Momming
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Getting Organized and Why It Matters
Well, next week is one of the most beautiful weeks of the year — and I’m not saying that I always feel that way while going through Holy Week — but I know that it is. No matter what our Lent has been like thus far, we have a chance to finish strong this next week. My best word of advice is to forget about all the things you’ve failed to do this Lent — just give it your all this last week — we can do that, right? Even though the Triduum is not an obligation, if you can attend all the services, I highly recommend you go, go,…
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Weaning Babies and Lent
It’s 11:30 at night, and life has been so busy that I’ve had no time to put a proper post together. So forgive me, if I ramble. 🙁 I’ve been pushing hard to get everything in order before I leave for a 20 year reunion with girlfriends from college. At the time of planning this trip, we had no idea it would fall in the middle of Lent, but God knows what we need, and maybe I needed a different kind of retreat this Lent. I also didn’t realize I’d be in the middle of weaning my toddler. I should have guessed that this little guy would be holding out…
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7 “Sure-Fire” Ways to Keep Your Kids Catholic
That’s right, folks, here’s my “7 sure-fire ways to keep your kids Catholic”. In just 7 easy steps, you too can keep your kids Catholic. Don’t forget to pre-order my book, Forcing Your Kids to Be Catholic in 7 Easy Steps, available where all parenting books for desperate parents are sold. 🙁 Quantities are limited. So get it today before they are sold out! Now, on to my 7 Easy Steps…Satisfaction Guaranteed. ~Step 1~ Accept That There’s No “Sure-Fire” Way to Keep Your Kids Catholic. Sad, but true. From the get-go you have to accept the fact that your kids, my kids — they have free will. There simply is no…
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Clutter, Clutter, Clutter
This past weekend we participated in a beautiful Corpus Christi presentation. It was a lovely, prayerful procession — a great reminder of Christ’s promise that He would be with us always, until the end of the world. He was with us — and it was beautiful. It reminded me of the beauty of our faith. All the “smells and bells” of Catholicism, the procession, the people, the church building itself — they’re incredibly important. God made the physical world good, and He has redeemed it through His presence. This is especially true in the Eucharist: simple bread and wine become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of God. Amazing! And after…
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Helping Our Kids Encounter Beauty
In last week’s post, Beauty Will Save the World. I shared why Beauty is the antidote to all the evil and ugly in our world. This week is more about the “how” to bring beauty into the lives of your kids on the daily. It will look different in every family, but I always appreciate seeing other peoples approaches to things that matter. Hopefully you do too! Without further ado, I offer you my 7 suggestions for helping kids to encounter beauty. ~1~ Is it Bad to Shelter Your Kids? Right up front I’d like to respond to two objections I hear out there in the world. The first is…
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7 Ways to Make the Most of Your Summer
Summer is quickly approach. Yay for summer! I just love summer — I never want it to end — and if you’re anything like me, you want to make the absolute most of it. I was tempted to say summer “break” — but let’s be honest, life still keeps moving around us at a pretty hectic pace during the summer. Might as well leave “break” out of our vocabulary, or you might end up quite disappointed with your summer. The pace is definitely slower in the summer — but I have learned through the years that a complete shut down ends up in a disastrous beginning to my school year. For…
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Dream Big. A.K.A… Life Doesn’t End With Kids
Before I was married, I travelled the country talking to kids about chastity. The year before I took on this crazy “job”, it wasn’t even on my radar as a possibility. I had thoughts of traveling as a missionary one day, but never in a million years did “Chastity Promoter” come to my mind. A funny thing happens when you start to seek out what God is asking of you, these things you never even dreamed of start to rise up in your thoughts — and desires you never imagined begin to surface in your heart. Honestly, my greatest advice before you pray the prayer, “Lord, what do you want of me?” is to buckle up —…
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Fostering Independence in Our Kids
This week, family is in town and we are getting ready for my oldest son’s Confirmation — Come Holy Spirit! As an aside, May is always crazy — why is that? It’s chocked full of really, really good things — it’s just too many good things for me to process while maintaining my sanity at the same time. 🙁 Wish me luck! I prepared a talk for a parents’ discussion a few weeks back, Ways to Foster Independence in Your Kids. Anyway, the talk was cancelled because of scheduling conflicts, but I figured I’d share my thoughts with you because it’s really worth thinking about. If you have read any of my previous posts, you know…
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Video Games and Guardian Angels
Video Games. Don’t you just hate them — or maybe you love them — whatever the case may be, video games are something every parents needs to think about at least once in their life. More likely than not, if you have a few kids, the subject will come up regularly — so might as well take a moment to think about it now — because this is important stuff, people! Recently our son went on a mandatory two week hiatus from video games. A funny thing happens when you let your kids “get bored” — they actually find lots of creative things to do with all that free time. At first he complained about it, but eventually…
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Halfway Through Lent and Other Thoughts…
We have reached the halfway point in Lent — yay us! Lent has been just what it should be — difficult and beautiful and really, really long. I know it has been good for me, how about you? Well, on to the takes… ~1~ It’s My Little Sister’s Birthday! My sister is hilarious. She really is. She’s got 8 kids, plus one in heaven, and she is one of those people who puts you at ease because she’s just so darn real. The stories she can tell about her crazy life — she should be the one writing a blog! When we were growing up, she used to run to me when any…
