January 7, 2005

Children and the personalistic norm

This stuff is crystal-clear to children near the age of reason.

6-year-old Sarah has been playing with Beanie Baby cats today, snuggling them up together in a little crib, tucking them in, generally taking care of them. 2-year-old John came along and took the larger Mommy cat, saying "I'll use this one!" Sarah gently corrected him: "No, cats aren't for using; they're for taking care of." I quickly verified that she recognized the same for human beings, and folks, that is Karol Wojtyla's personalistic norm as found in his 1960s work Love and Responsibility: negatively, no person is to be used as an object; positively, the proper and adequate way to relate to a person is through love.

Easy, ain't it?

Posted by Bill White at 1:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 26, 2004

Cheerios

You know you are a parent or grandparent, AND it was a stupid question when you reply:

"Actually, I got upset this morning and scattered Cheerios all over the inside of my car".

Posted by John Huntley at 9:39 PM | TrackBack

April 24, 2004

Dad's Pancakes

Or, as I modestly call them, Perfect Pancakes. I do a lot of the cooking at home, and to find recipes I do google searches like this:

group:rec.food.recipes "green beans" rice

which leads naturally to...

group:rec.food.recipes "rice pilaf"

So that's how I found this recipe for pancakes made from scratch:

From Betty Crocker. Fool proof-- I use them all the time. If desired, double the batch and either refrigerate the batter for up to two days for fresh pancakes any time, or cook it all up and refrigerate or freeze leftovers, then pop in the toaster or just microwave for 15-20 seconds each pancake.

"Pancakes are easy to personalize. Simply stir in 1/2 cup fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) berries or chopped fruit-- bananas, apples, peaches or pears. Serve with syrup, honey, jelly, or jam to complement the fruit flavors. For crunch, you can stir in trail mix, granola or chopped nuts." Also a variety of sweet spices may be added, cinnamon, nutmeg, or extracts or do as I do, and stir in extra sugar and some cocoa powder to taste.

Pancakes

1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour (If using self-rising flour, omit baking powder and
salt)
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon granulated or packed brown sugar=20
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
margarine, butter, or shortening (for pan)

Beat egg with hand beater in medium bowl until fluffy. Beat in remaining
ingredients except margarine just until smooth. For thinner pancakes stir in an
additional 1 to 2 tablespoons milk (left alone, this recipe yields nice fat
fluffy pancakes). Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat or to 375*. Grease
griddle with margarine if necessary. (To test griddle, sprinkle with a few drops
of water. If bubbles skitter around, heat is just right.)
For each pancake, pour scant 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook pancakes
until puffed and dry around edges. Turn and cook other sides until golden brown.
(Approx 100 calories per pancake)

Nowadays I triple this recipe and refrigerate the leftovers for a quick and easy breakfast later in the week. Even the baby loves these, and they make easy snacks through the day.

Sometimes I substitute buttermilk for milk, 1:1, and I like to toss in a couple of extra tablespoons of brown sugar. Use some real butter and maple syrup with these and you have a nearly-authentic pioneer breakfast, which makes a handy peg on which to hang a history discussion with the kids.

Posted by Bill White at 6:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 18, 2004

Quotidian forecast

I'm reading Kathleen Norris's The Quotidian Mysteries and it's eminently bloggable, so I predict you'll see some posts about it here in the coming days.

My wife Lisa has been on bedrest for a total of about a year through 5 pregnancies, and during each of those periods I did it all - cooking, cleaning (sort of), diapers, baths, care of an occasional semi-invalid, head 'em up and move 'em out to doctor's appointments, all while maintaining a job with the best employer on Earth (who is hiring, by the way). It's all this daily drudge work that Mrs. Norris calls the "quotidian mysteries." So far she has produced an insighful analysis of acedia as it attacks those who do household work, referring first to the Desert Fathers and Evagrius Ponticus and bringing their wisdom to our situation with fruitful insight.

What's your experience with "women's work"?

Posted by Bill White at 3:19 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

April 6, 2004

Homemade baby wipes

We've been making these for almost 8 years now since a friend gave us the recipe and original supplies at a baby shower.

You'll need:

Cut the Rollo Grande in half so you have two narrow rolls. I used to use an electric knife for this, but since we moved and it's packed away somewhere, I've found that a big ol' sharp kitchen knife will do just as well. Lots of sawing.

Then remove the cardboard center from each half-roll. I stick the knife into the center of each roll and slice a long cut through the cardboard and pick it out. Now that I think of it, you might wait to remove the cardboard till you're done and the roll is wet.

In the Tupperware container, mix 2 cups (2 8-oz baby bottles) of hot water, 2 tablespoons of baby bath and 1 tablespoon of baby oil. You will forget these proportions, so remember that the stuff that does the cleaning - water and baby bath - gets two helpings; the other stuff gets one.

Plop one of the Rollo-Not-So-Grande-Anymores into the container, put the lid on, and store upside-down for at least 15 minutes or until the roll is thoroughly wet.

To use, pull the roll from the middle where the cardboard used to be and tear off sheets. I also like to fold them in half for extra strength before getting down to business.

If you're in the middle of a poopfest - gastroenteritis or something - you might try fiddling with the proportions of water and baby bath to get something even more effective for the particular type of poop you're dealing with.

Posted by Bill White at 7:58 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

April 5, 2004

How to make palm crosses

These are a big hit with our kids. From an old mailing list archive:

"As far as I can tell, the palm should be "fresh," meaning that you probably
should do this when you get home from church on Palm Sunday. Pat and I
debated whether crosses could be made with palms a few days old (and drying)
and soaked in water to limber them up. Anyway ...

Split the palm lengthway. Typically the palm is "hinged." Split it at the
hinge. You should have two long slender palms. Take one.

About one fifth up from the broad end (the bottom), fold down. Take the
longer of the halves and fold up and to the right about a third from the first
fold (now the top). With this second fold, you are forming part of the
crossbeam.

You are now going to make the third fold, and thus the length of the crossbeam
to the right. Find a point on the palm facing away from the cross (from that
second fold) that is about the same distance from the center of the cross as
is the top part of it. Fold to bring the palm back toward the cross and
forming the crossbeam.

For the fourth fold, again, find a point on the left half of the crossbeam
equal in distance from the center of the cross as the right side. Fold to
bring the palm back to the body of the cross, completing the crossbeam. The
cross itself is finished, but it won't hold without completing the finishing
work.

Take the remaining palm and fold up and to the right, folding over that
corner. What you are going to do is wrap the remaining palm around from the
top corner, over the front and to the bottom opposite corner. Bring it up the
back, to the upper right corner again and repeat. As you bring the remaining
palm back around, bring it horizontally across the back. As you bring the
palm back toward the front again, bring it across the front to the opposite
corner and around to the back. The front should almost like draped cloths
criss-crossing the cross.

Should should have a couple inches of very thining palm remaining. Take the
remaining palm and thread it in and around the layers in the back (much like
taking thread and weaving it in and out of itself when sewing, to finish it
off.). Flatten it out, take any kiltering out of the cross and you should
have the finished product.

I hope these instructions made sense. I'm a communicator by trade, but I am
very accustomed to having visual aids present!

Posted by Bill White at 6:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack