Scrapbooking is one of my passions. It’s no surprise; when I was a young child my father (a history teacher) dubbed me the “family historian”. I have always been fascinated with family relationships and their history. When I discovered scrapbooking twelve years ago, I jumped at the chance to document my family history while exercising […]
Some recent events in the news have highlighted just how difficult it is to affirm modesty as a virtue worth instilling. In one particular instance, a public school principal took a stance for modesty, and may end up in court as a result. The principal refused admittance to two girls attending their high school prom […]
I recently received an interesting book for review, the softcover edition of Sally Koslow’s Slouching Toward Adulthood: How to Let Go So Your Kids Can Grow Up. Let me underscore up front that this is in no way a “Catholic” or even a religious book, although it does touch upon spiritual issues. Here’s the primary […]
When I grow up, I’m going to be a priest and a policeman.” “I want to be a nun who rides horses and sings. Can a nun have babies?” “Mummy, when I grow up I’m going to marry you.” I smile as I remember these statements made by some of my children when they were […]
At some point between the ages of 5 and 12 most children find a passion. It may be a vocational kind of passion like an animal-lover on the path to veterinary medicine, or an avocation like a softball player who one day applies that determination to passing the Bar Exam. At this tender age, it’s […]
You’ve caught your child fibbing time and time again — even about inconsequential things where telling the truth would not result in consequences. Do you have an issue with integrity? Is it a normal phase of child development? Or are you raising a serial liar? I’ll never understand why children try to lie their way […]
As soon as the men of the world perceive that you seek the devout life, they will launch forth all their raillery and slander against you; the most ill-natured will pronounce your altered ways to be hypocrisy, affection, or bigotry; they will assert that the world having slighted you, rejected by it, you turn to […]
I am sure you remember this song we all have sung so often at Mass: “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord; We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord. “And we pray that all unity; May one day be restored. “And they’ll know we are […]
What’s the right age to let children ride their bikes to friend’s houses? Isn’t it just safer to drive them? Should I worry about what other parents might think? Riding a bicycle used to be the standard mode of kid transportation, especially in the summer. I recall hopping on my bike on golden summer mornings […]
I’m busy repainting two pieces of furniture that have already served three generations of my family — a 3-drawer bureau and a tall dresser. Over thirty years ago I was getting married and in need of more storage space for my new home. My husband and I became the happy recipients of the bureau from […]
Sometime ago, my father and I went to get some fast-food for lunch. While there, a mother and three daughters came in. My father became silent, and discreetly watched them order their carry-out and then leave. “Do you know them?” I asked, when they’d left. “No. Not really” he said, then proceeded to tell me […]
From: Always the Bad Guy? My husband thinks it’s OK for our 12-year-old to get a Facebook page. I say absolutely not. She has heard us arguing about this issue and tries to jump into the conversation. Next thing I know, it’s me against them, which feels very unhealthy. I think we should present a unified front […]
In talking to my mother the other day, she told me she had found a couple of the Christmas video greetings we used to make and send every year since we moved 900 miles away. I apologized for not getting them made in recent years. “I thought when the children got older we would have […]
For a parent, there is nothing more humbling than understanding that God has entrusted us with the care of his precious little ones. Nothing in life makes us realize the enormity of our responsibility as well as the reality of our inability as when our newborn is first placed in our arms. It is the […]
To: Marybeth From: Bracing myself for obnoxious relatives Summer is coming, and that means it’s time for our annual family reunion, a full week at the beach where I will once again spend several days surrounded by some of the worst parents I know. I say this lovingly — these terrible parents are my own […]
“Mommy, why do we pray?” That seems like an easy question to answer, but I wanted to give her something to hang on to later in life. Satan tempts us not to pray. Someday she may feel she doesn’t have time to pray, she may be too hurt, angry, or afraid to pray, or she […]
The forward of Kathleen Basi’s new book, This Little Light of Mine says, “No one can teach well what he or she doesn’t know well. The best way to ensure that religious formation “takes” is for parents to live their faith, to be seekers alongside their children. Then, children see that religion is not something […]
To: Marybeth From: Annoyed by Unhealthy Questions I’m a freshman in high school. Our health teacher has a policy that there is no such thing as a stupid question about health, or no topic that is off limits. She makes a point to stress that she is willing to answer any question about sex and […]
I was named after a tugboat. Seriously. I was born in the late 1950s and many girls I went to high school with shared that tugboat’s name: Cheryl Ann. Apparently in the mid 1950s there was a popular show called “Waterfront” which starred Preston Foster as the captain of the L.A. Harbor tugboat. To this […]
To: Marybeth From: Opposed to cohabiting Can you offer any advice for my young adult daughters about why not to live with their boyfriends? I feel strongly that living together is to be saved for marriage, but it is hard for them to understand because “everyone is doing it” and they think I’m just old […]
When I first found it, I wasn’t even sure what it was. I was going through a trunk of personal items that had belonged to my dad when I ran across a little brown jewelry box. Dad passed away when I was just fifteen; I’d gathered an array of his possessions and kept them tucked […]
After experiencing my own unplanned pregnancy, and now working at a crisis pregnancy resource center, everything that I ever thought about being pro-life has completely changed. I realized that before I got some perspective, I actually wasn’t very pro-life at all. Yes, I believed that abortion was wrong, so in that sense I was pro-life, […]
“You’re crazy.” Well, thanks for your kindness and tolerance in regards to my way of life. We hear a lot about tolerance and accepting others nowadays, but this is usually the response I get from people when I tell them that my husband and I don’t use contraception. Let me tell you, I love when […]
“Is Traditional Marriage Toast?” That question recently caught my attention as the heading of an article in the neo-conservative Weekly Standard. The answer was either “very possibly” (a subhead attached to the piece) or “probably not” (an objective reading would suggest that). Take your pick. Be not afraid. Marriage and family life won’t vanish, given […]
