Click on each series title below to access the monthly newsletters in each series.
The 2022-2023 series is "The Best of Teaching the Way of Love." We'll be revisiting some of the best and most important ideas from our previous articles.
September: Ready for the New School Year?
How do your children look at their studies this coming school year? Do they see it as drudgery or an opportunity? This is a great opportunity to teach your children that learning about Creation is an opportunity to know God more intimately. Teach your children to approach learning with awe and wonder. Teach them to discover, not just passively learn!
October: Valuing Being More Than Doing
Our culture encourages us to value ourselves and others based on accomplishments. Jesus teaches us to value ourselves and others for who we are. How can you teach your chlidren to value themselves correctly? Learn from my own childhood experience and the wisdom of my mother.
November: Civility - Time for a Comeback
Political fanaticism, online anonymity, and cultural changes have made public rudeness and anger a common experience. But civility is an important part of learning to love. Parents who teach their children to treat others with respect and kindness, and to handle conflict with civility, teach their children how to love their neighbor. So how do we bring civility back?
December: 'Tis the Season for Receiving
As followers of Christ, we want to be altruistic and focus on giving gifts during Christmas rather than receiving them. But the giving and the receiving of gifts are both important. In this month's article, discover how you can teach your children to be good receivers this Christmas, and the deeper meaning the gift exchange can have when you do so.
January: Resolve to Waste Time With Your Children
Adults in the modern world hate to think they are wasting time. There is a psychological push to be productive at all times. Yet, "wasting time" with your family building relationships is the most fruitful investment you can make. Should you "waste" more time?
March: True Joy Comes from Self-Control and Striving
Do you want your children to live easy, shallow lives? Or would you rather teach them to grow in virtue and strive for the greater goods? In this article, we explore the value of struggle and seslf-control in a world that seeks ease and self-indulgence.
April: Making Sense of the Gender Debate
This month's article will prepare parents to have a "necessary conversation" with their children about gender ideology. Be prepared with knowledge about where this debate began and how to respond to arguments.
May: Guide Your Family Through Future Generations With Family Ritual
Family rituals can be potent tools for building your family community, teaching family values (and virtues), and celebrating your family. Even more powerfully, the rituals you establish with your children now could pass down to your children's future families, potentially affecting your family for generations to come.
September: Is Your Family Important to You?
Raising a family in the way of love requires conscious effort on behalf of parents. Parents show how important their family is to them by the amount of energy and attention they put into their family's development. This month's reflection question asks parents to reflect on how their actions reflect the importance of their family to them.
October: Who Has the Greatest Invluence 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.
November: 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.
December: Are you teaching your family the way of love?
Teaching children about selfless love is not an easy task. It's even more difficult when you realize how important your own example is. How can you become a more selfless parent to lead your children on the Way of Love?
January: How Can You Fill Your 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?
February: Is Your Family a School of Prayer?
The Church calls the family the "school of prayer." It's the task of parents to bring their children to the love of God. But the reality of creating a family prayer routine isn't often easy. How can you make your family into a school of prayer in the face of the reality of family life?
March: Does Your Family Impact the Culture or Not?
How can your family have a positive impact on culture? Is it up to the schools to form your children into good citizens and faithful disciples of Christ? Or do parents need to take more responsibility for the education and formation of their children? Let's reflect on the most powerful way to impact the culture by impacting your family.
April: How Can You Run an Ordered Household?
An ordered household is vital for children's health and thriving. But how can we provide order in our busy, chaotic world? In this article, we explore the solution.
May: Why Is Your Family So Important?
The Church teaches that the family is a vital, foundational society. But is your family important? Should the importance of your family change the way you approach it? This article invites you to reflect on the importance of your family.
June: Can You Celebrate Your Family in the Face of Imperfection?
The Christian ideal of the family can seem unattainable. We are easily frustrated when we face the gritty reality of our families in comparison to this ideal. This month's article gives you good reason to continue striving for the ideal while celebrating your family as it is now!
September: Create a Circle of Virtue
When parents work on growing in virtues that make them better parents, they do a number of great things for their families. They give their families the goodness of the virtues. They model virtue to encourage their family to grow in virtue. They create an environment in which family members help each other to grow in virtue. To do all of this effectively, parents can create a "circle of virtue" in their homes by focusing first on the four Cardinal Virtues. This article introduces the "circle of virtue" and how families can grow in virtue together as they increase their sense of community.
