I love politics, but I don't get to do very much about it at this point in my life with lots of small children under foot. Whenever we go to London I always look longingly at the Houses of Parliament and wonder if I will get a chance to go in and say something important. Then, in March, I found out that an organization that I belong to, called Mothers At Home Matter (MAHM), was holding a tea party at the Houses of Parliament with a few MPs. MAHM's aims have always been political in that they want a more formal recognition in the legal system for parents who stay at home to raise their children. In England, the tax system does not take into account the financial burdens which are undertaken by people who choose to have one partner stay at home to look after children; for instance, the partner who is not working cannot transfer their tax allowance to the partner who is. But things have gotten a lot worse lately for families in the UK. Child benefit has been taken away for families with a single earner who earns 60,000 pounds or more, but families with two earners can earn up to 80,000 pounds and still keep their child benefit. And Nick Clegg was making all sorts of noises about how loads of money needs to be poured into nurseries so that all women could work, and it was obvious that the money that was taken away from families in the form of child benefit was now going to go toward nurseries. As a stay at home mom, I was feeling increasingly de-valued and marginalized in Britain. So I was thrilled when MAHM organized a meeting at the House of Commons to talk about these very issues. I heard about the meeting at very short notice, but I knew I had to make the necessary arrangements - which is always nearly impossible - and get myself there no matter what. I wanted to be counted as someone who knows how important it is to be a stay at home parent.
And, being a mother of 5 girls, I was determined to take at least one of them to represent the next generation of mothers. Abigail had an important test that day, but Imogen was able to come. Here she is, in the entrance hall of the House of Commons:
I also told Shirley about it, my mother in law, who also gets agitated whenever she hears people demeaning the role of parents at home.
Since we already had our plans to emigrate to the States in the summer, I knew this would be one of the last times I would see Big Ben for a while.
The meeting was incredible. The Chairman of MAHM, Marie Peacock, spoke to the group assembled there of MP's, journalists, policy makers and etc, and she spoke with such conviction about the importance of mothers and the way in which they are ignored in society that I was moved to tears. I could not have said anything that she said better myself. I just need to find my own voice about mothering and let it be heard.
The rest of March was eventful, especially the last week. Georgiana turned 8 on the 27th, a special birthday which brings with it the privilege of being baptized. It just so happened that her birthday fell during Holy Week, so we planned her baptism to take place on the 29th, which was Good Friday. First we had the party to get through. Usually on Georgie's birthday we always have an Easter egg hunt and loads of outdoor games. But it was still really, really COLD on her birthday! The winter just wouldn't end and so we had to do things inside, which changed the dynamics quite a bit. We had to hang the piñata from the banister, rather than from a tree:
Once the party was out of the way (yes, I know, I have a bad attitude toward children's parties), I could focus on the baptism and the impending catering challenge that always accompanies these important family events. Easter is always a busy time at our house anyway, as I have taken upon myself to ensure that my children understand that there would be no Christmas without Easter, and that means three and a half days of activities over Easter weekend, including a Passover meal on Maundy Thursday, a brunch on Good Friday, Easter egg dying, a major Easter craft (such as making a model of Golgotha or Gesthemene, Easter baskets and presents on Easter morning received after an Easter morning devotional, and an Easter Sunday meal of roast lamb. But now we had a baptism as well, which was great, but was also going to require a lot of planning.
I invited many people to the baptism who were from out of town, and much to my delight, they accepted. So we had our good friends Paul and Alice Hearne, Nigel and Rosemary Harding, Liz Knight with some of her boys, and of course the Dysons. In the end I was catering for about 40 people after the baptism. So we started making food two days in advance. Here's Abigail making the sauce for the beef/pasta bake:
Me at the beginning stages of making a strawberry/rhubarb trifle:
Imogen making something:
Me making one of the main attractions of the weekend, passionfruit curd:
On Thursday evening, the Dysons arrived, as did Shirley and Dave, and Peter. So we had a Passover meal for 18 people. Lamb, barley and saffron stew, cucumber salad, unleavened bread, figs, olives, dates, almonds, and Semniel cake were all on the menu. On the spiritual side, remembering the way the last Passover was also the first sacrament was a lovely way to prepare for the baptism. The morning of Good Friday we had our traditional brunch: hot cross buns, smoked salmon, eggs, a lovely fruit salad, and both lemon and passion fruit curd. We did our usual activity, which is to do the 'Easter Story in Eggs' at the table: 12 plastic eggs are filled with scriptures telling the Easter story, along with 12 items which represent the story. We then did some final preparations for the dinner after the baptism - here the Dysons help us decorate our Easter carrot cake:
Georgie's baptism was wonderful - an amazing spiritual feast. Peter gave a talk on baptism, and Dave gave a very spiritual talk about the Holy Ghost. Then the Dysons sang the Easter hymn 'O Savior Thou Who Wearest', harmonized as always and it really brought it the Spirit. Then Tim performed the baptism, and I was very close to tears. I just felt so much love from everyone - from our friends who came, from our family, from the Lord. While she was getting ready we showed a video. After she was baptized, I gave my testimony, along with Rosemary and Shirley, both of whom gave wonderful, spiritual testimonies. Then Abigail sang 'In this Very Room' while Imogen played on the violin, which was incredible. We had two non-member families there, the Dawsons and the Davies, and I was so happy that they could have that experience. Truly, we were blessed that day.
Then it was back to the house for the party! The catering turned out almost perfectly. I tried to put things on the menu which reminded me of Easter in one way or another: fish pie, olive, onion and anchovy tart (anchovies remind me of Easter), Ithica pie (kind of a Greek/middle Eastern dish, made of spinach and dill and basmati rice). Then there were the standard items: beef pasta dish, ham and baked potatoes, salads. The desserts included a carrot cake, chocolate and almond cake bites, bunny cake pops, and a cheese board.
The centerpiece, however, was the Strawberry and Rhubarb trifle.
At some point during the hustle and bustle, laughing, talking, and socializing, we sang Happy Birthday to Georgie,
Rosemary made sexy poses, as is her wont,
Alice was just lovely being Alice,
And Andrew was just, umm, Andrew.
The next day was Easter Saturday. After feeding 20 people for brunch, we settled down to a rather elaborate Easter egg decorating activity.
We also finished up this year's Easter craft, the Resurrection tomb:
After lots of food and rather sedentary activities of painting, egg blowing, washing up and supervising children, we did the very English thing of taking a walk, this time, again, in the VERY cold weather. I was surrounded by two of my most favorite people, Gill Dyson and Rosemary Harding.
The Bleakley girls and the Dyson girls, friends forever.
Finally, the big weekend culminated in Easter Sunday. The devotional that morning was lovely, and we basked in the spirituality of that whole weekend. After church we had our Easter Sunday dinner, which starts with a portion of honeycomb and fish, to commemorate what Jesus ate with his apostles after His resurrection.
