Kendra Tierney's Blog, page 12

Mailbag: What if I'm Pregnant but My Two Year Old Hates Babies?

Mailbag time! This is a variation on a parenting topic I've addressed a lot on the blog. But I know it's something a lot of us struggle to figure out how to handle. So here we go again . . .

- the question -

Hi Kendra,

I'm a new fan of your blog, and I love all of the advice you give. I'm going through a bit of a sticky wicket right now and would love to hear from you about it!

My son is 2 and a half and is probably the most clingy child in human existence. He loves and adores my husband, but he loses it every time I go upstairs or use the bathroom or the shower. (Dad can do whatever he wants, of course.) He's a social child, though, and gets along with our little troop of friends his age (five other kids) that we spend time with, but he's also extremely jealous. If I pick up or hug one of his friends, he cries until I put them down and hug him. Our friends are now having their second babies, and when I hold one of them, he just stands there and sobs uncontrollably, no matter how many times I tell him it's not our baby, it's okay, I still love him, etc..

I'm at my wit's end! I am also expecting our second in June, and I am dreading the transition. We're doing the traditional things to help him now, like reading books, explaining what's going on with mommy's tummy, etc - but if he gets so jealous of kids he's known for two years, how the heck will he respond to someone who will take up so much of mommy's time?

I would so appreciate your advice! Thank you so much!

Christy

- the answer -Hey Christy,

Thanks, and I'm so sorry, this sounds super challenging. And kind of familiar, the day we got the baby stuff out of the closet before Gus was born, I found the two year old crammed into the baby swing shouting, "No! Bobby Mommy's baby!"

A few things come to mind . . .

Your son is a unique individual. Even as a toddler, he's got his own particular temperament and issues. The way he IS isn't your fault. It's just who he is. He's clingy and prone to outbursts. We're all something, though. We all have our issues. In my experience with my kids, you just get what you get, they'll all different. Then we, as the parents, have to figure out how to support our kids' character strengths, and how to help them change where that would be helpful to their own happiness and the peace of our families.

What I would do first is stop all reference to outside influences when dealing with his behavioral issues. Because what's motivating his behavior, whether it's that he misses you or that he doesn't much care for babies or whatever, none of that matters. He's allowed to have all the feelings he wants. He's just not allowed to lose it because of those feelings. So, I wouldn't say "It's not our baby, I still love you, etc." Because even if he is worried about those things, that's not the problem. The problem is his crying. It's a behavior that you want to modify. Once he has gotten his emotions and behavior under his control, you might find that his feelings are actually pretty manageable for him. That's been the case with my kids.

I would start at home with "Cryin' babies go to bed" type stuff. My kids don't get to hang on my leg and cry. It's just not allowed. If their physical needs are met, and they can't get their behavior under their control, they go sit in a crib or pack n play until they can settle down. Even if that's a long time.

I've had a lot of success with this method with my own kids. It takes longer with stubborn kids, but it even worked on Frankie, eventually. I make sure my kids understand that I have the expectation that they would not throw fits in our house. And that if they are crying for no reason, they'll need to go to their bed to compose themselves. Period. No yelling, no bargaining, no threatening. One reminder, then the consequence. Frankie came out after waking up from his nap today in tears, and I just sent him right back down the hall until he could come out happy, and a few minutes later, he did.

Once he has an understanding of what is acceptable behavior at home, I would implement the same expectations in public. If he threw a fit in public, I'd take him to a corner to sit to calm down, or to the car, or I'd just take him home if I thought that would make a bigger impression. And I'd really, really reinforce that it is his behavior that's the problem. He can't throw fits. He must learn to compose himself.

My guess is that learning to control the behavior will take care of the feelings. But if it turns out that once he's not throwing fits anymore, he calmly says to you. "Don't hold that baby. I don't like it when you hold babies," write me back and we'll work on that. Write me back either way. Write me back if you think I'm totally off base on this right now. We'll figure it out.

Some blog posts you might like:
Cryin' Babies Go to BedMailbag: Please Stop the Screaming!The "Your Baby" Method of Sibling Preparation, and Some Book RecommendationsHow to be the Boss of a One Year OldAlways Mean What You Say: The HOW of Parenting With AuthorityWhat Cranky Frankie Taught Me About GodHang in there!Cheers,
Kendra



Mailbag Disclaimer: I am not a theologian, nor am I an official spokesperson for the Catholic Church. (You're thinking of this guy.) If you read anything on this blog that is contrary to Church teaching, please consider it my error (and let me know!). I'm not a doctor or an expert on anything in particular. I'm just one person with a lot of experience parenting little kids and a desire to share my joy in marriage, mothering, and my faith.
If you've got a question, please send it along to catholicallyear @ gmail . com . Please let me know if you prefer that I change your name if I use your question on the blog.

Overcoming Food Idolatry: Mystery Blogger Series

I'm terrible at taking blog breaks, or relaxing in general. But just in case I do happen to feel like relaxing with this new baby when the time comes, I've asked some of my favorite bloggers to guest post for me. But not in the usual way.

Blogging is a great way to share insights and experiences. But, sometimes, as much as we'd like to start a discussion, it's not our story to share, or feelings could be hurt, or relationships damaged. So, for my guest posting series, I asked bloggers to share here, anonymously, posts they felt they couldn't put on their own blogs.

I hope you'll find them as compelling as I have.

-Kendra 


It seems that food is an inescapable part of our culture, especially as women. When there’s a playdate, a mom’s group, or a women’s conference, you can bet there will be a table of baked goods, pastries, and other delicacies. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course; but the sight of such tables used to fill me with a sense of dread and a rush of adrenaline. You see, I’m a compulsive overeater, and food is my idol and my drug of choice.

Just from looking at me, you might not know that this is the case. At my heaviest (197 lbs on a 5’6” frame) I was a size 14 and while I wasn’t slim and trim, I wasn’t morbidly obese either. I’m currently hovering between 160 and 162. Health-wise, I could stand to lose another five or ten pounds, but it’s also not a guiding factor of my life to be a certain pants size or see a certain number when I step on the scale.