October: Parenting Virtues That Offer Clear Sight
With our busy lives, it's easy to develop "tunnel vision." We focus only on the next task, the next destination. Unfortunately, that often means that we fail to see our children for who they are. We're often blind to their needs. We react blindly to their behavior. Two virtues in the "Circle of Virtue" begun by Prudence can help us avoid tunnel vision and see our children more clearly: circumspection and foresight.
November: Parenting for the Long Haul with the Virtue of Longanimity
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.
Decembrer: Hope: Trusting God Through the Chaos
Confusion and chaos in our culture and in the Church make this a tumultuous time to raise a family. It would be easy to throw our hands up in despair and cry out, “Why even bother? What’s the use?” You and your family need the virtue of Hope now more than ever. Living in Hope can help you to navigate these troubling waters, and can also help strengthen your family as well. In this article we explore the virtue of Hope, what it is, and how it can benefit your family.
January: Solertia: A Great Virtue for the New Year
In our current cultural climate, it can be difficult to know what or whom to believe. More than ever before, we are in need of shrewdness. We can't afford to be gullible. We need to develop the habit of quickly sizing up a claim to the truth and deciding whether or not it's trustworthy. On the other hand, we want to avoid snap judgments. If we hope to know what is true and to guide our children accordingly, we need the virtue of solertia. Never heard of it? This article introduces you to this powerful daughter of Prudence!
February: Let's Be Reasonable
Kids are going to come home with opinions that they are convinced are right because one group or another has told them it is right. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that values inflammatory statements more than it values the truth. Instead of seeking truth together through respectful debate, logic, and science, we are shuttled into camps of like-minded people where thought leaders and majority opinion dictate what we are supposed to believe. We are encouraged to build mental bunkers that don’t allow any contradictory thoughts and are lured into name-calling, labeling, and agitation. This kind of culture is very confusing for our children.
Here is the challenge. How can you and your children uncover the truth and value it?
March: Affability In An Angry World
It seems that people are getting more and more angry. Political divisions run so deep that they have become divisions in the very way we see the world. While Christians are called to defend the truth, and even to fight for it, we are also called to love and respect every human being, even those we disagree with, even those who persecute us. How do we accomplish this challenge in the midst of an angry world? The first answer is through grace. But we need to cooperate with that grace to grow in the virtue of charity. One way to do that is to develop the virtue of affability.
April: The Debt of Gratitude
It has become very trendy to exercise gratitude for our blessings without acknowledging the giver of the gift. In other words, we are told to have a grateful heart, but we're not told to give thanks to anyone. The truth about gratitude is that it is a virtue that hinges on the Cardinal Virtue of Justice. We owe a debt of gratitude to the person who is the source of beneficence. We owe gratitude to God. We also owe a debt of gratitude to our country. Children owe a debt of gratitude to their parents. But Justice is a relationship virtue. So fostering the virtue of gratitude also benefits our relationships. That's why it's so important for parents to build this virtue and to exercise it generously. Learn about this powerful virtue in this month's article.
May: What to Do When You Think You Aren’t a Good Enough Parent
Parenting is hard work. It is not easy to embrace parenthood and stick it out. What do you do when you start to doubt your abilities as a parent? How can you keep yourself from losing hope and becoming discouraged? The virtue of Fortitude is the answer.
June: Humility and Parenting: Taking an Accurate Look at Yourself
Over the course of this series, we have introduced you to a number of virtues parents can adopt to help them be better parents. But there is one virtue that is necessary for any transformation to take place. This article will show you why the virtue of humility is a vital first step. We'll also discuss how this virtue is often misunderstood and what humility really is.
September: Ready or not, here it comes. School is back in session!
Ensuring that your child is ready for the school year means more than making sure the stuff is in order. It means making sure that your child is ready. The best way to do that is to have meaningful conversations that make the invisible internal reality of your child visible to you.
October: Having Necessary Conversations About Human Sexuality
God has a beautiful plan for human sexuality. Our culture has twisted that plan into something shallow and selfish. How can you lead your son or daughter to God's plan and share it with them like the good news that it is! This article gives you the fundamentals that you need.
