Early Years
Preparing 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 MoreChurch & Chicken: Keeping the Lord’s Day
One of the most important traditions in my family growing up was Sunday dinner. Our family would go to Mass, then sit around the kitchen and talk while the air filled with smells of baking chicken and winter squash. We’d then sit around the table for a formal family meal. My parents expected good manners…
Read MoreNo One Likes Name Calling
Click Here to Download the Printable Version in PDF Format It is fair to say that public discourse – the way we talk to each other – has dropped to an all-time low. A quick check of most Twitter feeds, Facebook posts or trending YouTube videos will reveal multiple examples of foul language, cursing and…
Read MoreGod’s Plan for Us: Faithfulness to God
Click Here to Download the Printable Version in PDF Format Parents want what’s best for their children. And the desire to give our children the best goes beyond providing for our children’s physical needs. As Catholic parents, we know that ultimately giving our children what is best means helping them to develop an intimate relationship…
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 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 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 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 MoreHope: Trusting God Through the Chaos
Your family needs the virtue of Hope, now more than ever. There is no doubt that you are raising your family in tumultuous times. Confusion and chaos abound in both the culture and the Church. It would be easy to throw our hands up in despair and cry out, “Why even bother? What’s the use?”…
Read MoreParenting in the Early Years: Form a Community of Persons
The first task of your family is to become a community of persons. With the birth of your child you have gone from a couple to a family. Even though this is a small community (and hopefully one that will grow) it is a unique and important one. There are three main objectives that parents…
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