(question edited for clarity) Hi! I have to ask a parenting question. With our oldest, after reading a few of your blogs, we did time-outs. The "two’s" were a breeze! However, he (and now our second child who is almost 3), went through a challenging stage at age...
Hey, it's been a while since we took a peek in the mailbag around here . . . let's see what we've got. QUESTION Hi Kendra, Thank you for all that you do. I enjoy reading your blog. The articles are thoughtfully written and also very helpful. If you are able, I would...
Just a reminder: The August Prayer Booklet is available in the blog shop as a print at home PDF, and on Amazon as a paperback booklet. The first devotion for the month is Our Lady, Queen of Angels and the very cool associated Portiuncula Indulgence of St. Francis of...
I had every intention of not wading into the Elf on the Shelf debate, because it's really not a matter of faith and morals, and is therefore something about which good Catholics are free to make their own choices, and follow their own consciences, and disagree. But...
Mailbag time! The Question: Hello, my name is Mollie and I am a big fan of your blog. I lost my pet of 17 years this weekend and I am struggling with the thought of breaking the news to my seven year old son this afternoon. We have been preparing him for her passing...
Mailbag time! The Question: Hi Kendra, I find myself at a point where I am needing to sort of “vent” out some frustrations with NFP, and storing children’s clothing in a too “small” of a house. I went searching your blog for “storing clothes” and somehow found your...
Mailbag time: What to do when it all seems like too much . . . (and if you make it to the bottom there's news and shopping, yay!) The Question: Hi Kendra, I found you blog a new months ago and have so enjoyed going through your old posts and soaking up all the...
Mailbag time! A few weeks ago, I argued that learning traditional homemaking skills in an all-girl environment was beneficial for my girls. I'm back today to support something for just the boys . . . the question: I had a question about your kids and altar serving. I...
Mailbag time! I know, I know, it's not even Halloween yet. But someone asked, and it's a good question, and I've already gotten two versions of it, so I'm answering it here, now. Question: Hi Kendra! I really enjoyed your post about being a missionary to...
Mailbag questions sometimes come in waves around here, and recently I've gotten a slew of them on the same topic: How to get your kid to stop a certain entrenched behavior. Hitting, fighting, throwing tantrums, refusing to go to school in the morning, and screaming ....
Mailbag time! Here's one about how we maintain our family's religious practices on vacations with friends or family members who aren't living their faith the same was we do. -question- Hi, Kendra! My question for you has to do with traveling. We currently travel a...
Mailbag time! It's the million dollar question for big Catholic families: How can we keep having them, if we don't know whether we can afford them? - question - Hi Kendra, I feel a little silly emailing someone I have never met such a personal question, but I've been...
Mailbag time! You're not going to believe this, but some kids are NOT super excited about doing chores. Here's what we do about it. - question - Hi Kendra! My question is this: I've recently begun having my four- and two-year old children set the table for...
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....
Last time, I answered a different mailbag question about this same topic: babies in a house full of their sibling's toys. That post was about babyproofing (or, more specifically, about NOT babyproofing). Today, I'm going to approach that same topic from a slightly...
I've received a couple of related mailbag questions over the past couple of weeks about how we handle the issue of babies in a house full of their siblings' toys. Today I'll discuss the idea of babyproofing, specifically how I DON'T do it, and in a different post,...
It's the last installment of homeschool week on the blog. For earlier posts see here and here and here. Today we'll be looking at some obstacles to homeschooling, and how to overcome them, if you feel like homeschooling is something you'd like to try. The question: Hi...
So . . . it's spring, and that means decision time for a lot of folks on how to school the kids next year. Of course, you can always change your mind. We did. Our oldest son went to our parish school for a couple of months, before we decided to give homeschooling a...
Between nearly twenty weeks of all-day morning sickness and my failed going to bed early for Lent experiment, I ended up with quite a backlog of mailbag questions. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing them . . . I received this one after linking to my...
Sometimes when I get a mailbag question, I can't believe I really haven't ever written on the subject before. This was one of those. I've written about breastfeeding (those posts always spark quite a discussion) and getting babies to sleep (conversation AND, um,...
It's mailbag time again. Today we're going to discuss managing unruly children in your home . . . when they're not (exclusively) yours. The Question: Hi, Kendra! I enjoy reading your blog, and I find your posts on discipline and family culture particularly...
Today's mailbag question is near and dear to my barfy little heart . . . illustration from Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever Question: Kendra, I know you're all pregnancy icky, so you're probably not the person to complain to, but I need some...
I have a backlog of great mailbag questions I got during and since the ol' hiatus. So, here's another one. The idea that I might be overburdening my kids with responsibilities around the home is something that I have definitely worried about myself, but, so far, what...
More from the mailbag! This time it's a homeschooling faith vs reason question I received on the Catholic All Year Facebook page from reader Karen. Question: We are new to homeschooling and love your blog! We are starting our journey through the history of the world ....
What do you do when you want to blog, but you ALSO really, really want to take a bath and hit the sack? Why, fish something out of the mailbag of course. It's already written and at least one person in the universe is interested in the answer. Today's question is from...
MAILBAG TIME! Question: How you have accomplished drug-free births? I have about 7 weeks to go and I'm toying with the idea of no epidural. But I'm scared. So far my birth experiences have been: emergency c-section due to late (i.e. during labor) discovery that baby...
Question: How do you stop the fighting between your kids? What do you do with them? I've tried many things like separation, spanking (which I hate but it sure works on my older one!), toys taken away, stickers toward new toy for good behavior, etc. but I get the...
Mailbag time! Question: I came across one of your mailbag questions and thought I'd ask you for your advice as well. In a month or two, we would like to put our two daughters (2 1/2 and 8 months right now) into one room together. By then, the baby will be sleeping...
It's our first day of school! So . . . I'm going to throw up a question from the mailbag, since it's already typed up. Perhaps it would be of interest to some other newish mamas out there. Question:(it was a long one so I'm going to excerpt it here . . . )Dear...
All this week, I've been sharing my replies to reader emails and Facebook messages. Today is the Lightning Round! Seven questions, seven answers. These are questions I've chosen because they are seven of the topics about which I get asked most frequently. Let's do...
