Looks like I'm going to be blogging again, eventually

I think I'm going to start another blog again . . . but I want to be a lot more prepared this time around, so I probably won't start publishing for months. It might be 2010 before I get going.

I got some definite interest from one Catholic forum on the idea of creating resources for Catholic WOHMs. However, it wasn't quite overwhelming enough for me to want to make this a priority and declare it a clear vocation. This subject is important enough to me that I want to spend more time thinking about it and seeing what I can come up with, but I want to approach it very much in a "We'll see how it goes" fashion, with the recognition that this attitude means that I may never make any meaningful progress.

I'm thinking that the blog won't be geared towards just WOHMs. This is because I want to learn from SAHMs. They already have done a lot to discern about living Catholic daily lives when busy, figuring out how to support each other as women and mothers, and are able to balance different styles without demeaning each other.

Another reason to write for SAHMs as well is to make sure that I can speak to WOHMs without demeaning mothers who are home with their children full-time, many of whom have sacrificed to do this. Also, I want to send a clear message that the "Mommy Wars" aren't necessary and aren't Catholic. They are a construct of society. The goal of all Catholic mothers should be to serve their God, their families, and their community. For some women, they will need to be employed to do this to the fullest, giving to their families indirectly through their paychecks. For others, they will need to stay home and give more of themselves directly to their family.

My thought for a blog name is "Mary and Gianna" - as in, Mother Mary and St. Gianna. I think these women encapsulate the essence of the "employed vs. at-home" mother 'debate' as it should be framed by Catholics. Clearly Mary is the perfect woman, who served God in an especially feminine and fulfilling way by mothering Jesus with her entire life. Yet St. Gianna was called by God to serve in a very different way despite also being a mother, by serving her community through her employment as well until the birth of her fourth child (and her subsequent death). It is difficult to find much information about St. Gianna's work-life balance, sadly (I'm hoping her love letters will give me some clues), but the Vatican posts on their website that, "With simplicity and equilibrium she harmonized the demands of mother, wife, doctor and her passion for life."

I think this expresses a healthy philosophy - that mothers who dedicate their lives to their children, especially during the early years, fulfill a special vision of feminine and maternal virtue that is shown most clearly and beautifully in the Mother of Our Lord. However, this does not mean that this is the only path to feminine, maternal virtue! Employed mothers need to find ways to serve God, family, and community that may not be the same as mothers who are able to be in the home and community more, rather than in a workplace. In discerning these ways we can serve, we can draw from church teachings on women, motherhood, and labor, and also from fathers and other men who have been combining holiness and employment as the normal way of life for so long.

I won't be able to put much energy into this until at least autumn. I really want to get a few more big projects done in the yard, mostly filling up or covering the old ponds so they aren't a safety hazard (kids playing outside unaccompanied - yay!).