It used to be a guiding factor. I could write a book about my relationship with food (and maybe someday I will), but here’s the abridged version:
Loved food, especially desserts, junk food, and “comfort food”Discovered as a preteen that eating as much of these things as I wished was making me gain weightDisliked how I looked when I gained weightAttempted to diet and exerciseFailed; consoled myself with foodAttempted step 4 again; succeeded; rewarded myself with foodRepeated steps 4-6 continuously for about a decadeWas certain that my college crush would love me if I were thinThrough a lot of unhappy dieting, got thinCrush dated and eventually married another girlI comforted myself with the thought that at least I’d learned how to “eat right” thanks to my dietI started uncontrollably binging again and fell into despairAnd then, after those 12 steps into the abyss of isolation and food obsession, I discovered a new set of 12 steps: the 12 steps of Overeaters Anonymous. I went to my first OA meeting in November of 2005 and left the meeting knowing I was not alone. I wasn’t the only person who couldn’t quit eating. I wasn’t the only one who...
snuck foodhung around the food table at partieswent to social events for the foodbought food and ate it in the car on the way home from the store so no one would knowlied to cashiers who asked if I was having a party based on how much junk food I was buyinghated myself for not being able to “just have a little self-control”I know some of you--maybe even most of you--are normal eaters. You can leave a half-eaten piece of pie on your plate because you’re full. You can eat a handful of chips at the Superbowl party and then not think about them anymore. You can even notice that you’ve gained a couple of unwanted pounds after the holidays and then actually go about losing and keeping off the weight with a diet. I applaud you, but I am not one of you.

For anyone else out there who knows the magnetic pull of food; for anyone who can’t be satisfied with “just one” or “just one more,”... I get you. There are some foods I just don’t eat anymore because “none is easier than one.” I can’t eat them moderately, and God knows I’ve tried. Just as an alcoholic can’t have just one beer, I can’t have just one donut. I will either eat as many as I can surreptitiously lay my hands on, or I will obsess about how to get some more later without anyone knowing about it.

Since coming into OA, I have learned that my problem wasn’t that I was kind of fat and I just needed to lay off the ice cream for a while. My problem was that I had made food into my god. I was breaking the First Commandment and food was my idol. Food was my comforter, my peacemaker, my friend. Food never turned me down for a date. Food never gave me a C on a paper and demanded a rewrite. Food was always there with open arms, promising the same old thrill.

But the same old thrill wasn’t enough; as with all addictions, food addiction is progressive in nature. At some point in my life, one piece of pie was enough. Eventually, one whole pie was enough...enough to fill my stomach for a while, but as soon as I could manage to eat some more, I would. I wasn’t happy about any of this, mind you. I hated myself. I ate to console myself and to punish myself. If it sounds crazy, that’s because it is. But perhaps some of you know what I mean.

This November will mark my first decade in OA. I say “first decade” because, by the grace of God, I plan to spend the rest of my life going to OA meetings and talking to OA friends on the phone and working through the 12 steps of the OA program (which, while not religiously affiliated, align pretty much perfectly with our Catholic faith). I wish I could say that I’ve been “abstinent” (which is defined in OA as “the action of refraining from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors while working towards or maintaining a healthy body weight”) for the whole time. I’ve had multi-year periods of abstaining and I’ve also had multi-year periods of relapsing. I’m currently six months into a new period of abstinence and I’m so grateful to be released from the slavery to food.

In her song “Compelled,” singer-songwriter Sara Groves puts into words the whole gist of my life in recovery.

What a relief it is to know
that I’m a slave to Christ.
Of all the masters I have known,
I’m compelled to live this life
free for you…
And I have a new hope that blows away
the small hopes I knew before
and at the end of the day I am yours
and I am compelled
At the end of the day, whose are we? Did we labor under the yoke of slavery to food, overspending, sex, prescription drugs, or something else? Or did we take up Christ’s easy yoke and light burden instead? AA’s primary text, Alcoholics Anonymous, puts it this way: “We tried to find an easier, softer way [than taking the steps suggested for recovery]. But we could not.” Our own idols promise comfort and delight, but they don’t have the power to give those things in abundance. Only Christ can do that.

As one great hymn pleads, “Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.” Those words have a whole new meaning to a compulsive overeater like myself. Till I want no more? Jesus, do you even KNOW how much bread I can eat?? Yes. Yes He does. You’ve likely heard it said that Jesus comes to meet us where we are; that He meets us in our weakness. It’s true. My mouth has been the gateway to the great weakness of compulsive overeating; yet in the Eucharist Christ enters even there in order to heal me and claim me as His own.

When I pray, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…” I think of the roof of my mouth. I think of all the excess that has passed its way and how much I’ve sinned against my own body. I’ve stuffed it full of food in ways, at times, and to degrees which were sins against the body God bought at so great a price. I know that I am definitely unworthy of receiving the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ into this same space; and then I say the rest of the sentence: “...but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” It is a mystery of mercy.

Whether you read this post in puzzlement that anyone could be so obsessed with food, or whether you are reading it while nodding vigorously and maybe even crying because you’re this way too, I want to thank you for reading, and to thank Kendra for letting me share my story here. If nothing else has worked for you and you feel completely demoralized by your attempts to deal with food obsession (dieting, starving, purging, etc.), I hope you will look into Overeaters Anonymous. It has changed my life for the better in countless ways. As we say in OA meetings, “Whatever your problem with food, you are welcome here. Welcome to Overeaters Anonymous. Welcome home.”

How NOT to Receive the Eucharist While Holding a Baby, Illustrated . . .

When I had my first baby thirteen years ago, I knew a lot of things would change. I was warned that sleeping, and showering, and getting laundry done would all suddenly require ingenuity and advance planning, and back up.

And that was true.

But no one warned me about trying to receive communion while holding a baby.

No one warned me. So I tried to figure it out myself . . . with the same ingenuity I applied to other things. And I gotta say, it was not always a great success. Since then, I've realized that the perfect solution already existed, I just had to be willing to give it a try.

I've seen plenty of other moms fumbling through communion trying various methods. So, I'm here today to show you what not to do, and why . . . with the help of my children, who will participate in pretty much any of my crazy schemes to get to eat crackers.



The guidelines for reception of Communion in the hand, as explained by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops are thus:

If Communion is received in the hand, the hands should first of all be clean. If one is right handed the left hand should rest upon the right. The host will then be laid in the palm of the left hand and then taken by the right hand to the mouth. If one is left-handed this is reversed. It is not appropriate to reach out with the fingers and take the host from the person distributing.

But, if you're holding a baby with one arm, that's pretty much impossible. So, what're ya gonna do? . . . 

1. The Pluck and Pop


This one is tempting. You just reach out and grab the host in your fingers, then pop it in your mouth. Unfortunately, it's right there in the guidelines that "it is not appropriate" to do so.

Oops, moving on.

2. The Lean and Lick


So, you can't grab the host. What else can you do? You still have a baby in one arm. So you just end up sticking one hand out to receive the host. And then it's just sitting there. So . . . you kind of lick it up off your hand. Right?

I'm thinking the big problem with this technique is that when Pope Paul VI introduced communion in the hand as a valid option for Catholics in the United States in 1969, he did so with the caveat that:

The condition is the complete avoidance of any cause for the faithful to be shocked and any danger of irreverence toward the Eucharist.

