Day 13 : Book review: Habits of the household

 

Looking for new disciplines to add during Lent,  my sister-in-law recommended a book called "Habits of the Household" by Justin Earley. It was free on Spotify and only 6 hours so I thought it a good kick off to Lent. 

The book starts in the morning and ends with bedtime and walks through the rhythms of the day.  The author is a dad of 4 wild boys who ranged in age from one to nine years old.  He talks about his life and moments he shines as a dad and moments he falls flat.  He talks about his own childhood and faith and his view of the role of a parent in passing faith from one generation to the next.  

I would describe his faith and theology as orthodox and traditional.  He embraces the concept developing rituals of faith. Liturgy, catechism, written prayer and symbols that match the passing of time.  Reading his vision of how to parent reminds me of those simple,  good and large Christian families that I grew up with.  

I don't see myself or my family as quite fitting that description but there is a new,  quirky and perhaps more nuanced flavor of that culture that I've worked hard to build.  I deeply agree that life as liturgy is a way of living faith in the busy day in and day out.  Rhythms and rituals signal what we value individually and as a family.  

With every new section of the book I found myself wanting to argue,  just a little,  with some finer point,  but I held back and found myself more in agreement than I originally thought I would. And,  in many points,  I was convicted of my own shortcomings as a mother and in this work of building faith into the mouvements of my home.  

I also pondered the neurodiverse adaptations of some of his touchstone points.  Again,  more of the practices would work in my home (I think) than I originally expected. But there were some areas that would need pretty drastic shifts. But even in those places and in the places where I disagreed,  I found myself thinking very deeply about exactly how I might create some parallel practice. 

But,  the biggest win from this book is the possibility of putting something into action relatively quickly. Almost every recommendation, idea or practice is very small and easy to implement.  It reminded me of things I did when the kids were little and could pick up again.  It made me think about rhythms that got lost during Covid and how I might want to consider their place in our life now. 

The first thing I've brought back is an evening prayer after our Audiobook and a hymn that signals its time to sleep. We used to do this and i don't know what interrupted the routine but I'm happy to have it back.  In the few weeks that we've done it, I've enjoyed listening the boys bring up prayer requests. They've opened up more about desires of their heart. It's been a precious re-addition to our night.