Category: Parenting

  • Book Review: “Flight Plan: Your Mission to Become a Man”

    Flight Plan by Lee Burns & Braxton Brady PDS Publishing, 2010 Obviously, I have little first-hand knowledge of the challenges that come with growing from a boy to a man, yet I am in charge of raising two boys who will all too soon be facing this transition. It is through those eyes that I […]

  • Book Review: “A Time to Plant”

    A Time to Plant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, and Dirt by Kyle Kramer Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2010 I admit it. When I received a review copy of “A Time to Plant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, and Dirt,” I cringed. A book about back-to-basics living? No, thank you. In my defense, I […]

  • Book Review: Stories for the Homeschool Heart

    Stories for the Homeschool Heart Compiled and Edited by Patti Maguire Armstrong and Theresa A. Thomas Waterford, MI: Bezalel Books, 2010 As the title suggests, “Stories for the Homeschool Heart: Heavenly Stories of Inspiration, Hope and Joy” is a compilation of stories by homeschoolers and friends of homeschoolers intended to bring support and encouragement to […]

  • The Importance of Parents as Teachers

    I was recently reading the September 2010 issue of “Living” magazine. Not surprisingly, inside of it was an ad featuring Martha Stewart. What was surprising was the subject matter. Martha was not touting the latest home beautification item or her paint or furniture line. Rather, the headline read “Behind every famous person is a fabulous […]

  • BooK Review: “Where do Priests Come From?”

    Where Do Priests Come From? by Elizabeth Ficocelli Waterford, MI: Bezalel Books, 2010 From a child’s perspective, priests can sometimes seem very mysterious. After all, they dress differently and live differently and do different things than all of the other people in their lives. It can be hard to imagine that they were once little […]

  • Book Review: “The Bible’s Best Love Stories”

    The Bible’s Best Love Stories by Allan F. Wright Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press When one mentions love stories, I’d be willing to bet that the first thing that comes to mind is not the Bible. One tends to think of romantic movies or novels. Perhaps one might think of couples one knows whose love […]

  • Accepting Forgiveness

    My two children (ages 9 and 7 ½) were playing a trading card game outside earlier today with one of their friends. These games can get quite heated between them, no matter how many days their father and I try to impress upon them that it is just a game. They are both very competitive. […]

  • Learning to Share

    I was recently reading “Ramona the Pest” by Beverly Cleary with my children. A classic from a generation ago, it features a five-year-old Ramona and the trials and tribulations of Kindergarten. One chapter features a battle between her and her neighbor and fellow classmate Howie. She and Howie are really not friends, but their mothers […]

  • “She Made Home Happy”

    Families have different ideas of what they view as a “fun” adventure on a beautiful day. Some enjoy amusement parks or going hiking or going to the beach. My family? We enjoy going on a good grave hunt! (Yes, it is entirely possible my children will be discussing this with their therapists when they are […]

  • Love and Beauty

    A doctor was helping a woman give birth to her fifth child. Her four previous births had been at home, but this had been a difficult pregnancy, so he suggested that she give birth in a hospital this time around. Thankfully, the birth went well. As the doctor cleaned up the baby, he couldn’t help […]