You were once a cow, now you are a walleye

Trying to explain abstaining from meat to my kids, Six just didn't quite get it. Perhaps I am wrong, he showed great disappointment in having grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch and supper. I heard Mr. D tell him that's being a Catholic kid during Lent. Seven seems to understand. You were once a cow, now you are a walleye comes from Fr. B's joke this past weekend. Of course, that went over the head of Six and he stood there asking me what was so funny. He tries in his own sweet way.
We attended our baptism preparation class/dinner this past week. Kids rode the bus to Zinnia's and we were childless for the meal. It was really nice to sit down and get to pay attention instead of worrying what they (our children) were up to. Fr. B said Zinnia was going straight to heaven for her efforts. Gpa Jck said something about not realizing Fr. B had a key.
The meeting left me with many thoughts and ideas. I am looking forward to the baptism day. We've been preparing Seven for his Confirmation and first Eucharist too. It will truly be a wonderful event for our family. I am thrilled it will bring us all together again. My family plans to attend.
Fr. B talked about prayer with our children, starting young. Don't think the early years before the age of two don't count. The real church starts at home. We are their first role model, best example to live the way we want the children to live. I admit, my flaw or failure is prayers at bedtime. I know I've written about this before. It's so difficult for me and it seems silly why. How hard is it to take an additional 10 minutes while putting my children to bed, to stop and pray with them, hear what they are thankful for today. Perhaps we switch to sharing this at meal time, but that too can seem rushed. One wouldn't believe how difficult this task can be. Alas, I find it a continued challenge. Four always remembers her prayers. She likes to say her prayer from preschool. She insists on it and hardly never forgets, thus the guilt eats away at me for not taking the time with the boys. We were on a role reading their bible at night too, but sorry to say that has not happened for quite some time. I just need to get back into these habits. I have many lame excuses, but probably the biggest one is how exhausted I am at the end of the day. Growing a person is also a lot of work. With all that is accomplished throughout the day, the night is selfishly for myself. It's the only time where its for me. I'm not basing everything in my life around them, usually I get to do something I want for myself. Usually, there are more things I'd like to do, but can't out of exhaustion. I will continue to try to make the change with this challenge. Put them to bed earlier so we have time to include a bible story and prayers. How do we get so caught up in play and entertainment? It's such a challenge to keep up with the schedule, homework, household chores, etc. We just need to make time, it's as simple as that. Make it part of the routine and we will succeed. After all, it's Lent. Time to change the challenges we face on a daily basis. Pray for me, that I can accomplish this change.