Licking up the Body of Christ out of one hand is probably going to seem both shocking and irreverent to anyone who's really paying attention.

So that one's no good either.

3. The Dodge and Dart


Trying to receive with two hands, while squeezing a small person against your chest with your forearms can get . . . awkward. And let's be honest. Any receiving of any food is going to require avoiding the chubby, grabby little hands of the baby I'm holding. And she's got two hands to work with, plus a lean. I've got a church full of people facing me, and I'm supposed to be focused and mindful and reverent in the reception of the Eucharist, plus not drop the baby, or squeeze her too hard.

So, in practice, there's twisting and dodging, and trying to just get it in my mouth as quickly as possible. Not super reverent.

I think it's just plain silly how many years and how many babies it took for me to realize that the perfection solution had been there since the beginning of the church . . .

Just Receive on the Tongue!



Yes. It seemed weird at first.

Yes. It took a little getting used to.

But then, once I did, I really love everything about it.

It solves ALL the holding babies issues. It helps me to be more focused and more reverent. It allows me to hold a newborn with two hands. It even allows me to be nursing a newborn while receiving communion. It allows me to use one arm to hold a toddler and the other to hold her arms down, so there's no grabby grabbing.

I like it so much that it's the way I receive now, whether I'm holding a baby or not. In fact, it's how the husband and kids receive now, too. My kids have never known any other way.

Here's Jack at his First Communion, receiving on the tongue . . .


Wait. Is that? Yes. Yes, it is. Cool story . . . 
It felt like a big transition for me, going from receiving in the hands to receiving on the tongue. But, really, it's not a big deal. I think the two key things to remember are . . .

1. Be Obvious

Some extraordinary ministers of communion, and even some priests, are not that used to people receiving on the tongue. So, I try to be really obvious that that's how I'll be receiving. I make a slight bow while the person in front of me is receiving, then step forward. He says, "Body of Christ." I say, "Amen." Then, immediately, I tilt my chin up a bit, open wide, and stick my tongue way out. No confusion.

If I don't have a baby in my arms, I'm careful to keep my hands together in prayer. Again, no confusion.

2. Be Confident

We always have the right to receive on the tongue . . . NO MATTER WHAT.

The USCCB says:

Those who receive Communion may receive either in the hand or on the tongue, and the decision should be that of the individual receiving, not of the person distributing Communion.

Pope Paul VI says:

It is a matter of particular seriousness that in places where the new practice is lawfully permitted every one of the faithful have the option of receiving communion on the tongue and even when other persons are receiving communion in the hand.

So if you decide to give it a try, know that you have every right to do so. Which is not to say that reception in the hand isn't also valid and acceptable. It is. But only if it can be done in a non-shocking, very reverent manner. And if you can manage that and also hold a baby, well, you're a better woman than I.

Everything I Ever Thought About Homeschooling, Schoolish Free Printables . . . and anything YOUR heart desires

The school year is upon us!

I figured it might be nice to have all the schooling-type posts in one place, and I made some new schooling-type printables, and now there's a way for you to get a custom printable . . . made just for you.

Yay!

:: The Homeschool Posts ::  Maybe Homeschooling Isn't For Me? The Secret Truth About Why I HomeschoolSee Me HomeschoolSeven Odd Things I've Come to Appreciate About HomeschoolingQuit Worrying About Preschool. Seriously, Stop It.Why I Homeschool Like ThatHomeschooling: One Room Schoolhouse Meets Three Ring CircusMy Top Ten Books for Teaching KidsA Homeschooling How We RollA Day in the Life of Me, Kendra Tierney, in Which a Lot of Things Happen and Often I Don't YellHow to Get Your Husband on Board With HomeschoolingHow To Introduce Kids to Poetry, Fine Art, and Classical MusicHomeschooling for BeginnersHomeschooling Multiple Grades: MODG hacks and other things I've learned the hard wayHomeschooling is a Scary Proposition:: The Printables ::
As with all my printables, you are welcome to save the images to your computer for your own personal use. You may print the images and / or upload them and have prints made for your personal use or to give as gifts. (These are sized for 8x10 or square but will print well much bigger.) First click on the image to bring it up in a new window, then right click on the image to save it to your computer. You may use my images on your blog, just please link back to my blog. If you would like to sell my images, please contact me first.

  For LOTS MORE free printable prayers, check out my Pinterest board.

:: Plato ::




:: St. John Bosco ::

 :: St. Thomas Aquinas :: :: The Opportunity ::
 Wait, don't click up there. Click here. Or over there on the sidebar.
I love making printables! I get lots of requests from you good folks for specific prayers, but I thought I'd make things official, and offer them for sale. For the low, low introductory price of only $10, I will create a printable digital image, just for you. Have a favorite prayer, quote, poem, or house rule that you'd like to be able to print out and stick on the fridge, or have professionally printed and framed for posterity? I've got you covered.

All YOU have to do is click through up there, or over on the sidebar, to make your payment, and email me at catholicallyear {at} gmail {dot} com with the exact text, along with (if you'd like) your preferred colors. You can also check out the Pinterest board, and tell me which style you like best. You'll have it in your inbox within a few days.

:: The Feast Day :: Happy Feast of the Queenship of Mary! 
Tonight, we'll be eating off the good dishes. And today we're going to Mass, saying a rosary, and, ya know, just generally bein' fancy.

Becoming a Mother Changes Your Relationship with Your In-Laws: Mystery Blogger Series

I'm terrible at taking blog breaks, or relaxing in general. But just in case I do happen to feel like relaxing with this new baby when the time comes, I've asked some of my favorite bloggers to guest post for me. But not in the usual way.

Blogging is a great way to share insights and experiences. But, sometimes, as much as we'd like to start a discussion, it's not our story to share, or feelings could be hurt, or relationships damaged. So, for my guest posting series, I asked bloggers to share here, anonymously, posts they felt they couldn't put on their own blogs.

I hope you'll find them as compelling as I have.

-Kendra 


 When you are expecting a child, people warn you that your life will be different.

Wait and see, they say. Parenthood changes your marriage.

A child will turn your world upside down, they tell you.

You’ll never sleep again, they say.

As it turned out, though, those changes seemed easy. We had been hoping and praying for children for years, and becoming a mother felt natural and exhilarating. Watching my husband become a father was absolutely magical. And I had never needed much sleep anyway.

Becoming the mother of my in-laws’ newest grandchild, however, was the greatest challenge I had faced in my marriage. Even though our child wasn’t the first grandchild on either side, my in-laws expected to be actively involved in every facet of our child’s life.

