Guide Your Family Through Future Generations With Family Ritual
Download the PDF What do you think of when you hear the word “ritual”? Does your mind turn to liturgy and prayer or formal ceremonies? You might be wondering what ritual could have to do with parenting and family life. The answer is that family rituals can be potent tools for building your family community,…
Read MoreWho Has the Greatest Influence On Your Children?
A your children grow toward adulthood, they come under the influence of a multitude of voices. Do they listen to their parents anymore? How can you continue to have the influence God calls you to? Learn what it means to be the primary educators of your children as they become more independent.
Read MoreTrue Joy Comes from Self-Control and Striving
Download the PDF Where do your children find joy? I teach at a Catholic school whose motto is “Joyfully Catholic.” Students will sometimes claim that we are not living up to our motto because we hold high standards for them. We give our students homework and expect them to complete it. We expect them to…
Read MoreResolve to Waste Time with your Children
Download the PDF A few years ago, Pope Francis sent out a challenge to parents across the globe. His simple and direct tweet said: Parents, can you “waste time” with your children? It is one of the most important things you can do each day. This mike drop tweet from our Holy Father reminds me…
Read MoreReady for the New School Year?
Download the PDF My parents had a wonderful practice of asking questions during dinner. They enjoyed getting us to think about topics and issues through conversation. I remember one question in particular; one that was asked the night before the start of another school year. What do you think you are going to discover at…
Read MoreThe Importance of Relationship for Emotional Maturity
Raise Them WellEmotional Maturity TRAIN THE YOUNG IN THE WAY THEY SHOULD GO;EVEN WHEN OLD, THEY WILL NOT SWERVE FROM IT (PROVERBS 22:6). There’s another hole in our house. We have a hole in a bedroom, a couple in the basement, and now there’s a new one in the bathroom door. When I asked the kids…
Read MoreReady or not, here it comes. School is back in session!
Necessary Conversations So much changes with the start of a school year. Some families look at the return to set schedules, planned activities and earlier bedtimes with delight while other families loathe the loss of spontaneity and impulsivity. The personality of your family certainly colors how you will embrace the start of the academic year.…
Read MoreHow do You Fill a Home with Goodness and Virtue?
Parents want to ensure that their children embrace goodness in life. That can be difficult in a cutlure of bullying, increased school violence, soaring depression, and isolation. What can parents do to help their children embrace goodness?
Read MoreBeing Before Doing
Click Here to Download the PDF Even though I am both a teacher and a public speaker today, as a child I never thought I’d ever feel comfortable speaking in front of people. You see, I didn’t grow up with a lot of self-esteem. I was a smart kid and did great in school. But…
Read MoreKnowing and Choosing the Good
“And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God” Romans 12:2. One of the biggest surprises to me as a parent is how difficult it can be to teach my children…
Read MoreIntellectual Maturity: How Do We Know What Is True?
“And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God” Romans 12:2 Many times my middle school daughter has come home saying that a teacher or a friend challenged a truth of…
Read MoreLoving Children Requires Self-Control
The world today often portrays love as just another emotion. It should come to no one’s surprise that many people—even many parents— think that love is nothing more than following your heart or indulging in what makes you feel good. While it is true that a part of love includes feelings, the better portion of…
Read MoreTeaching Manners
Showing good manners is part of social maturity. It is the we express the kind of love the Greeks called storgè – basic respect for human dignity. Since human dignity is so important, every culture has created a set of norms intended to show respect. Unfortunately the modernist culture our young people are immersed in…
Read MoreIs Your Family a School of Prayer?
Download the PDF The title of this article may stop you in your tracks. As a parent, were you even aware that your family is supposed to be a school of prayer? In his general audience for January 4th, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI gives us a beautiful reflection that explains the importance of developing a…
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