parenting

“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,…

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…

by Danielle Bean When my son Eamon was about 2 years old, we sat near the window together, watching a lightning storm. When one especially loud clap of thunder boomed in the sky, he turned to me with large eyes. “Papa!” he gasped. In our…

by Matt Archbold I recently told my wife it’s been difficult finding the money for our oldest to go to college while also paying for Catholic school tuition — as well as saving for eventual bail for our 10-year-old. The 10-year-old in the…

by Matt Archbold We were getting ready for my 10-year-old’s basketball game. She could not find her jersey or her right shoe. I’ll never understand how my children lose just one shoe, but it happens all the time. Do they come home, take one…

by Matt Archbold  Every story answers a question. The good ones do, anyway. In fact, the greatest story there is begins with one young wom­an’s response to the question of love and ultimate sacrifice. Mary, the Blessed Mother, said “yes.”…

by Jake Frost In our family, we have so many nicknames that our nicknames now have nicknames of their own — we call them “nick-nicknames.” Such as “umpkins” — it’s a word we use to refer to all the kids collectively, as in: “Hey! You…

by Matt Archbold Someone once asked me, “How do you do it with so many children?” I don’t. We do it together. My wife and I have five children. I don’t think I’d be a very good parent of one child or two. I firmly believe that having many…

BY NANCY FLANDERS The No. 1 question Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, hears from parents and grandparents is: “How do I talk to my kids about abortion?” It certainly isn’t an easy conversation for adults, but children have a…

by Matt Archbold Christopher Columbus dreamed that he could navigate the globe in a short period of time. Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned, and despite good intentions his name since then has been subject to scorn and…