“We’ll come see him every weekend,” my mother-in-law said. And she meant it. That is probably the dream of many new parents, who wish their own parents could have—or wanted to have—a
relationship with their children. It wasn’t mine.

Much as I love my in-laws—and I do love them dearly—we couldn’t make that happen without our marriage and our own family suffering. My husband and I were both working full-time. The idea of entertaining out-of-town guests every weekend, during the little time we had as a new family of three, was daunting.

When I balked at that idea, however, everything started changing.

From the day I had met my in-laws I had felt cherished and valued and loved. Suddenly I felt hostility and bitterness. They started dredging up past complaints that we had never heard. Why hadn’t the photographer taken more pictures of them at our wedding? Um, I didn’t know. He hadn’t taken many pictures that had come out, actually. Wasn’t that five years ago?

One day my mother-in-law asked me what we were doing for our child’s birthday. I said we were
keeping it low-key and not throwing a big party. A few days later I came home checked the mail and found a birthday invitation to a large family party for our child—planned by my mother-in-law and her daughters.

When we protested, the situation went downhill quickly. We started receiving angry phone calls from my husband’s parents and siblings. My in-laws threatened to take us to court to guarantee they could spend more time with their grandchild. As the heated emotions continued to escalate, we realized we needed to take some space.

Even though my husband and I were on the same page, it was a sad and troubling time. I knew my in-laws loved us, but the situation made me feel they were treating our child as some prize, almost a piece of property. I wanted us to make our peace and build—or rebuild—our positive relationship. But as a new parent, you aren’t really looking for extra issues to resolve.

Months later, when we were expecting our second child, we reached out with that news as our olive branch and we were reunited. And my husband and I are both so grateful that our relationship with his parents is as strong and warm as it is today.

I’m not sure how helpful my advice is since we really hit rock bottom and had to work our way up to where we are now. But if you were to ask me how to prepare for this transition with your in-laws, this is what I would offer:

Discuss expectations in advance, both yours and theirs. Do you expect them to help? Do they expect to be allowed to help? What does “helping” mean to them? Are they moving in for three days? Three weeks? Three years? You can avoid a great deal of hurt down the road if these questions are discussed before your precious bundle of joy is beaming at her grandparents.

Realize that a baby changes all the rules. You may have worked out a good method for balancing both of your families, missing an occasional gathering and never hearing about it. Now your absence will matter. Relatives and friends of your in-laws you’ve never met will need to meet the baby.

Make you and your spouse are communicating your concerns. Keep in mind that your spouse may respond differently since these are his parents.

Find ways to keep the grandparents involved. My in-laws crave not just pictures but stories about our children to share with their friends and other relatives. The simplest story about something that happened on the playground or a cute thing their grandchild said is pure gold.

Don’t be afraid to set boundaries—and ask for what you need. If you have an open-door policy for visits, fine. If not, say so. If they ask to come and it’s not a good time, tell them. If you aren’t ready to host them for a meal, communicate that. Don’t be afraid to ask them to pick up a few things at the grocery store.

Accept gifts graciously. But don’t be afraid to give the giant rocking horse a new home and discretely mention that you keep running out of socks or onesies or paper plates or coffee.

Be clear about your child’s needs and be sensitive to theirs. Tell them if there are better days or times of day for your child—or you. But also ask what times tend to be good for them.

Pray. Prayer brings comfort and clarity.

Focus on what unites you. A child also deepens your connection with your in-laws in many positive ways. It’s such a blessing that your in-laws are there for your spouse, your child, and you. What wonderful memories you can make together! And you will.

Today, I navigate the in-law relationship with great care. I consider it to be part of my role as wife and mother—a pleasant part, and an important one that did not come naturally to me.

When my in-laws visit, I am much more intentional about our time together, planning simple craft or baking activities that work well for our children to do with their grandparents. Now that our children are old enough to hug and kiss them and sit and talk to them, my main job is staying out of the way, smiling, taking a few pictures, and ordering pizza for dinner.

Weekly visits might be beyond me, but calling a pizza place? That’s something I can handle.

My life really has changed.


Three bloggers you just might want to check out . . .

Julie at These Walls
Erica at Saint Affairs
Rita at Open Window

Kids Cook for Themselves: Friday Frittata

Scroll down to the end for the big winners of last week's giveaway!

The kids have been doing most of the cooking around here this summer as I was super-pregnant-with, then snuggling-with baby Mary Jane. I figured we'd share another recipe today. This time brought to you by nine year old Bobby. Because, yes. Boys can cook, too.


Bobby is actually probably the most natural cook of the bunch.  He's always enjoyed it, and was making pancakes for the family pretty much all by himself before he was eight. He is more cautious than Jack, but less cautious than Betty, which seems to be just about right for ending up with edible meals in a reasonable amount of time.

We keep mostly meat-free on Fridays, only occasionally substituting a different sacrifice for the year-round Friday penance required of Catholics. We have backyard hens, so there are usually plenty of eggs. So this frittata is one of our go to meals on Fridays.

It's absolutely easy enough for older kids to make on their own, but does require things like chopping and cracking eggs and using both the stove and the oven. So, I made it WITH the kids the first few times, just to make sure they'd eventually be able to manage it unsupervised.

Frittata is pretty much just a fancy term for a baked omelet. When we eat it for breakfast, we call it a baked omelet, when we eat it for dinner, we call it frittata. But either way, it's the perfect way to use up leftover cooked vegetables of any kind.

We didn't happen to have any leftovers today, so we started from scratch.

I'll let Bobby take it from here . . .

First I had to chop up the veggies. I know how to use a real knife. But it's faster and easier and cooler to use this pull string chopper thingy. (Note from Mom . . .  I am a huge fan of this thing. Easy to use, easy to clean. I'm largely anti-gadget, but seriously, you need this: Veggie Chop Hand-Powered Food Chopper.)


I used a mix of bell peppers, onions, and broccoli. But you could use whatever you want: potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, whatever. Just not mushrooms. Those are just gross. For a dozen eggs, you want about three cups of veggies, chopped up really tiny.


I put the big (twelve inch) cast iron skillet onto the stove and let it start heating up over medium heat while I cracked all the twelve eggs into a big bowl and whisked them up.


I added some salt and pepper. (About a half teaspoon of each.)


Then I put a tablespoon or two of butter and a tablespoon or two of olive oil into the hot skillet.


And dumped the veggies in.


I moved them around in the pan to cook for a couple minutes, until they start to get a little soft.


Then turn the heat off and dump the eggs on top.


You can mix it if you want to, but you really don't have to.


Then it goes into the oven at 350 degrees for about thirty minutes or until the eggs puff up in the middle. Then I took it out, put grated mozzarella cheese on top of it, and put it back into the oven under the broiler just until the cheese melted.


