A Lenten Update - Praying the Rosary with Kids in the Car on the Way to School

Trying that ten times fast.

Or not...

Praying the rosary with kids in the car on the way to school

Okay let's try that again

Praying the rosary a decade of the rosary with kids in the car van on the way to school

That's a little more like it.

So how did we get our rosary beads tangled up in this Lenten discipline? Well a lady from the church here in the Mount emailed me before Lent and I said we cannot commit to the Rosary daily but a decade might be doable and since there are five decade of the Rosary and five days in a school week we'll just incorporate it into our ride to school.

Done.

So I busted out the indestructible wooden rosaries that R's godmother gave the girls - yeah you know the kind that are insanely loud as your kid prays plays with them in the pews? Yep those. I would not dare bringing one of those rosaries into church because it would be too much noise for me to handle. In addition, I am pretty sure that a good portion of rosaries that were in the chapel are now in Papa's office because well you know, the girls BROKE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!! During our morning prayer time in the chapel so we stick with wooden icons and crosses and other in destructible prayer objects.

Moving on.

E is definitely 'into' praying the rosary. R is well not as into it.

The first week I put E solely in charge of counting the ten Hail Marys because you know I'm driving. But I was kind of keeping track in my head. Seriously. Seriously. One day we got into a semi-argument over how many Hail Marys were left to do. So the next day I counted them out (to myself) and we had done ten and E said we still had 2 left and so our decade was actually a decade plus two because I was not going to fight her on praying more.

Moral of that story? Count Hail Marys with my fingers so she can see and coordinate on the rosary.

Ahhhh… yes the mysteries. I made the executive decision that we would do the Sorrowful Mysteries each week rather than switch it up with Glorious/Joyful(and Luminous - I guess some people do those and others don't but whatever…)

This is what happens when you pray the rosary with your kids...

Now please tell me in one sentence how to answer this question?

E - Mama, what's the scourging at the pillar?
Me - Ummmm…. Well, it's ummmmm… It is when the mean soldiers hit Jesus with a really big rope?

Didn't want to get to graphic you know?

So today being Tuesday it was the scourging… E announces 'today's the scourging at the pillar when the bad soldiers hit Jesus with a mean rope'.

Check.

Midway through the second week I was getting a bit bored? with the Hail Marys in English so I chanted a few Ave Marias (in Latin - I learned at World Youth Day in 2005). E is totally hooked and will not let us say Hail Marys in English we must do them in Latin. MUST. Which kind of makes me smile. (Martha, T + E = DESTINY)

Oh and one day last week. We were behind the INSANELY slow lawn truck but we were praying so I  did not go off on one of my 'Hurry up. You are going slow. You are aggravating the MESS out of me. Rants.' It is quite hard to rant and pray. Plus I don't talk on the phone in the mornings on the way to school because I can't talk and pray either. Which is excellent because I noticed a few mornings I would be making a call for work and we would get to school and E would be disappointed we had not talked or sung.

Anyhow I hope this encourages you mamas out there to take time to pray with your kids whether it is in the car or at home whether it is the rosary or reading the Bible or whatever. They will soak it up.