November: Understanding Gender Identity
Our culture has made "gender identity" really confusing. How can you get past the confusion in order to have a meaningful conversation about what it means to be a man or a woman? This article brings some order to this chaotic subject.
December: Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me
No matter what topic you're discussing with your son or daughter, an important point of discussion is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Our Lord tells us to "take up our cross and follow me." But our culture would prefer to remove the elements of the cross, seeing them as a burden. How do we approach Jesus' call for transformed hearts within our own lives and in the lives of others?
January: Set a Firm Foundation in 2020
Each year we look forward to changing something about our current lives, to making resolutions to do things better and to be better. But this year, let's also spend some time reflecting on the things that don't change and building the foundations of our lives and our parenting on changeless truth.
February: Having Necessary Conversations About Right Relationships
Bullying has become an issue in the cultural spotlight over the past few years. As Catholic parents, we want our children to learn selfless love. But love doesn't come naturally to them. In fact, we shouldn't be surprised if our children become bullies. Learn how to have necessary conversations with your son or daughter about how to avoid becoming a bully and how to have right relationships that will lead them to Christlike love.
March: Should I Allow My Child to Struggle?
It can be difficult as a parent to let our children go through difficulties or to experience the consequences of their actions. But sometimes that's exactly what we need to do. Discover why it's important to allow our children to struggle, and how to come alongside our children with necessary conversations without "rescuing" them from the lesson in front of them.
April: The Importance of Community
In a bit of holy irony, times of isolation such as the one we're experiencing with COVID-19 this year can become great opportunities to teach children about the importance of community. Parents can take advantage of large opportunities like these, and of smaller opportunities that occur in everyday life, to teach our children the skills they need to become positive influences on the lives of others.
May: Togetherness: a Blessing or a Burden?
Being forced to be together can be stressful for families, especially for extended periods of time. We are in each other’s space. We get on each other’s nerves. But for Catholic families seeking to become a true community of persons, striving to grow in holiness and love, this is an opportunity not to be missed!
June: Necessary Conversations About Sacred Silence
Having these necessary conversations about the heavy topics we've covered this year can be as daunting for your children as it is for you. How can we help our children to continue thinking about these topics and internalizing the truth? The best thing we can do for young people once we've started these conversations is to teach them the art of "sacred silence." There are three "uses" of silence that Catholic spiritual tradition have taught us. This article teaches you about these three dimensions of "sacred silence" and how to invite your children to enter into their hearts where they can meet God and absorb His wisdom.
September: Personal Maturity: Preparing Your Child for School
Personal maturity means helping our children to recognize not just their self-esteem, but their self-worth. It also means helping them have an accurate self-concept. How can we show our children that they are loved and valued for who they are, not just for what they do?
October: Social Maturity: Help Your Child See and Respect Dignity in All People
Social maturity means recognizing that what is true of our own dignity and destiny is also true of others. Social maturity helps children relate to others with respect, selflessness and ultimately with charity. How can parents guide their children through social development to help them become selfless rather than selfish?
November: Emotional Maturity: Help Them Think Before They Act on Their Emotions
Emotional maturity means being able to respond to our emotions rather than just acting on them. How can we teach our children to stop, think, and then act at a time when their emotions are stronger than ever before and their brain isn’t yet primed for rational thought? This month’s article will show you how.
December: Emotional Maturity: The Importance of Relationship for Emotional Maturity
Emotional maturity requires learning to control emotion and to respond to it rather than react to it. But it also requires that our emotions be integrated into our personality. As parents how do we make that happen? Through our relationship with our children.
January: Emotional Maturity: Unconditional Love
One important way parents can encourage emotional maturity is to give their children unconditional love. This may seem pretty obvious – it’s what most parenting experts would tell you. But what they don’t tell you is how difficult unconditional love really is! In this article we’ll explore how to accomplish it and what it has to do with emotional maturity.
February: Intellectual Maturity: Knowing and Choosing the Good
Intellectual maturity means to know what is good, true and beautiful, to choose it, and to live according to it. In the moral life (forming who we are), conscience formation is key to intellectual maturity. In this article, we discuss how we can help our children form their conscience by growing in the virtue of prudence.