A dozen eggs is enough for our family for one dinner.


We served it with salad and bread on the side.


Here's the recipe:





For more Kids Cook for Themselves, check out . . .

KIDS COOK FOR THEMSELVES: A UNIVERSAL SMOOTHIE RECIPEKIDS COOK FOR THEMSELVES: EASY CHICKEN PARMESANTop Secret Ten Minute Ice Cream Cake: Kids Cook for Themselves
And the winners (as selected by random number generator because I just couldn't bring myself to try to pick!) are . . . 
Mrs. Smith (of Humanities 5B), Cassie Emerson, and Liesl win the three month subscriptions to Netflix!
and
Schafergal wins the Catholicism Pilgrimage Journal!
If your comment profile is connected to your email address, I sent you an email. If you didn't get an email from me, please send an email from you to me at catholicallyear@gmail.com so I can send you your prize! If I don't hear from you by the end of the day on Wednesday, I'll pick a new winner.

Strategies for Mealtime Battles With Toddlers

Mailbag time! Toddlers. They keep us on our toes. One question I get asked quite often, is how we handle toddlers that just. won't. eat. Not to worry, we've got a method for that madness.

- question -

Hi Kendra,

I love your blog! The babies, the Catholic, the parties. My favourite though are your posts about parenting. I want to be a mom like you when I "grow up".

Which is why I'm writing. I have a 21 month old daughter. She was a really good eater. She still is at breakfast. But the past 3 nights now have just been battles at the dinner table. She'll have two bites and then cry about things, or ask for something like milk or water or the feta from my salad. I would give them to her if she was eating better! So I've been telling her "take one bite and you can have ---". But she refuses! I don't give in because I try to mean what I say, but she's been going to bed with a pretty empty belly I think.

What do you do when your toddlers refuse to eat?

Thanks!
Courtney

- answer -
Courtney,

I'm so sorry. I know firsthand how frustrating that can be. I'd say though, that in my experience, how much food a toddler needs can vary wildly from day to day or week to week. As long as my kids are otherwise healthy, I really don't stress these days about how much they eat on a particular day. Sometimes they'll be about to have a growth spurt and seem to be hungry all the time, and other days, they seem to eat hardly anything all day. But somehow, they're fine.

As long as your mama gut isn't telling you that there's more going on here, like illness or allergies, I really think it's probably something that will resolve itself over time.

If you're more concerned with it as a behavior issue than an amount of food issue, we can look at it a different way. Since the battle seems to be with dinner in particular, I think you could just figure she's just not so much of a late in the day eater, and focus on getting quality foods into her earlier in the day. My oldest was a really unpredictable eater, but he could almost always be counted upon to eat an egg at breakfast. That always made me feel better. I figured he could totally live on an egg a day, even if it seemed like he didn't want to eat much at the rest of his meals.

The other thing to try would be limiting or getting rid of snacking in the afternoon. I find that it makes a huge difference with some of my kids. Anita for instance, who is six: if she has a snack, she pretty much never wants to eat dinner. She's old enough to understand that it's better for her to just not have snacks so she can enjoy her dinner with the family. I'm not sure if an almost two year old would be as understanding, but if eating dinner is important to you, you can give it a try.

But really, as much as possible, I'd encourage you to not make a big deal about mealtimes. I think eating food is best understood by all of us, kids included, to be a blessing and a privilege, not something we battle over or endure or are cajoled or threatened into doing. We try to keep our kids hungry enough that they want to eat, and offer them healthy foods that they mostly like. But we also don't sweat it if they want to choose not to eat at a particular meal, even the toddlers. As long as they don't have other health concerns, if they are hungry enough, they will eat. And if they're not hungry enough, then going to bed without much of a dinner won't hurt a bit.

Here's an earlier post all about how we arrived at this system, and how it has worked in our family:
I Do Not Cook Two Dinners: how we avoid mealtime battlesand how we start the process:Starting Baby on Solid Foods for Moms Who Don't Have Time For That Sort of ThingGood luck!Kendra


Mailbag Disclaimer: I am not a theologian, nor am I an official spokesperson for the Catholic Church. (You're thinking of this guy.) If you read anything on this blog that is contrary to Church teaching, please consider it my error (and let me know!). I'm not a doctor or an expert on anything in particular. I'm just one person with a lot of experience parenting little kids and a desire to share my joy in marriage, mothering, and my faith.
If you've got a question, please send it along to catholicallyear @ gmail . com . Please let me know if you prefer that I change your name if I use your question on the blog.

Good News . . . Bad News . . . Big News . . . Big Prizes: 7QT

Most of the posts you're seeing on the blog these days were scheduled out in advance before baby Mary Jane arrived, because life in the Tierney house has taken a turn for the crazy-pants crazy. (More on that below.) But I want to share some current events and I was offered some giveaway opportunities for you good folks. So here I am! Keeping you up to date on all the good news and bad news and big news around here.

My Nephew Was Born . . . but He Took His Sweet Time About It

Introducing Brendan Gerard Tierney, Mary Jane's opposite day cousin!


He was born on August 9th, twelve days past his due date, after twenty seven hours of labor!


He joins his mom and dad and proud almost one year old big brother Luke.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support for my brother- and sister-in-law. This has been a crazy journey through infertility and adoption and surprise pregnancy . . . to arrive at Irish twin-dom.

I know many, many of you have struggled or are struggling with infertility/subfertility/pregnancy loss. Our family prays for you every day.

It's the Feast of the Assumption Tomorrow . . . but it's not a Holy Day of Obligation This Year


We'll still go to daily Mass, because we almost always go to daily Mass together as a family on Saturdays, but I never like it when they waive the obligation for Saturday and Monday feasts, because that just means our parish offers fewer masses and it's harder to get to one.

I don't really have a "thing" for the Assumption. I think we'll do popovers for breakfast, because THEY RISE TOO! Huh? Huh? Get it?


It's Been Crazy Hot . . . but We Live near the Beach 

AND our Iowa relations have been visiting. So, double reasons to hit up the beach, and dip Mary Jane's toes in the Pacific.


The middle two are my nieces . . . Can YOU spot all ten cousins?







Some of Us Went to a Red Carpet Hollywood Premiere . . . of DinoTrux

My sister is a rock star, so when my Netflix Stream Team pals offered my kids the opportunity to go to a big time Hollywood premiere, SHE agreed to take them. (So I could stay home. Whew.)

They had a great time.


They liked the show (you can tell by Bobby's gape-mouthed watching).


And REALLY liked the swag.


