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The Woman and Her Seed
At the highest levels of government and industry, all the way down to the swimming pool, you will discover what seems to be an orchestrated effort to completely erase women and their influence in society. I guess as a woman I shouldn’t be surprised. Men trying to dominate woman is nothing new. Look at almost every ancient culture, and you will find women and children being marginalized, their rights limited and voices diminished — but Christianity changed that. As history will testify, the Christian belief in the equal dignity and worth of women began to influence the cultures that Christians found themselves in. In so many ways, the second and…
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Embrace Your Femininity…Don’t Erase Your Femininity.
I know that we live in a world that doesn’t always appreciate the contribution that women have made to culture and to history — but frankly, that doesn’t erase the beauty and gift that women are to the world. Yes, men are a gift as well — but they are a different kind of gift — and perhaps the best way to have a more profound appreciation for both sexes is to recognize those differences and embrace them. To be a woman is to be a creature entirely different from a man, so much so, that many a philosopher has explored the beautiful differences that go all the way down…
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Chickens and Kids (2020 Revamp)
Once upon a time, I decided I really, really wanted chickens. I spent countless hours perusing Pinterest to find out everything I needed to know about chickens. Then I spent countless more hours convincing my husband that chickens were an amazing idea and we could weekend warrior a coop–no problem. Finally, I had him convinced, and the weekend warriors became embattled, broken down, over-worked, embittered serfs, subject to the chicken empire we had established. And on a dark night, just when my husband had lost the will to live, the coop was finally finished! How peaceful it was to watch them scratch and peck, lay beautiful eggs, and come…
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Does the Modesty Culture Cause Shame in Women?
A series of events this week — which included a friend sharing her concern about imposing modestly guidelines in our home — led to a deep dive into a very important question, “Does the modesty culture cause shame in women?”. Honestly, I’ve had a very positive experience with modesty culture, but I know that is not the case for everybody, and I took her concern very seriously. One of the most difficult things about being a parent is that you can never really go on “autopilot” — the moment you start getting overly confident about parenting, is usually the moment you find yourself hitting a wall. I guess what I’m…
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The Art of Influencing Your Kids
After watching some parents who seem particularly good at it, it seems to me that there is most definitely an art to parenting well. I am not one of those “artful” parents — but I have learned a lot from observing them and asking lots of questions. I still don’t have all the answers, but what I do have is wisdom that has been shared with me along the way, and I am going to share that wisdom with you today. You’re welcome. 🙂 Right up front, we should address the objection, “Why did God give us free will in the first place, knowing the royal mess we can make…
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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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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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The Cry Room: A Parents’ Guide to Survival
Okay, we’ve all been there — we’ve all been in the cry room. That awful, horrid place were children and parents are left to live sad, lonely lives — spurned by the families with well-behaved children. That room where all your hopes and dreams have been dashed to pieces amidst the cheerios, that awful diaper smell, and the other equally pathetic parents who find themselves there. That room where you are will ultimately find yourself asking questions like, “What is wrong with me?” “Why can’t I get it together?” or “Where did I go wrong? ” Well I’m here to tell you that you are just fine — in fact, you are more than…