March: Intellectual Maturity: How Do We Know What is True?
We live in a culture that rejects objective truth and in its place embraces personal opinion, feelings, and experience. How can we instill in our children a love for truth, especially if we parents don’t even consider ourselves “intellectual”? In this newsletter we’ll teach you a surprising and fun virtue to lead your family to what is true.
April: Physical Maturity: Setting Standards and Boundaries
What does it mean to be physically mature according to God’s plan? You won’t find many Bible verses about diet and exercise in the Bible. Does God really care about our physical health? Isn’t He concerned only with our spirit, the eternal destiny of our soul? We answer these questions in this month’s newsletter, and we offer some practical strategies for helping your children mature physically according to God’s plan.
May: Spiritual Maturity: Know, Love, and Serve God
Spiritual maturity means to fulfill the purpose and end for which God created us. That makes spiritual maturity extremely important! What is this purpose we seek to fulfill? How can we lead our children to spiritual maturity? This month’s newsletter shares what spiritual maturity is, what makes it difficult, and what we can do as Catholic parishes to lead our children to the fulfillment and happiness that spiritual maturity brings.
June: Spiritual Maturity: Expand Your Faith This Summer – Take a Break from School NOT God
Summer is a great time to work on your own spiritual maturity as well as the spiritual maturity of your family. In fact, many characteristics of summer that tempt us to take a vacation from God could actually be calling us to a deeper relationship with Him, if we have the ears to hear.
SEPTEMBER: ESTABLISHING THE PATTERN
How do you give your children the best start to the Church year? Smart parents establish a pattern of expectations that give their children a sense of order, security and predictability. God does the same thing for us. God's pattern is founded on the 10 Commandments. As we establish the daily pattern in our school year, let's also be sure we're establishing our children in God's pattern for life.
OCTOBER: FAITHFULNESS TO GOD
The First Commandment calls us to live with God at the very center of our life. How can we do that as a family? How can we teach our children to put God at the center of their lives when so many other things compete for their devotion? In this month's article, learn about two virtues that can help you and your children put God first!
NOVEMBER: NOBODY LIKES NAME CALLING
The Second Commandment calls us to respect God's name and all holy things. How can we teach our children to buck the trend of irreverence in language and teach them to honor God in their speech? In this month's article, learn about the virtue that can help you and your children respect and honor God's holy name!
DECEMBER: CHICKEN & CHURCH - KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY
The Third Commandment calls us to keep the Lord's Day holy. That means going to Mass on Sunday, but there are also ways we can make the Lord's Day special within the Domestic Church. Learn about the virtue that can help your family come to love the Lord's Day!
JANUARY: THE HEART OF THE 4TH COMMANDMENT: DO WHAT LOVE ASKS
The fourth Commandment seems pretty simple at first. Children are called on to love their mother and father. But to really teach this Commandment to our children means to lead them to love. This month's article will show you how!
FEBRUARY: THE 5TH COMMANDMENT - DO NO HARM
Do you assume that keeping the 5th Commandment is easy because you'd never commit cold-blooded murder? Well, Jesus challenges us to live this Commandment on a deeper level, valuing each person's life and dignity. This month's article shows you how to keep the 5th Commandment even when you start feeling resentful or angry toward your children, and how you can model the virtue of meekness so your children can learn how to value others as well!
MARCH: THE 6TH AND 9TH COMMANDMENTS - TEACHING RESPECT
As parents we want desperately for our children to understand and embrace God’s loving plan for their lives, including God’s plan for their bodies, as they grow into adulthood. In other words, we want our children and ourselves to learn how to honor the Sixth and the Ninth Commandments. But how do we teach our children to respect others, their own bodies, and the gifts of fertility and family? This month's article on twl4parents.com will show you two virtues we can teach our children to help them truly honor the 6th and 9th Commandments.
APRIL - THE 7TH COMMANDMENT: JUSTICE AND HUMAN DIGNITY
No parent would believe that their children would steal. The Seventh Commandment is just so basic, right? But we live in a very materialistic and selfish culture. When our children learn that instant gratification is no longer a vice but a lifestyle, what would keep them from taking what's not theirs if they can get away with it? So how do parents teach their children to respect the property of others? This month's article offers some hard, experience-born advice.