The whole series is available to stream on Netflix as of today. I can't vouch for it myself but Bobby and Gus say: "It's, um, about friendship, and . . . cooperation, kinda. And there's a bad guy t-Rex guy with a wrecking ball tail, then later he has a chainsaw tail, and they chase him away but he keeps coming back. He's against sharing, but the rest of them do share."

So . . . check it out?

But wait, you say, I don't HAVE Netflix. How will I watch this show about dinosaurs that are, inexplicably, also trucks and so be a hero to my children? (AndalsoIwanttowatchGranHotel. BecauseitsallanyonetalksaboutonFacebook.)

Well, I just happen to have THREE three month memberships to Netflix streaming to give away.

To win one, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post telling me what YOU would most want to watch on Netflix.

It's Kinda Sorta Back to School . . . 

Because of the general upheaval around here of a new baby and some life changes (more on that below), I'm not 100% sure when we're starting school this year. Maybe after Labor Day. Jack's starting then, for sure. (More on THAT in another post.) Maybe Thanksgiving?

But I'm trying to be ready as usual. So we bought our uniforms for this year. I found really cute French Toast uniforms at Costco that were an amazingly good deal, so . . . yay. That's sorted. We like uniforms. It's okay with me if you don't. More on that here.

However you're schooling your kids this year, you're going to want to catechize them, right? Right.

Well, my soon-to-be-bishop, Fr. Robert Barron, asked me if I could do him a favor (well, his people did . . . but STILL), and I'm the kind of gal who does what her bishop asks her to do. So here it is. It's a pretty great deal for you guys, too.

One of you gets to win one of THESE (a $300 value!) . . .

The Catholicism Pilgrimage Journal represents a new approach to catechesis in which adults and children encounter the teachings of the Catholic Church in an interactive and communal way. using the 10-episode series and this journal, families, parishes and schools can now offer younger generations an encounter with Christ by way of the rich, sacramental display of the Faith presented in this program.
This approach encourages cross-generational conversation, faith-sharing, and learning that will not only bring adults and children closer to one another, but will bring them closer to Christ. Our hope is that the program contributes to the Church in a new and comprehensive way. Viewing and discussing the Catholicism series will deepen the faith of viewers of all ages as they encounter the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Church as it has been expressed over time and is lived out all over the world.
Catholicism Pilgrimage Journal Set Includes:
CATHOLICSM 5 DVD SetPilgrimage Journal Adult Leaders Guide50 Postcards10 Pilgrimage JournalsThis program can be used by:
Catechists in a religious education setting, for enrichment and to supplement regular curriculum.Facilitators in parish setting, where adults and younger people are participating together.Parents with teens or pre-teens at home.Each episode is divided into two parts with corresponding written materials for each part. Each lesson is structured in the same way:
A Learning Goal with corresponding Bible verseActivities for viewers to do before the sessionSpace to take notes and write down questions and thoughts during the sessionDiscussion and reflection questions, as well as other activities for the viewers after the session

Just leave a comment on this blog post telling me who in your life would benefit from this great resource!

(If you want to enter both giveaways, just leave two comments. The winners will be announced ON THE BLOG on Tuesday the 18th, so be sure to read my boring recipe post scheduled for that day or you won't know if you won!)

We Bought a House . . . Almost 

We have an offer accepted on a house. THE house. The one from last month. We lost it to another bidder, but then it fell out of escrow. It's been quite a roller coaster of emotions. We're currently paused on . . . hopeful.

We got the news that the seller had accepted our offer ON our fourteenth anniversary. Which was pretty awesome. Here's Jim actually taking the call.



But we could use your prayers that the bank will approve the deal, because it's a REAL fixer-upper. Like, it was built in 1920 and doesn't have any outlets in the bathrooms. And it's got outbuildings on the property, but they're full of dead bees. (Kate, don't tell Jake. Jack and Bobby were so sad. "Mr. Rhodes could have MOVED them.")

There will be photos, once it's really ours. Hopefully. But until then, check out this LA Times article that indicates that our soon to be house was really living it up circa 1991.

MARY JANE! 

I can't leave you without some baby photos, so here ya go . . .





Three weeks old!

Happy weekend all.

Check out Kelly's for more Quick Takes.

When Lust is Killing Your Marriage: Mystery Blogger Series

I'm terrible at taking blog breaks, or relaxing in general. But just in case I do happen to feel like relaxing with this new baby when the time comes, I've asked some of my favorite bloggers to guest post for me. But not in the usual way.

Blogging is a great way to share insights and experiences. But, sometimes, as much as we'd like to start a discussion, it's not our story to share, or feelings could be hurt, or relationships damaged. So, for my guest posting series, I asked some of my favorite bloggers to share here, anonymously, posts they felt they couldn't put on their own blogs.

I hope you'll find them as compelling as I have.

-Kendra 


When my husband and I took an NFP class, the instructor mentioned that sometimes practicing NFP will bring some issues to the foreground that might be unpleasant to work through. She wasn’t kidding.

Like so many men of his generation--and all those younger than us, I fear--my husband was exposed to books and magazines of an “adult” nature at a young age. After this was discovered he was vigilantly shielded from it for the remainder of his teen years, but once he began living on his own it didn’t take long for him to fall back into the habit. In fact, now it was worse, because now he had unfettered internet access. He’d been raised in a Christian home and knew what he was doing was wrong, but he couldn’t seem to stop.

He cried out to the Lord: “Please, send me a wife! I obviously have so much passion inside of me, I need someone to love!” God answered his prayer, but certainly not in the way my husband had imagined. We met, dated, and married. He was upfront with me about his past “porn problem” but we both naively believed that marriage was the solution. Married people can have sex as much as they want, so obviously the raging hormones would then have a holy outlet, right? We weren’t Catholic at this point, so contraception--and therefore sex anytime--was a given.

Fast-forward a few years into marriage: the little “porn problem” had never really gone away. Every so often I’d ask my husband how he’d “been doing with that” and he’d often admit to looking at it once or twice...and although we both knew it was wrong, much of the preaching on the topic of married sex placed the blame for his porn habits on me. If only I were meeting his needs more often, he wouldn’t need that outlet.

We had kids, and with them came the usual joys and stresses of early parenthood. There were money problems, family problems, and all the usual cares of life. Sex seemed to be more a source of tension than a place of intimacy. I felt like I couldn’t keep up with his drive and interest; he felt frustrated that I wasn’t as interested as he was. But it was mostly simmering beneath the surface. NFP was what turned up the heat.

I should clarify and say that we learned NFP in order to postpone pregnancy, which meant that periodic abstinence was vital. At the same time we were also learning what the Catholic Church teaches about well-ordered sexuality, and being shocked to see how much it differed from our Evangelical ideas. Not only were we supposed to abstain from intercourse during possibly fertile times, we were supposed to abstain from all sexual contact. Although we both came to believe that the Church was right in its teachings, putting it into practice was not easy, especially for my husband.

