Posts by Alice Heinzen
Do you really listen to your family members?
God calls families to buld a true community of persons. One important way to do that is to learn to reallly listen to each other. How well do you listen? How can you listen more intently? This month’s article will explore these questions.
Read MoreWhat to Do When You Think You Aren’t a Good Enough Parent
Click Here to Download the PDF Parenting is hard work. It is not easy to embrace parenthood and stick it out. That is why a group of parents asked me to join them in a discussion about parenting. They wanted me to listen to their situations and offer some ideas for hope. A mom talked…
Read MorePreparing Your Child for School
Raise Them Well Personal Maturity Train the young in the way they should go;even when old, they will not swerve from it (proverbs 22:6). Sending a child back to school a decade or two ago was much easier than it is today. Back then, parents worried about buying the right supplies and getting the kids into…
Read MoreThe Heart of the 4th Commandment: Do What Love Asks
You’ve been there, right? Your kids are not complying to a simple request that you’ve made. You don’t want to yell or berate or lose your temper. So you do the countdown – one, two, three… You hope that counting will move your kids to get to business. If it works and they do meet…
Read MoreEstablish a Great School Year
Click Here to Download the Printable Version in PDF Format Another school year is about to begin and families are quickly shifting gears from summer into school mode. In some ways, it is exciting to prepare for school (anticipating the new activities). But in other ways, going back to school is challenging (establishing earlier bedtimes…
Read MoreA Great Virtue for the New Year
A friend and I were discussing the fallout from last year. I admitted to him that I caught myself saying, “I don’t know what or who to believe anymore,” nearly every week. He agreed that discerning the truth was a daunting task made more difficult because people seemed to make decisions based on how they…
Read MoreCreate a Circle of Virtue
We’re rolling out weekly parenting tips to help you embrace your role as a parent. Your journey to Christlike parenting begins here. Click here to get them for free! Preparing for this school year looks totally different than last year. Besides buying supplies, shoes and other necessities, parents must watch for any signs of illness,…
Read MoreLonganimity: Patience for the Long Haul
Our culture is broiling with anger and turmoil. Pandemic, lockdown, riots, and political vitriol surrounding presidential elections are making us irritated, frustrated, and angry. We could all use a greater strengthening of this month’s virtue: longanimity. Also known as “long-suffering,” longanimity refers to patience over a long period of time. The word literally means “long-souled” and is closely related to the term magnanimity, which means “great-souled.” Being willing to put up with suffering and frustration, especially out of love for others, is one way we express the greatness of Christlike love. In our parenting, longanimity means playing the long game, putting up with current challenges in order to help your children become who God created to be. Learn more about this powerful virtue in this month’s “Circle of Virtue” article.
Read MoreParenting Style Matters
Parenting is complicated because every child is unique and each situation is different. This means that parents can seemingly lose their minds trying to decide the best way to help their child grow in love. Diane Baumrind, a research psychologist for the Institute of Human Develop at Berkeley, looked at the relationships between parental behavior…
Read MoreThree Key Catholic Teachings About Sexual Intercourse
The final step in the “stair-step” approach to teaching your child about sexuality is teaching about the act of sexual intercourse. In addition to the biological facts about intercourse, there are 3 key points to teach about God’s plan for life and love. Point #1: The most important Catholic Church teaching about sexual intercourse is…
Read More