MAY - THE 8TH COMMANDMENT: HONESTY AND THE VALUE OF TRUTH
Why do children lie? Is lying a battle parents should choose to fight? This month we explore the 8th Commandment. We'll talk about why parents do need to confront lying, and some strategies for doing so.
June - THE 10TH COMMANDMENT: SELF CONTROL AND CONTENTMENT
In a world so focused on material prosperity, electronic gadgets and entertainment, how do we teach our children to focus on what matters most? How can we encourage them to focus on relationships, especially their relationship with God? God gives us guidance in the 10th Commandment.
SEPTEMBER PARENTING WISDOM: TEACH YOUR CHILDREN THE WONDER OF DISCOVERY
How do your children look at their studies this coming school year? Do they see it as a drudgery or an opportunity? This is a great opportunity to teach your children that learning about Creation is an opportunity to know God more intimately. Teach your children to approach learning with awe and wonder. Teach them to discover, not just passively learn!
OCTOBER PARENTING WISDOM: BEING BEFORE DOING
Our culture is really addicted to success and achievement, and with it the idea of high self-esteem. But as Catholic parents we want to lead our children to a deeper sense of self-worth by focusing on who our children are becoming rather than what they can do.
NOVEMBER PARENTING WISDOM: HOW TO THRIVE (NOT JUST SURVIVE) BEING TOGETHER
Between holidays and cold weather, the next few months force families to be together. Sometimes that's a source of joy, but sometimes it's cause for strife. In this month's Teaching the Way of Love newsletter we discuss how to increase the joy in this "forced" time of togetherness.
DECEMBER PARENTING WISDOM: TEACH THE TRUE MEANING OF GIFT GIVING
In the midst of commercialism and materialism, it's all too easy to miss the true purpose of gift giving, and therefore the true meaning of Christmas. How can we reclaim the true meaning of gift giving, and how can we teach it to our children?
JANUARY PARENTING WISDOM: YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION IS TO KEEP THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT ALIVE
There's no denying that Christmas is a special time of year. But what makes it so special? How can you keep the "Christmas spirit" alive all year long? The answer to these questions makes for the perfect New Year's Resolution for your family!
FEBRUARY PARENTING WISDOM: MY CHILD ISN'T FRIENDLY - HELP!
As Catholic parents we're called to help our children learn how to love as Jesus loves. But sometimes it seems like all we can do to just get them to peacefully coexist with others. How can we teach our children to overcome selfishness and to grow in social maturity, toward true charity?
MARCH PARENTING WISDOM: We ARE Capable of Self-Possession and Self-Control!
Our culture wants us to believe that we are nothing more than animals, and as such we should give in to our physical impulses and instincts. But God created us with self-control and self-possession for a very good reason. We CAN teach our children to practice self-control even when the culture around them refuses to.
APRIL PARENTING WISDOM: Created Different But Equal
When children start to recognize the difference between boys and girls, the goal of parenting is to teach them to respect both sexes. What do you need in order to have that conversation with your children?
MAY PARENTING WISDOM: Isn't it Time for Civility to Make a Comeback?
Political fanaticism, online anonymity, and cultural changes have made public rudeness and anger a common experience. But civility is an important part of learning to love. Parents who teach their children to treat others with respect and kindness, and to handle conflict with civility, teach their children how to love their neighbor. So how do we bring civility back?
JUNE PARENTING WISDOM: Accompaniment: Your Guidance Has a Destination
Sometimes in amidst the humdrum tasks of parenting (feeding, clothing, sheltering, and disciplining our children), it can be difficult to keep in touch with the loftiness and dignity of the vocation of parenting. But all the guidance we give to our children has a destination, and it's a destination of glory.
SEPTEMBER: SETTING POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS
A new school year offers the opportunity to set positive expectations that can have long-lasting positive effects on your children. This month's challenge is to identify what expectations to set and to make a plan for promoting specific good habits.
OCTOBER: WHEN THEY FALTER AND FAIL
In October's issue we talked about setting expectations for our children to help them build their character. But what do we do when they fail to meet those expectations? What should our attitude be, and how should we respond? This week's newsletter discusses when our children falter and fail.