Month after month of practicing abstinence was getting harder instead of easier; obsession was closing in with its vise-like grip on my husband’s heart and mind. The “porn problem” was back and getting bigger, not smaller. During the “available” days of the cycle, I felt like it was my duty to “perform” on each and every one of them, at least once a day if not more. His drive was through the roof, mine was through the floor, but I didn’t see any other way.

The crisis point came last summer. The kids and I were going to take an extended trip to visit family, which my husband’s work schedule prevented him from joining. Before we left I asked him not to look at “anything bad” while I was gone. He promised. Within a few days he broke the promise, hating himself for it. He told me about it; I wasn’t even surprised, just sad.

The only different thing about this time was that he had admitted defeat and decided to go to a Sexaholics Anonymous (SA) meeting. That was almost a year ago, and what a year of growth and change it has been. Shortly after he came into SA, I joined S-Anon, which is the companion group for those affected by sexaholism in a relative or friend. S-Anon has helped me to see the ways in which I enabled his addiction and tolerated the intolerable. I’ve learned about setting boundaries to respect my own feelings and needs and how to stand up for myself.

Thanks to our recovery work, we were able to make a mutual agreement to practice a period of abstinence for 90 days. The 90 days happened to end during Lent, and we decided to continue our abstinence until Easter. And wouldn’t you know it, our “possibly fertile days” started on Good Friday! We ended up going 148 days without sexual relations of any kind...and guess what? My husband discovered that life is still meaningful without sex. Our marriage didn’t explode or even implode. I learned to deal with conflict without resorting to offering sex as an olive branch. We still had fun together. And when we did end our time of abstinence and come back together, it was a blessed experience. Since then, by the grace of God, we haven’t gone back to our old ways of thinking about sex: using it as a bandage, an escape, a peace treaty, or an occasion for merely acting out lust.

I’m really blessed to have a husband who never wants to break his sexual sobriety again. He hasn’t had a perfect record, but he is determined to pursue chastity. SA is not the only 12 step group dealing with sex addictions, but it is the only one which has a standard of sobriety that is perfectly in line with Church teaching: no sex with self or anyone else except your (opposite-sex) spouse. But supposing he weren’t interested, or if he didn’t even think he had a problem...what could I do?

If you or anyone you know is in that same boat, I highly recommend checking out S-Anon. As with any 12 step program, S-Anon is not religious affiliated. It is a spiritual program, and is derived from Christian principles. It seems to attract a lot of religious people, since they are usually the ones who have a vested interest in sticking with a marriage instead of just divorcing the sexaholic and moving on. Bad things can happen, even in a sacramental marriage.

Perhaps the most refreshing thing about it is that you get to join a group of people (usually women) who will just listen to you talk (or cry) and will say “thanks for sharing,” when you’ve said what you want to say. After the meeting they will offer you hugs, kleenex, and understanding. In fact, chances are that you’ll meet at least one person there who has gone through an even deeper level of hell than you have, and there they are, learning to thrive.

Even among close friends at church, it can be difficult to share things of such an intimate nature. It’s very easy to feel horribly alone when you’re living with a lust addict (which is the real nature of sexaholism). It was a huge relief to go to S-Anon and know that whatever I shared would stay in the room and not be repeated or spread around. I no longer felt alone, and that was tremendously freeing.

I don’t get to S-Anon meetings every week but I do talk on the phone with other people I’ve met there when I need support. And the principles I learn at S-Anon are applicable in all of my relationships, since the root of my problem is co-dependence and people-pleasing.

SA and S-Anon are not a replacement for professional counseling, therapy, or couples’ retreats. They certainly aren’t a substitute for the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion. But they can be a very helpful source of support along the way.

In closing, I want to share that from my own experience there is hope in learning to cope with my husband’s sexaholism and my own co-dependence. Every day God offers me gifts of serenity and trust in His Divine Mercy. I don’t always take it, but I’m learning to do so more often. I have seen miracles of recovery and change come about for my husband in the past 11 months he’s been in SA and the relief it has been to him to have a place to go full of people (mostly men) who understand and who can offer hope and encouragement on the path of sobriety and chastity.

Even if this is a secret you’ve kept or tried to control for decades, you are not alone. No matter the depths of the devastation--affairs, arrests, imprisonment, STDs--there is hope for a future of peace and trust in the Lord. Chances are that you are not too many miles away from a group of people who understand your plight, whether you’re the addict or the one affected by the addict. They will be there to welcome you, pour you a cup of coffee or tea, and walk the road of recovery with you.

How to Raise Good Little Catholics

Something I get asked about quite often is what we're doing with our kids to help to raise them to have an understanding of and an appreciation for our Catholic faith. It's a tough question, but a very important one. Whether our kids are homeschooled, or go to Catholic school, or public school it is OUR responsibility as parents to make sure our kids learn about our faith.



The good news is it's never too early and never too late to start. And there's no better motivation for learning about our faith than having kids who ask us about it. I know about 1000% more about being Catholic than I did before I had kids.

Our Catholic faith is multifaceted, and so rich that you could spend a lifetime studying it and never run out of things to learn. But you've got to start somewhere. Here's where we focus:

1. The Mass

On a scale of importance from one to ten, this is an eleven. Go to Mass. I favor attending Mass as a family, even if it means nursing babies in the pew, and taking screaming one year olds out over and over again. We make it a priority and we make it work.



But I know that doesn't work for every family. If you and your husband need to split up and not bring children to Mass that are below the age of reason, then so be it. But we get to Mass every. single. Sunday. Every. single. holy day of obligation. Even if we're traveling, or we have company, or the kids have sporting events, or we have a ton of stuff to do, or we'd rather sleep in.

We have made a commitment to go to Mass, at least on Sundays and holy days of obligation, more often if we can swing it. ME going to Mass is the most important thing I can do for the faith of my children.

2. The Bible

Being familiar with God's word is also important. We want the stories of the Bible to be a part of the fabric of our family life. My kids should know the heroes of the Old Testament, and the lessons of the New Testament at least as well as they know the marvel superheroes and the wild animal lessons of the Kratt brothers.

But, how to manage it? We're all busy.

I love to use the car for stuff like this. The kids are strapped in, they're a captive audience. Might as well use it for good. And, now, you really REALLY can. TAN books has just come out with a whole program, aimed at homeschooling families, called The Story of the Bible. It's got books (one volume each for the Old and New Testaments), a teacher's guide, an activity book and test book for kids, even a video lecture series . . . the whole shebang. If you're looking for a complete Catholic Bible program, look no further.

