Lent & Learning

Welcome to Lent!  This year, I'm not really "giving up" a thing.  I'm consciously trying to eat and drink in moderation.  So far, it's been good.  Except, I had an extra serving of macaroni and cheese tonight, which I feel guilty about!  I'm also hoping to try to use my time better.  So, instead of spending several minutes a day reading facebook, I'm trying to use that time to play with my nephew, read something that will educate me or will at least be more creative food-for-thought, and pray in different ways.

Last night, I decided to peruse my Android app Laudate (formerly known as Catholic One), and I stumbled across a daily reading link to meditation podcasts from pray-as-you-go.org.  It was beautiful!  "Miserere" was playing in the background of the spoken meditation.  It is one of the most gorgeous songs I've ever heard -- it sounds like Heaven! 




On a different note, today I read a very long chapter on Cognitive Development in children.  One section that stood out for me was the preoperational stage of development (ages 2-7) because that is where my nephew is about to be.  He'll be 2 in 18 days!  I was observing him today while we played with this cute little pretend food that you can chop (http://bit.ly/bZGBZt).  He's right at the very beginning of learning how to make-believe play.  He's still very realistic about everything, and he's especially good at sorting and stacking.  One make-believe thing we've started noticing him do is that he buckles objects into his high chair (i.e., he associates that he sits and gets buckled, so other things can be buckled in too).  It's fascinating to me to be learning all these things right now and witnessing someone I'm close to go through those developmental stages.  I'll be even more keen to see it from the beginning again when my sister has her next baby in August!  Alas, I still have none of my own, but I'm happy to just be Nanny for now.  :)

Into the grad program...

I am well into my 1st semester of grad school now.  It's going really well, I think!  I'm taking courses on Multicultural Education, Child Development, Learning Literacy, and Research.  New Orleans is fantastic!  I'm happy, focused, and energetic!