NOVEMBER: WASTE TIME WITH YOUR KIDS
We live in an age of busyness, where efficiency and productivity are valued. Unfortunately the sacrifice we make for getting things done is deeper relationship with our family. In this month's challenge we want you to consider ways you can 'waste' more time . . . with your children.
DECEMBER: IMITATE THE HOLY FAMILY IN THE YEAR OF MERCY
The Feast of the Holy Family is celebrated the Sunday after Christmas. As we approach the extraordinary Jubilee and the Year of Mercy leading up to it, this is the perfect opportunity for us to reflect on the Holy Family as our best example of what it means to give and to receive mercy.
JANUARY: FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER
Jesus commands us to forgive each other, even making forgiveness a requirement for being forgiven. But why is forgiveness so important for families?
FEBRUARY: THE HOLY DOORS OF YOUR FAMILY
The Doors of Mercy represent how we pass through the mercy of Jesus to our Heavenly Father. Pope Francis challenges us to make our own homes into doors of mercy with three very practical practices.
MARCH: THE CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY IN THE FAMILY
The Corporal Works of Mercy are practices of love. Learn how to exercise the Corporal Works of Mercy within your family by doing small things with great love.
APRIL: THE SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY IN THE FAMILY
Like the Corporal Works of Mercy, the Spiritual Works of Mercy are practices of love. Learn how to exercise the Spiritual Works of Mercy within your family by exercising tough love.
MAY: TEACH YOUR CHILDREN HOW TO RECEIVE MERCY
Much of our focus during this Year of Mercy has been on showing mercy to others. But it's even more important for us and for our children to learn how to receive mercy - especially from God.
JUNE: SUMMER'S MERCIFUL BLESSINGS
Summer is here. This is the time when, many of us scramble to organize care during the day for our kids. This can be perceived as a burden; one that can often frustrate us to the point of looking at our kids as the problem rather than at the schedule as the real problem.
A recent article in the One More Soul newsletter helped me remember that children are really blessings and not burdens – especially during the summer months when there is extra time to actually reconnect with them. Enjoy the read.
SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE: Remain Primary During the School Year
As the school year starts, it's more important than ever to make the extra effort to stay connected to your children. Remember that school does not remove your responsibility s the primary educator of your children! One of the best ways to stay connected is to eat family meals together and to have meaningful conversations during mealtime. Your TWL Challenge for this month is to engage in meaningful conversation with your family!
OCTOBER CHALLENGE: Laying the Foundation for Love by Teaching Interdependence
Building community in your family is one of the "pillars" of Catholic family life that Pope John Paul II urged families to nurture. An important part of building community is to teach our children how to become interdependent - contributing to community and allowing the community to support them at the same time. Interdependence is a step toward selfless love, and it builds a true sense of community. This month's challenge asks parents to think about how household chores can nurture interdependence in their children.
NOVEMBER CHALLENGE: FOSTERING AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
Saint Paul teaches us to be thankful in all things. Science shows that Saint Paul's advice isn't just good for our relationship with God, it's also good for us psychologically. This month's challenge is for parents to model and to foster an "attitude of gradtitude" within their family.
December Challenge: the Gift of Self
How can parents teach their children the true meaning of Christmas in the light of the commercialization and materialism of our culture? The answer is in modeling the true meaning of Christmas - the celebration of Jesus giving Himself to us as a gift by becoming a helpless baby in a manger. This month's challenge is for parents to supplement their material gifts to their children with a gift of self.
January CHALLENGE: Road Signs & Guardrails
In the spirit of making New Year's resolutions to keep our lives on track, parents should set pro-active goals for their children. These pro-active expectations serve as road signs on the road of life, guiding children to goodness. Of course, children also need rules and boundaries to protect them from what is most dangerous to them physically and spiritually. These rules are like guardrails that help keep them on the road when the road is most dangerous. Let's talk about giving our children both road signs and guardrails!
February CHALLENGE: Planning for Detours
In the January challenge we talked about setting pro-active expectations and restrictions for our children - road signs and guardrails to help them stay on the road toward goodness. But we all know that sometimes detours are necessary as well. It's best to plan for our detours as much as possible. This month's challenge will help you to consider which of your expectations could change and under what circumstances, and which will remain firmly in place no matter what.
