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Parenting
How to help our college-age children keep the faith
I didn’t notice him come in. The college snack bar was noisy that day and full of students like me wanting ice cream on a very warm October afternoon. My chemistry class was in an hour and I sipped my milkshake while perusing my notes from…
Do I worry too much about my kids?
Q: I’m the mom of three children — two boys ages 9 and 6, and a 4-year-old daughter. I wonder if I am unreasonably consumed by fear and anxiety about my kids’ safety and well-being. This issue is starting to be a source of friction between…
Cool Aid
Who says school’s out for the summer? This summer first-aid primer offers a crash course on preventing and treating common summertime afflictions. The creepy crawlies From fire ants to mosquitoes, there are an awful lot of biting critters…
The whispering mom
What did you say? I can’t hear you. Did you lose your voice? I never truly appreciated the Gospel story found in Luke 1 when Zechariah doubted God’s plan for his life to have a son in his old age and the angel said, “But now you will be…
Let the little children come
“Hi, Jesus! I love you, too, Jesus! Mmm …” my oldest daughter blows Jesus a kiss as we drive past a Catholic church on the way to a play date. Normally, I initiate the ritual, but she does it on her own today. The motion is natural to her,…
Overcoming Tragedy
The joy of having special-needs children
The Santa Dilemma
Q. My husband and I are in a debate about how to celebrate Christmas with our children. We’ve always focused on Advent and the coming of the Baby Jesus, but we also have allowed them to believe in Santa Claus. My husband now worries that…
How to Get Teens to Stop Texting, Start Talking
Q. For years, my husband and I looked forward to having grandchildren, and when our grandkids were little, it was a truly wonderful time. We used to have them at our house and would spend time together baking cookies, reading to them,…
When our children reflect our negative traits
We’ve all got our temperaments and our children do too. It easy to pick out which of my children is the heart-on-her-sleeve mini-me of her father and which one is the spitting absent-minded image of myself. But our children don’t just get…
Five ways to support a mom with young children in your parish
Every parish has a few families with young children. You may have seen the mom who is juggling a baby, the baby’s snacks, a restless preschooler, a diaper bag, and a few other things. Wherever the family goes, it looks like a mobile zoo…
