Do Nuns Wear Pajama pantaloons?

[Catholicterp7]

So I'm in the process of compiling a book called Do Nuns Wear Pajama pantaloons? The Answer to that and Any Other Question You Want to Ask a Nun.
The idea is to have different categories of questions ranging from "what do you wear to bed?" to "What do you do when you're attracted to someone?" I'm hoping to be able to get a lot of Sisters and Nuns from different communities to answer some questions as well as share some humorous stories about discernment/convent life.
I'm really excited about it, however I can't do it alone. I need questions! All of the questions will be anonymous so please ask anything! Feel free to either reply to this post, or send me a PM.
P.S. Right now I only want questions for female religious because I'm hoping, if this really gets off the ground, to be able to make another one for men called "Do Priests Drink Beer?"

JMJ+

[Catholicterp7]

P.P.S Please feel free to ask other people you know for their questions as well.

[mantellata]

I would avoid the "what do nuns wear to bed"... why do we need to know that?

[BarbTherese]

Both times I entered, just after V2 before the changes were felt in religious life and well after V2 in my forties. Both times we wore nightdresses with collars and long sleeves.

[nikita92]

I cant see nuns/sisters wearing short sleeve anything! Lol

[AccountDeleted]

I can see this as a private question asked by a discerner about a specific community but as a question for a book - it is too generic (all communities are different) and it's both intrusive and in poor taste. Sorry but my opinion.

[mantellata]

I can't prop the above enough ^^^^

[emmaberry101]

I am taking long sleeved long cotton nightgowns to the Monastery. Edit: Sorry, brain freeze! Forgot to congratulate you on penning a book. I know that is a lot of work, and I hope it finds success!

Edited November 26, 2012 by emmaberry101

[AccountDeleted]

Look, maybe I misundertood the OP (giving the benefit of the doubt here) and this is meant to be a joke book or a cartoon type book about nuns, in which case I was probably too harsh. But if you are seriously talking about writing a factual book about the private lives of nuns - that is really off-putting to me. I can see a series of joke books called
What do Firefighters wear to bed?
What do Doctors wearto bed
etc
etc

but otherwise, it's no one's business, is it? And to ask about private interior things like dealing with attraction? It is treating all nuns as objects - clones who all do the same things instead of human beings with a right to privacy. Maybe I'm misunderstanding here ... I hope so.

[maximillion]

All communities are different, as nunsense says, there is no 'one size fits all' answer.

If the book is serious then the premise is wrong for the above reason because any discerner reading it may be mislead and find the community they are discerning does things very differently...unless you want fifty answers to the same question!
If it is meant to be funny, well, yes, some caution needs to be taken over the nature of the questions posed, and again, it could lead to misunderstandings, or at worse, lots of stereotyping......

Sorry to be down on it.

[Feankie]

I'm also having a bit of trouble with the premise of the book. Is it meant to be humorous? Or is it meant to present little known "facts" about nuns/sisters? Frankly, I found the book "The Habit" (I think that's it's name) to be fascinating as it detailed the changes in habits over the centuries and post-Vatican II and beyond. It gave examples of trousseau lists as well as scads of actual photos of original and modified habits.

[carmenchristi]

I don't know. What do you wear to bed is probably the first question that middle school kids would ask. I think it's a catchy title, and it doesn't mean that you need to go into detail about it. I tried to post earlier bit I guess it didn't go through. I has said that one of the questions that I was asked a lot is how do you deal with being so far away from your family? Do you get homesick? How do you feel about being able to be sent half way across the world with little advance notice?

Oh maybe the post did go through. I just realized that this is also on open mic. Sorry.

[nikita92]

I myself have pondered on the very real and human aspect (however delicate or intrusive as it may be viewed by religious) of personal grooming "habits" inside a community (that has numerous others) Let me explain...because life inside is so structured and everything seems to be on a schedule....realistic speaking ...one needs to maintain bodily cleanliness....sooo how are bathroom times assigned?,and when may one be permited to utilize it? Is it communal (meaning stalls) or a single bath room only? if only showers are allowed..how long does one get to take one? Because of the poverty vow..is "Bar Soap" the standard article used? Is it the only option? What happens if one who has entered, has always had really DRY,itchy skin and Using a type of body wash HELPS that condition ..Is body wash...lotion(s) allowed or not permited? Im not asking these GEE WHIZ questions to be intrusive or to anyone on here! My point is... that they do exisit. Like say...you ate something at supper that didnt agree with you...and the next morning while attending choir mass you suddenly become ill, and time is of the essense....Can one excuse oneself to run(pardon the usage) to the toliet? Or .. does one NEED to approach Mother/Superior FIRST ( while trying one's best not to have any accidents of a embrassing nature) and ask before doing so?! Yes communities differ in their own rules and regulations. However, this line of itimate questions one might have, are not something the public is going to see listed in a honorarium either. So................... maybe these kind of gee whizz questions (while not standard) would actually help to inform and maybe alleviate anxious discerners who would normally be embarassed to ask on their own. Thats how I choose to look at this person's book wanna be. Just my 2 cents

[mantellata]

^^ I still believe this is the sort of thing best left to a personal conversation with the discerner and the community - as of course it varies by community. This is not the stuff of public consumption IMO.

I also believe that if a young discerner is "too embarrassed" to ask necessary questions regarding say - a medical condition, it is a very good indication that she is not mature enough for entrance. As for other things like - how "shower times" are or are not "assigned"... who cares? Every community will ensure that you have time enough to take care of the regular everyday situations of life. You would be able to tell that there was something amiss here when actually meeting a Sister of the community.

If a woman entering religious life [u]ever[/u] found that such necessities as running to the restroom needed special permission she would most certainly be in a cult -- not a religious house.

Edited November 26, 2012 by mantellata

[Catholicterp7]

[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1353902613' post='2516718']
Look, maybe I misundertood the OP (giving the benefit of the doubt here) and this is meant to be a joke book or a cartoon type book about nuns, in which case I was probably too harsh. But if you are seriously talking about writing a factual book about the private lives of nuns - that is really off-putting to me. I can see a series of joke books called
What do Firefighters wear to bed?
What do Doctors wearto bed
etc
etc

but otherwise, it's no one's business, is it? And to ask about private interior things like dealing with attraction? It is treating all nuns as objects - clones who all do the same things instead of human beings with a right to privacy. Maybe I'm misunderstanding here ... I hope so.
[/quote]
[quote name='carmenchristi' timestamp='1353957333' post='2517011']
I don't know. What do you wear to bed is probably the first question that middle school kids would ask. I think it's a catchy title, and it doesn't mean that you need to go into detail about it. I tried to post earlier bit I guess it didn't go through. I has said that one of the questions that I was asked a lot is how do you deal with being so far away from your family? Do you get homesick? How do you feel about being able to be sent half way across the world with little advance notice?

Oh maybe the post did go through. I just realized that this is also on open mic. Sorry.
[/quote]

I did not mean to offend anyone at all. I'm really sorry that this happened! I know from personal experience that there's a lot of things that people wonder because there is an element of mystery (and no, I'm not thinking that the mystery should be taken away! I know there's an element to it that can't be explained to anyone) to the vocation and I think that for women who don't see Sisters very often (such as myself) it can be really hard to start discerning because of so many questions. I was hoping it would be a book that is humorous but with a touch of seriousness to it. I think it's really important for people to understand that those who are living the consecrated life in any form are actually people and do feel attraction to people and do miss their family and friends. I am planning on leaving it totally up to the various Sisters discretion if something is too personal to be shared. I have so much respect for these women and I would never want to offend any of them!
Like I said, I'm really sorry some of you were offended.
JMJ+