But BY FAR my favorite part of the system (available separately) is the Dramatized Audio Books. They are excellent. They are professionally done with voice actors and sound effects and you get to listen to the WHOLE Bible, in a very entertaining way. My kids really like the CDs and ask to listen to them. It's perfect.

We also make a point of having Bibles around the house, accessible to the kids. Since we have a wide range of ages (currently 0-13) around here, we also keep a range of Bibles on hand. (Clicking on the title of the book will take you to Amazon through my Affiliate link. Thanks!)


The Golden Children's Bible: For the youngest kids, we use this for reading Bible stories aloud. The kids like the illustrations, and the stories are complete but not overwhelming.Early Readers Bible: For kids ready for easy readers, this is a Bible they can read themselves and feel like a big kid. The stories are obviously very simplified, but I think it's good to have around. The Children's Illustrated Bible: This one is great for kids in middle grades who have six million questions that you don't know the answers to. It's got TONS of descriptive asides about clothing, weapons, customs, geography, food, everything. The Ignatius Bible: For older kids, we want them to have access to the real thing. That means a GOOD translation of a CATHOLIC Bible. Ideally, a beautiful leather-bound hardback copy so that it feels like something special. This is a good one.Navarre Study Bible: For kids and grownups who want to get even more in depth, the Navarre Study Bibles are an amazing resource. The Bible is divided up into many individual volumes, and there are TONS of footnotes explaining everything you could ever possibly wonder about.

3. The Sacraments

Catholic kids should have the sacraments. They are powerful tools with both magical and practical aspects. The magic is that they give us the grace we need from God to live faithful Catholic lives, and the practical aspect is that they give us reminders that we can touch and taste and experience of God's love for us.

These days, we baptize our babies just as soon as possible. Our oldest was three months old when he was baptized, but with our most recent few, they've all been baptized within a week or so. No sense putting it off without good reason.

We prepare our kids at home to receive First Confession and First Communion, using these two books:


A Little Book about Confession for Children: I wrote this one, because there really weren't any other books I liked on confession available. It's intended to be used to prepare for first confession, and then to get ready for each subsequent confession after that. Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism: This is the classic 1960s Baltimore Catechism. It can be intense, when you're used to more modern "God made rainbows and Jesus hugs deer" type religion books. But I think it's great. We make sure our older kids have regular access to confession and communion once they've made their first.

For older kids, there's the Youcat, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, along with the Compendium are great resources for every Catholic home.

4. The Rosary and Other Prayers

Daily prayer can be really hard to begin, but once it's a habit, it really does become easier. And, again, there's no better inspiration than kids for getting started. Before I had kids, I could recite the Our Father and the Hail Mary, and that's just about it.

But wanting my kids to learn traditional Catholic prayers has meant I've learned them too.

On an ideal day, in the morning we recite the Morning Offering and the Guardian Angel Prayer, at noon we say the Angelus, in the car or after dinner we say the Rosary, and before bed we say the Our Father and the Act of Contrition.

Not every day is an ideal day, of course. Our minimum is a Morning Offering and the Our Father before bed, but mostly we can do better than that.

We also incorporate some special prayers throughout the year, like the Stations of the Cross during Lent, an Advent Novena, the Litany of Our Lady on Marian Feast Days, and the Seven Sundays of St. Joseph.

We don't have to do much to teach the little ones the prayers, they sort of just pick it up as they go along. But if you're starting with older kids (like I did), you can work on learning them together, one line at a time, a couple of lines per day. And, eventually, you'll find you have quite a repertoire. 

These are the prayer books we use:

Handbook of Prayers: This one is very thorough. It's got all the basic prayers, plus special ones, meditations on the mysteries of the rosary and the stations of the cross, as well as the parts of the mass, the liturgy of the hours, and confession preparation. My First Prayer Book: The children's prayer book we have appears to be out of print, but this one looks similar. Mostly kids will learn the prayers by reciting them alongside the family, but some kids like to have their own prayer book.
5. Saint's Lives

We've got a LOT of lives of the saints books in this house. A LOT lot. But I think it's important to give my kids examples of faithful Catholics when they are growing up in a culture that has priorities and values that are so far removed from our own.

Again, because we have a wide range of ages, we have a wide range of books. And there are so many available that I'm not even sure how to begin here.

Some of our favorite Catholic picture book authors are: Brian Wildsmith, Tomie dePaola, and Demi, but there are a ton of great ones.


Saint Francis by Brian WildsmithThe Clown of God by Tomie dePaolaJoan of Arc by Demi For older kids there are many lovely compendiums that give kids a quick look at many different saints.


The Children's Book of Saints: Concise one page summaries of fifty well-known saints, along with illustrations and prayers. Catholic Saints for Children: Thirty short summaries of saints' lives, with illustrations, and prayers. 57 Stories of Saints: A larger book, in black and white, written in a modern, conversational style, with four to six pages per saint.For kids ready for chapter books, there are a number of different series' of chapter books featuring a detailed look into the life of one particular saint. The three with which we are most familiar are Saints Lives by Windeatt, the Vision Book Series, and Encounter the Saints.


The Little Flower: The Story of St. Therese of the Child Jesus (Saints Lives)Father Marquette and the Great Rivers (Vision Book) Saint Gianna Beretta Molla: The Gift of Life (Encounter the Saints) 6. The Liturgical Year

And now that we KNOW about all of these saints, we try to celebrate with them as well. Living the liturgical year in our home a bit has been a wonderful way for our family to connect with the rich history of our church, and to remember how fun and awesome it is to be Catholic.

We started off with having a special meal and a dessert of the child's choosing for his or her baptism day and saint name day, and from there we've also added special dinners for other saints to which our family has a special devotion. We'll usually end up celebrating three to six saints per month, but I was going to make dinner anyway, so it's not too much trouble to make sure I make meatballs for St. Bridget of Sweden's day.

I love Haley and Daniel Stewart's liturgical year cookbook, Feast!: Real Food, Reflections, and Simple Living for the Christian Year:


Other than that, blogs are a great resource for ideas on how to celebrate the liturgical year in your home. Some of my go-tos are:
This blog: here are my liturgical year posts featuring food, desserts, and simple activitiesCarrots for Michaelmas: Recipes and ideas for keeping things simple and focused Catholic Icing: Crafts and activitiesWaltzing Matilda: Coloring pagesCatholic Culture: History, tradition, recipes, activitiesIf you're new to all of this . . . START SMALL AND SIMPLE. Don't try to do it all at once. Do try to find other Catholic families, because being on this journey together with friends makes all the difference.

I hope this helps a bit!

You might also like these posts:

Baby Steps to Living the Liturgical Year as a Family Exactly How to be a Good Catholic