Leading the Little Ones to Mary

[update found here]

Thanks to the 4Real forum Hidden Treasure, I was reminded by Anne to take out my old copy of Leading the Little One's To Mary.

While I still had my children at the table for lunch, I read the story of Zoe and the Miraculous Medal. Then I tried to refresh their memories on what it means to:

play like Mary,

pray like Mary,

help like Mary,

obey like Mary, and share like Mary.

I wish I could say I had everyone's undivided rapt attention. I didn't even get to the part about renewing their consecration. (At my younger children's baptisms, they were consecrated to Our Lady.) I realized that I needed a way to grab their attention and to make this discussion more tangible.

I made a plan. I had some unpainted wood pieces which I hadn't used at Christmas time. I asked my daughter to paint them for me. They are currently in a box on the kitchen table. I told the children to pick one of the wood pieces tomorrow at breakfast and I will explain what it means tomorrow. (I said this at dinner time. I don't think they know that the wood pieces are connected to Leading the Little One's to Mary.)

Tomorrow, I will explain that each wood piece has a special significance.

Play like Mary = palm tree

Pray like Mary= Cross on Calvary

Help like Mary= hand

Obey like Mary= Chalice (Thy Will be done - the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane)

Share like Mary= the unpainted bag like wood piece. (open your bag and share the contents)

Some of the pieces will remind the children to renew their consecration during

school work = the letter M

church= the church wood piece

while home= home sweet home

games= trophy (good winners and losers)

The wood piece will determine what they will focus on during the day. At tea time, we'll have a chance to see who remembered to practice behaving like the Blessed Mother.