This is the first summer I’ve had in my Mom Life where it’s not just another season, regulated with hotter temperatures and a reading program at the library. My oldest, you see, has just finished first grade. She’s home for the summer. Which is great. It has also made me really consider how much more she needs me […]
“I’ve written a song,” he says. And he sings it all day long… and the next. It fills the rooms and his siblings throw pillows at him and I stop them and tell him that his work is good. “But Mommy, what if I forget my song? I’m starting to forget. It seems to change […]
~As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.~ One of my favorite Biblical passages. We all know it. A simple, beautiful verse from Joshua. A path of service and generosity of spirit? It clearly assigns value to these. Yet when this path is chosen on a “full time” scale, it is denigrated […]
This week, summer is upon us. It is a time to relax and take life at a bit slower pace. Most children are out of school at this point and eager to have some fun. That fun can take many forms, including camps, or family vacations, or simply playing outside, reading a book, swimming in […]
Father’s Day, in the United States especially, has become a day to recognize the important place of dad. While the celebration itself may be focused on a Father’s Day card, a gift, or a special meal, at its heart is the recognition that a father plays a singularly important role in the life of a […]
A groundbreaking study reveals that adult children of homosexual and lesbian parents experience far greater negative social, economic and emotional outcomes than children raised within intact biological families. The quality of University of Texas professor Mark Regnerus’ study highlights the deficiencies of previous studies that homosexual advocates have relied on to grant same-sex couples a right to […]
Cap and gown? Check. Camera, videocamera and cellphone for instantly uploading photos to Facebook? Check. Umbrella to keep grandma from getting wet or overheating in the sun inside the football stadium? Check. Air horn, confetti, posters, noisemakers, beach balls, rubber snakes? Check. Let the commencement exercises commence. Earlier this month, graduating senior Chuck Shriner of […]
“Do you know any songs?” I asked my nearly 3-year-old granddaughter as the two us walked hand-in-hand to a nearby store. “Uh huh,” she answered. So I started “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and she joined in, shouting out the next word whenever I paused. Hmmm . . . “Father, Son, Holy Spirit,” I said, and she […]
Somewhere, in the recesses of my consciousness, I was aware that it was morning. But the drug of sleep was heavy upon me… and I didn’t much care. My head was lead on my pillow and my face turned away from the alarm clock. Even if I had seen the time… even if it had […]
Don’t let your life be sterile. Be useful. Blaze a trail. Shine forth with the light of your faith and of your love. ~ Saint Josemaria Escriva, from “The Way.” Danielle Rizzo is 13 years old and still cannot speak. Nine years ago, when she was diagnosed with autism, her parents were devastated. “In the […]
I homeschooled my six children from kindergarten through 12th grade. In the beginning, we were very structured. I enrolled my children with a homeschool program that had once been a school. I spent my life monitoring them doing their “schoolwork”. Watching them produce this much schoolwork ( some of it ‘busy work’) every quarter, every […]
Recently, I’ve had opportunity to talk with several moms who have sons nearing or at young adult age. (Let’s say around the ages of 17-22) The mothers have asked me how we have handled influencing our late teen and young adult sons and how to do so that the sons will listen. In one instance, […]
I have joked for years that MTV is destroying civilization as we know it. Then, the network gave us “Jersey Shore,” and proved my joke wasn’t funny, it was true. Now, I’m convinced the people at MTV actually sit around a conference table and ponder the question: How can we exploit and corrupt the innocence […]
Unbelievable. Tonight, our youngest child will be confirmed – our last Mohican. This is the last “big” sacrament we’ll celebrate as Fenelon Clan. Of course, receiving the holy Eucharist is a major celebration every single time we receive Him, and receiving the sacrament of Penance should simply delight us each time we’re reconciled, but I […]
There is a dichotomy in this question or quest, if you will. “Fitting in” calls for a person to make a choice of accepting a set of ideals that belong to a certain group of people in the community. These set of ideals should match those of oneself to truly fit in. These ideals should […]
We took our kids to a petting zoo where the highlight of the visit was the alpaca grazing area. There were several families with us looking over the fence. Then my six-year-old son, noticing a soccer ball in the middle of the field exclaimed, “I didn’t know alpacas played soccer!” There were laughs all around. […]
For as well as I know my only son, I never really understood him until I read John L. Parker Jr.’s Once a Runner. Often called the “definitive running story,” Once a Runner, published in 1978, remains a cult classic for those whose identities are defined by the sport of running. Through the tale of […]
Have you seen the U.S. Department of State’s definition and legislation for legal adulthood? The DOS website states: “When a child reaches the age of 18, they [sic] become a full legal adult in most U.S. localities. That may not be the case in overseas environments, where the age for acquiring adult status under another […]
ASTONISHING: The Washington Free Beacon has broken the news that although a baby can be aborted up until the ninth month in Washington DC, the White House Visitors Office requires that an unborn child must be counted as a full human being when its parents register for a White House tour. HEARTENING: The U.S. Conference […]
Style, Sex, & Substance: 10 Catholic Women Consider the Things that Really Matter, edited buy Hallie Lord, is full of spiritual truths and spunk! The ten women who each tackle a different current issue seem to hit most of the hot topics usually found splashed across the covers of women’s tabloids, but from a Catholic […]
After breakfast in bed or brunch out on the town on Sunday, many families will celebrate Mother’s Day by planting flowers together. While I can’t speak for the rest of the country, here in Colorado there’s a rule of thumb that flowers simply *should not* be planted any sooner. Up until that time, the chance […]
My two-year-old was beyond ready to get down from her high chair. As she was kicking her legs in protest of her confinement, she noticed one foot pop momentarily into view above her tray. Her yelling stopped. Slowly, she lifted her foot into view once more and said, “I seeeee youuuu!” View the original post […]
As parents, we have so many responsibilities when it comes to our children. We need to feed, clothe, and nurture them. We need to raise them in the faith and make sure that they are educated. But in the midst of all those responsibilities, it is also important to have fun as a family. Moments […]
For the past few months, I’ve had the great pleasure of a biweekly radio chat with Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak, Directors of the Pastoral Solutions Institute and authors of Beyond the Birds and the Bees: Raising Sexually Whole and Holy Kids. As a major fan of Dr. Greg and Lisa’s work, their writing, and […]
