Slammed door, yelling, and stomping feet. These are the sounds of the moody teenager, right? Sometimes. But sometimes, they are Mom or Dad. Reprinted with permission from Catholic Sistas. I was taught to control my emotions as a child, but I didn’t have to really practice it until I became a mother. We love our […]
It’s a Hallmark holiday, but Father’s Day can be a chance to reflect a bit on our children and their future. As a father of one son (and soon to be two), I am a member of a shrinking subset in modern America. Increasingly, many people like me aren’t getting married, some aren’t having children […]
There’s nothing like reading a good book before bedtime, especially for kids. Too often, the busyness of life leaves parents feeling that we have not done enough of one thing or another. Reading with our children rectifies much of that that. I found that reading the “Dear God Series” (Liguori Publications) by Patti Maguire Armstrong […]
Everyone loves seeing the babies baptized early Sunday morning. Some squeal with delight while others cry their eyes out as the cold Holy Water runs across their heads. I’m always curious though about who the parents chose as godparents for their child. If physical similarities matter, many seem to have chosen a sibling or two […]
“Was daddy involved with us when we were little?” she asked. “Did he want to spend time with us?” I wondered why she was soliciting these questions although I guessed it had more to do with the fathers of the families that she worked for than her own father. As a young adult woman who […]
Every child has a right to be. Every child has a right to thrive and reach their full potential, whatever that may be. Adults in their world have a responsibility to make sure every opportunity is available to them to reach their potential. But this responsibility falls primarily with their mother and father. It begins at […]
Despite the message our culture sends, marriage and parenting aren’t the frightful things they’re often made out to be. The hardships that come in family life are outweighed by true and lasting joy, when we keep the proper perspective – perspective being the key word here. Parenting isn’t easy, but it makes us into the […]
God gives mothers whatever good they ask for their children. Why? Because they are humble. They are living signs of humility and only the humble are filled with God. Jesus also gifts mothers with a share of His sorrows and passion to be applied to the salvation of their children. “It makes me happy to suffer for you, […]
It was Saturday afternoon and the sun shone brightly in the sky. After so much rain recently, my children were excited to be outside enjoying the warmth on their backs. The windows were up and I could hear them playing with the neighborhood kids. Reprinted with permission from CatholicSistas.com. Squeals of delight, shouts of “tag, you’re it!” […]
I have to confess, I hadn’t heard of Sofia Vergara or her ex-fiance, Nick Loeb, until the frozen embryo custody battle broke in the news. For those, like me, who aren’t familiar with these two, Vergara is an actress, mostly known for her role in the TV show Modern Family, and Loeb is a businessman […]
Mothers are by far the most beautiful creatures in the world. There is nothing more beautiful than a mother. There has never been a beauty pageant winner more beautiful than a pregnant woman. A pregnant woman glows with the grace of God. She is one with God. Her love has borne fruit with the life […]
Having spent most of my life as an atheist (I converted just 13 years ago), I have a good basis of comparison for the difference between Catholic and non-Catholic life. And without a doubt, these seven things are WAY better now that I’m Catholic! Reprinted with permission from CatholicSistas.com. 1. WEEKENDS My husband and I spent three […]
Ite ad Joseph! (Go to Joseph!) It’s the great Latin admonition of the Church, to seek the intercession of the Patron Saint of the Church, and a powerful intercessor at that. Against the backdrop of the new aggressive eugenics that has taken solid root in American medicine, and against the war on the Catholic Church […]
The title of this article is also the name of an extremely valuable online booklet by the late Father Henry V. Sattler, CSsR (1917-1999), yet it is also an assignment for today’s parents. Our children and grandchildren are bombarded daily with messages that contradict common sense and put their very lives in jeopardy. It is […]
God guided me into the next step of my spiritual journey recently. I was accepted into formation with the St. Louis, Mo., group of the Secular Carmelites. I’m excited. I have my heart and soul open for what might be ahead. I recently completed my year of “aspirancy” with the Secular Carmelites. That stage involved […]
The stories of heroic mothers rarely appear on the nightly news, even when they include prominent figures like Genevieve Shaw Brown, Travel and Lifestyle Editor for ABC News. Genevieve recently wrote about her infant son, William Michael Brown, who has Down syndrome. The Browns knew prior to his birth that he would be born with […]
It always makes me laugh to think of my fellow Southerners panicking at this time of year when the forecast is for snow. It is very typical for us to get a small dusting (or perhaps even more than a dusting!) right about now. But it seems that everyone forgets that tidbit of information and […]
A few months ago, my oldest daughter turned thirteen. Having my firstborn become our first teenager seemed almost anticlimactic; an especially precocious child, Honor has always seemed far older than she is. On paper, she’s in the 7th grade, but most of her homeschooling is from high school and college textbooks. Her height (5’5?), poise, and ability […]
Valentine’s Day is a big deal around our house. Our first child was born on Valentine’s, and she loves all things pink, pretty, and frilly. And chocolate. She loves her princess shoes, sparkles, fancy hair doo-dads (she’s also asking me for hair rollers, and she’s only five), hearts, ribbons, make-up, purses, clothes (the more sequins […]
Recently, a Facebook conversation turned into a discussion over when we feel “invisible” while driving. It started innocently enough. I commented on how people seem to “not see” me when I am driving our family vehicle (which happens to be a 12-passenger van). My mom said she feels invisible when she drives their white car, […]
President Obama’s State of the Union address was predictable for a President nearing the end of his second term. It was filled with lots of partisan legislative ideas that will never see fruition in a Republican Congress. It hearkened back to his original campaign ideas of bringing Washington together, which comes off as amusing when you […]
Years ago, I shared a memorable conversation with Catholic author Taylor Marshall while we both worked at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. Taylor told me about some advice that, in his words, an “old, crusty Episcopalian priest” had given him shortly before his wedding: “The keys to a good marriage are threefold: to […]
Every once in a while, I come across a story that stops me in my tracks. Like the Italian high court’s decision to overturn a pedophile’s conviction because his 11-year-old victim says she’s “in love.” Or the Australian judge who pointed out that easy access to abortion and contraception may lead to the legal sanction of incest, as it […]
