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It is MardiGras today and we just finished up our Pancake Tuesday supper. It was delicious (thank you dear hubby). As I was growing up, the lead up to Lent was always a time for reflection and decision making…what would I give up: chocolates, sweets, cursing, watching TV…growing up in a faithful, Catholic and hispanic family, Lent was always a very important time for us. We strictly adhered to no meat and only fish on Fridays, giving up a luxury or something that would be a sacrifice for us. There were many lessons that I learned through voluntarily sacrificing something…anything…for 40 Days.
So as I sat at the table surround by my own family, I decided to ask the them what they wanted to give up for Lent. “Salt…Hayden should give up salt” his older sister said. “Diet Coke!” said my middle child to her father. “I will give up sweets” said her dad. It pained me to think that I might volunteer to give up coffee…oh, my not coffee??? [I am Colombian for goodness sake, I was brought up drinking coffee. This is a bigger sacrifice then you might thing.] “Meat” was my daughters suggestion. “Does that mean we would be ‘vegetarians’?” asked my son. “Wait a minute,” said my husband, “we would all have to do that, no separate meals for one person”.
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So after some discussion and a few unwanted suggestions here is what we decided:
Dad: Give up soda and sweets.
Mom: Buying coffee from Tim Horton’s and Starbucks + anything my nutritionist says I have to give up…
DD1: She hasn’t figured it out yet, but she has until midnight to let us know
DD2: Sweets and …whatever carbs the nutritionist says…
DS: Limit to 1 hour of video games + doing 1 hour of Wii exercise video games (i.e. Wii Resort, Wii Fit, Wii Dance Party) a day and no more adding extra salt to his meals.
The whole family has committed to eating more fish and I secretly have committed to minimizing my colourful language…#frig what the #heck am I *bleepin* thinking!
So what are you giving up for Lent? You know you don’t have to be Catholic to give something up for 40 days…pick a habit any habit and see if you can make the sacrifice…
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My 11 & 8 year old boys gave up Wii & X-Box…me thinks it’s going to be looooong Lent!!!! I promised to give up junk food – do you know how hard it is to be doling out chips for lunches, and not nibbling on a couple (or half a bag) myself???? 🙂
I don’t always give up things for Lent. I often add in something – like doing a special good deed each day of Lent or spending extra time on more meaningful pursuits than TV or the internet. Just remember – whatever you give up, you can still have every Sunday!