A question for those with kids...

[Momzilla]

whoosh!

That's the sound of all those references of Oblio's and Phillip's going right over my poor inquirer's head. Are those adaptations of liturgical chants?

 

[Momzilla]

Matrona, I would appreciate it if you would ask your friend. Thanks.

 

[Eusebios]

All I can think of is

...It's L*g, L*g,
It's big, It's heavy, It's wood.

It's log, it's log
it's better than bad.... it's good!

Ok, maybe I'm the one who should be giving a sample..
wow, have we digressed. Humblest apologies to Momzilla
His MOST unworthy servant,
Eusebios.

 

[Momzilla]

Fret not, Eusebios. I'm laughing even though I have no idea why!

 

[vanshan]

It does seem like a petty thing to argue over. Too bad many new calendarists outright reject old calandarists as over-zealous. I am a new calandarist only because my parish is. I think it probably would be better if were all on the same calendar.

 

[Eusebios]

whoosh!

That's the sound of all those references of Oblio's and Phillip's going right over my poor inquirer's head. Are those adaptations of liturgical chants?

Yes MZ, bad puns on "Festal Troparions" the central hymns of any given feast or saints day.For assistance in deciphering Orthodox-ese, see this link
His unworthy servant,
Eusebios.

 

[Philip]

It's log, it's log
it's better than bad.... it's good!

I'm glad there is someone old enough to get this.

MZ - It is an un-original parody of a Slinky commercial. Oblio's posts dug it out of my memory.

 

[Matrona]

Matrona, I would appreciate it if you would ask your friend. Thanks.

Don't worry, I will--I'll have kids someday, too, ya know.

1987 was the year all those evangelicals became Orthodox en masse. My friend was one of them. Since then, Orthodoxy has become much better known among evangelical Protestants.

 

[Michael G]

On the other hand, you should have heard the comments from our Baptist inlaws and their children at our Orthodox wedding and reception. Especially when they spotted father with a Sam Adams Cream Stout at the reception

Funny you say that because at my wedding, I was the only Orthodox person present other than the priest and choir, as my wife had not yet converted to Orthodoxy. I had to write a small booklet explaining the Orthodox wedding service to all of my Protestant and Catholic family. The best man and maid of honor did not know about the holding the imperial crowns over our heads during the wedding until the rehearsal the night before! Most every one there thought it was a beautiful service, even though they did not understand all of the symbolism involved. The line in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" when the father of the groom said "It is All Greek to me" struck me as funny, because our poor families must have been thinking "It is all Russian to me".

 

[Matrona]

The line in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" when the father of the groom said "It is All Greek to me" struck me as funny, because our poor families must have been thinking "It is all Russian to me".

LOL!

My parents only recently watched that movie for the first time, several months after my baptism into the Orthodox Church. As weirded out as my parents are about me converting, I couldn't help but smile when my dad quoted Gus ad nauseum in the following days. Especially when he said, "It is your lucky day to be baptized into the Greek Orthodox Church!" (It sure is!)

 

[countrymousenc]

Man! I stepped away to do housework and look what I missed! Rofl. (Not laughing at your question, Momzilla)

 

[Photini]

My son (8 yrs old) has actually told me that he wants to fast on Wed and Fri. He has repeatedly told me how much he loves the Orthodox Church...how he loves hearing about the Saints, etc. Both of my kids have adjusted to the Orthodox Church very well. It was difficult at first, because they were used to going to church and being entertained and seperated from the service....but now they love it. And there's always some special thing going on in our Church. You know, commemorating Saints, venerating the Cross, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, all the special feast days....

 

[Sergius_Lucius]

For your original post, since I didn't grow up Orthodox I'm not really qualified to answer that. One of my good friends, though, was chrismated at the age of five when his family converted, and he is very, very American! (His obsession with baseball bears that out. ) He is probably more than familiar with the idiosyncrasies of growing up Orthodox, so I will ask him for you.

I know a very, very Russian Orthodox guy and he plays in the Russian baseboal team!

 

[Sergius_Lucius]

Dear Momzilla, it seems that your kids will have more holidays being Orthodox

BTW, the latest issue of Orthodox Journal for Youth here in Moscow (with "Orthodox women" as the main theme) contains an article by a matushka (priest's wife) about raising children in the Orthodox family. I just glanced at it but remember she wrote that since Orthodox children have more restrictions in the life than others (fasts, no discos and parties, no TV in some families) they should have very good feasts.

 

[Eusebios]

OK,
I've come down from the effects of whatever drugs I was on earlier in this thread (too much coffee I suspect) and wanted to give my 2 cents worth on kids in Orthodoxy.
I'll start with experiences in our parish.Holy Assumption is a relastively small parish, that is at the same time a parish full of kids, amongst them my three godchildren (ages 4, 8 &10). This sometimes seems to be a potential drawback as kids can be distracting at times. But our parish has embraced it. We believe that the children of our parish are everyone's responsibility."It takes a parish to raise a child" (please don't flame me on the blatant "Clintonism )
In terms of how I've seen my godchildren react (the whole family converted from a conservative Protestant background) they are too busy witnessing about the faith to really notice that there are too many different things. They love the uniqueness of being Orthodox. Of course this is likely due to the fact that they go to an OrthodoxAcademy for school.
I guess I say all that to say this: don't let the fear of children being unable to cope hold you back. Children are remarkably adaptable and resilient.
This is not to say that I don't understand your apprehensions, I do.
His unworthy servant,
Eusebios.

 

[Photini]

Momzilla and all:

Here's a site with lots of advice. And they also have a "Mother's Digest" newsletter via e-mail that comes out every so often. You can e-mail them questions and get answers and advice from other Orthodox mothers.

www.orthodoxfamily.com

 

[MariaRegina]

One of my concerns about converting is raising my kids in a faith that not only is a very small minority, but also is quite different from what their friends will know. I'm in the South, where Protestant Christianity is huge; moreover, I am in the land of Bob Jones Univ., where Catholic bashing is rampant (ironically, BJU has an incredible collection of icons in its art museum). I worry about raising my boys without a Christmas tree, with celebrating holidays on a different day, with fasting constantly. I worry about them being teased and misunderstood.

Are my fears overblown? What experiences can any of you share regarding raising Orthodox kids? (I've also asked this question of the parish priest, who has two kids).

Thanks for any help you can give.

Dear Momzilla:

At one time, perhaps even still true today, an Orthodox Priest taught Church history at Bob Jones University. He always began his classes with an Orthodox Prayer: O Heavenly Spirit ...

Many young men became Orthodox because of that one priest ... many are Orthodox Priests today!

Love in Christ,
Elizabeth