily fluids (gross, but true especially when dealing with babies).  Blood stains require cold water as soon as possible.  Adding vinegar to the cold water can help remove the odor, especially with pet stains.  You may have to try more than one washing.  If protein stains are old, you can use Shout spray, and let it sit for a few hours before you wash it in the warmest water the fabric can stand.

So, sugar: hot water.  Protein: cold water.  I put a little note about this is my own laundry room, since it is hard to remember things for specific stains when you are doing laundry at 3 in the morning.  Lots of things can be sorted into these two categories.  Tomato juice?  Fruit = sugar = hot water.  Baby spit-up?  Protein = cold water.

I hope this is helpful.  Good luck!
  

Picking a blog name

To clarify the name of this blog, I offer the following:

1) I had to pick something.
2) I'd rather be known for an ounce of common sense than a pound of trouble.
3) I am the magic fairy to my children and husband, and love delighting them with mended clothes or special gifts.
4) "Fairy" signifies an appreciation of humor, whimsy, and nursery rhymes, but also means I'd like to zoom over the whole world, sprinkling some common sense where it is most needed.  However, I'll just start with a blog.

Welcome!

Hello, world! I am joining the ranks of bloggers to provide a forum for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with children.  I am a wife, mother of five blessings, writer, and musician.  As many moms can attest, things "magically" happen around the house, but rather than harbor bitterness for the sheer volume of things I do, I would rather embrace the joy and spontaneity in every day.  I serve the Lord with enthusiasm, energy, and above all, common sense.  This is true even when common sense is hard to find, when nothing makes sense with kids, and when "fairy land" makes the most sense of all.

"Well, I left the fairy tales lying on the floor of the nursery, and I have not found any books so sensible since."
-G.K. Chesterton