March CHALLENGE: When Kids End Up in the Ditch
In the past few challenges we've been talking about how to keep our children on the road to the goodness God has planned for them. But we know that our children are fallen human beings, just like the rest of us. Despite our best efforts, they're going to go off the road once in a while and end up in the ditch. How we handle our children's failures is as important as how we set them up for success. This month's challenge will guide to toward making a plan for dealing with those times our children disappoint our hopes.
April CHALLENGE: Springtime: Ready to Talk About Love?
Spring often awakens feelings of love and romance in young people. It's an important time for parents to be ready to talk with their children about God's plan for life and love. This month's challenge will guide you through three steps to prepare you to guide your children to God's wonderful plan for their bodies and their hearts.
May CHALLENGE: When Less is Really More
Spring cleaning is an ancient and venerable tradition. There may be good reason beyond cabin fever. Simplifying our lives and removing clutter from our physical environment is a proven way to reduce stress for your family and to give them order and peace. Take this month's challenge and simplify your life!
JUNE CHALLENGE: Astonish Your Children This Summer
It doesn't take a huge, expensive vacation experience to give your children a summer to remember. In fact, they'll get a lot more out of simple ways you can bring wonder and awe into their lives. The summer challenge gives you ideas for some awe-some activities and strategies you can use to astonish your children and lead them to an appreciation of God's glory.
We wrote the Teaching the Way of Love newsletter series for parishes and schools who want to include solid Catholic parenting advice in their newsletters or bulletins.
SEPTEMBER: SCHOOL READINESS INVOLVES MORE THAN SCHOOL SUPPLIES
Learn how to truly prepare your children for school by equipping them to receive the instruction that will be provided in the classroom.
OCTOBER: TECHNOLOGY AND YOUR FAMILY WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Technology always comes with benefits and dangers. Parents do well to be aware of both.
NOVEMBER: Celebrating the Holidays with Rituals
Rituals are powerful experiences for families that build up our community of persons and sends joy into our hearts. How do you build up meaningful rituals in your family? This month’s newsletter shows you how.
DECEMBER: RECEIVING GIFTS WELL
While there is always a danger of falling into the commercialization of Christmas, gift giving can actually be a beautiful reminder of how to love each other. Teach your children not only to be generous gift givers, but also how to receive gifts with love. Teaching children how to receive the love of the giver and not just the physical gift will prepare them to receive the gift of Jesus that we celebrate in the Nativity at Christmas.
JANUARY: READY YOURSELF FOR THE NEW YEAR
Don't give up on New Year's Resolutions! Instead, make this year the year you grow in your faith. Here are 3 resolutions you can make to train your heart - and some practical actions to help you meet each one!
FEBRUARY: Seeing Others Through the Lens of Love
Bullying is a great concern in our schools today. It takes many forms, but it is always damaging. How can we ensure that our children don't become bullies? We need to shift their lens on life from the lens of power back to the lens of love. We need to teach our children how to love.
MARCH: WHAT A POLAR VORTEX CAN TEACH US ABOUT READINESS
Surviving winter in the north-central United States requires readiness and a bit of strategy. This same sense of readiness & strategy can be applied to navigating "bad weather" within the lives of our families. Download this month's newsletter to learn more!
APRIL: Spring—Is Romance in the Air at your House?
Spring is the season of love. That sends shivers down the spines of parents of adolescents. Romance is an emotional minefield for young people, and one that most parents are tempted to take a hand-off approach toward. But there is a great opportunity here to shape the minds and hearts of our children toward authentic human love and even toward loving as Christ loves. Don't miss the opportunity!
MAY: IS IT THE END, OR JUST THE BEGINNING - FINDING MORE MEANING IN FAITH EXPERIENCES
Human beings have the tendency to confuse endings and beginnings. So often when we think we are finished with something, we have really just begun. While that can be really annoying when you're doing the dishes, when it comes to faith experiences we should be delighted that God has so much more in store for us. This is a valuable lesson for us to live, and to teach our children.
JUNE: MAKE THIS SUMMER THE SUMMER OF CONNECTION!
The less structured schedule of summer offers a great opportunity for families. How can you take advantage of this opportunity? What kind of summer will you have? Will it just be another form of busyness? Will you laze the summer away? Or will you take advantage of this time to build a family community?