Health update: Not much to report. Treatments are progressing. We are awaiting test results. We are all in good spirits. Your prayers are SO appreciated. God's will be done. In case you prefer watching/listening to reading . . . this post is also available as a video....
Our Catholic Morning Prayer Routine with Kids
Hey all! Father's Day is coming up soon, and I wanted to share some Catholic Dad Gift Sets we've put together for you guys, along with some free printables and our family favorite movies for the day. You'll find those at the bottom of the post. Note: Since drafting...
Big Families and Sick Kids: Catholic All Year Mailbag Is Back!
Dear Kendra, First, thank you for your blog. I've been reading it for a while now and it's been a big help [to] me as a convert of a few years ago . . . . I wanted to ask how you guys handle sick kids, as we move into our umpteenth minor illness of the year so far. I...
Being Weird Catholics: Seven Ways We Help Our Family Believe in the Real Presence
You've probably heard about the troubling study recently released by the Pew Research Center, stating that only one-third of self-professed Catholics believe in the Catholic Church's teaching that the Eucharist is the actual body and blood of Christ, and nearly half...
What to Do When They Won’t Stay in Bed
It's been an AGE since we dug something out of the old mailbag. Let's take a peek, shall we? The Question: Hello Kendra, I know you are very busy but I have a few questions from something on your blog. You said the kids can’t get out of bed during nap, how do you...
How to do Santa Without Lying to Your Kids
This is the time of year I start getting emails and Facebook messages from parents who are trying to decide how to handle the cultural traditions surrounding Christmas, and how to balance them with their Catholic faith. There is genuinely a lot of worry that they'll...
Our Father Who Art in Stop Hitting Your Sister: praying with regular kids
If the figurine genre has taught us anything, it's that children love to kneel reverently and piously recite their prayers. But if your children happen to not be figurines, maybe they sometimes complain about saying their prayers. Maybe sometimes prayer time turns...
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...
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...
Choosing Godparents & Supporting Godchildren: How We Do It
Mary Jane was baptized last Sunday, and since a few of you asked in the comments of Facebook and Instagram photos, I'll use this photo dump to answer your godparent/godchildren related questions. How Do We Choose Godparents for Our Children? We choose practicing...
How Could Jesus Have TWO Daddies? Explaining the role of St. Joseph to young children.
Today is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. And I just happen to have a mailbag question that is particularly well-suited to the day. Let's get to it, shall we? the question: Dear Kendra, Hi! First, I enjoy your blog very, very much. I am on my way into the Catholic...
Not Believing in Santa Claus is Like Not Believing in Jesus . . . or George Washington
It's the million-dollar Christmas question, right? And I've been asked it many times in the lead-up to Advent and Christmas: Do our children "believe" in Santa Claus? But . . . I don't think it's the right question. Hang in here with me. Seriously, let's look at what...
The Ten Things I’m Glad My Kids Got for Christmas
I've already written about how we are planning a more simple and a more toy-free Christmas than we've had in the past. Not because we are AGAINST toys but because we have reached the natural conclusion of a few years of more mindful toy-buying, more discerning...
Mailbag: Please Stop the Screaming!
I got this mailbag question a week or so ago, and responded to it. Since then, my Cryin' Babies Go To Bed post was shared on a parenting forum, to GREAT misunderstanding, confusion, concern, and general unpleasantness. Sometimes I kind of forget that my blog is...
Moms, You Don’t HAVE to Keep That. 50 items to trash or give away guilt-free.
Before school started up this week, I did a major tidy up of the playroom and the desks in the kids' rooms. We do our twice yearly clean outs during advent and lent, in which we select things we don't love or use all that often to donate. That's not what this was....
Peace Be With You, Dinosaur: Age Appropriate Goals for Mass Behavior
I've written about kids in Mass. A lot. My thoughts are well known on whether churches should have cry rooms (against it) or breastfeeding (for it). But when Haley asked me to be a part of a blog carnival about kids in Mass, I just KNEW that if I really thought about...
Mailbag: What Is Up With Old Testament God?
I've got a couple more mailbag questions I want to share with you guys this week. The first is one I really struggled with myself. Question: I was raised Catholic, but apparently, there is a lot about our faith I was never taught. Now that I'm raising children, I am...
There’s Not a Rule Book for This Job
I'm going to let you in on a little secret. A secret known only to everyone who knows me in real life and all the people who like Catholic All Year on Facebook but no one else. Sometimes I put the Bumbo on the table. Okay, maybe it would be more shocking coming from...
How I Got My Family to Eat More Vegetables
Salad. Tastes good. Good for you. Huge pain in the neck to make. Even when it was just the husband and I eating dinner, I would mean to make us a salad, but end up running out of time or motivation and just steam some broccoli again. Now with a houseful of kids to...
How We Say a Family Rosary
Hey all, while we're out of town for Easter Break, I'm cleaning out my drafts folder. So if this sounds like it was written a while ago, it probably was. I'll still be checking comments, so feel free to have an opinion. And a very happy Easter to you...
Expect Great Things (and you just might get them)
Last week, I posted about WHY we believe in Parenting With Authority and HOW we do it. And I assured you that if you ALWAYS MEAN WHAT YOU SAY you'll be all set. And, I stand by that. But there IS another component to the system, which is -- to assume that...
Always Mean What You Say: The HOW of Parenting With Authority
For Tuesday's post on WHY we practice Parenting With Authority, see here. I started out to make a list of rules for Parenting with Authority. But it turned out that all the rules I wrote out just ended up coming back to one single concept: ALWAYS MEAN WHAT YOU...
Parenting With Authority
For me, writing a blog has been an interesting window into my own brain. It turns out I think very tangentially. Who knew? (Husbands are not invited to answer). Every post I start writing makes me think of three others I ought to do alongside, or before, or...
The Essentials Only Guide to Baby Gear: six months to one year
This post is number two in a series on essential baby gear, see here for the first. For parenting book recommendations, see here. My six to twelve month old babies are still using most of the gear from my newborn to six month old recommendations, but I've also...
The Essentials Only Guide to Baby Gear: birth to six months
In honor of some soon-to-be mothers I've been thinking about recently, especially my lovely cousin Pryor and the adorable Sarah of Oh My Soul, today I'm going to share with you my guide to baby gear for the first six months (check back later this week for my...
Can’t Buy Me Love? Not For Chores Anyway.
This post is fourth in a series on chores for kids . . . see also here and here and here.So, if we don't usually do chore charts, how do chores get done around here? The answer is: they get done FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. We get up, we do chores. Sometimes...
Stop Laughing at Me, Chore Chart!
Hey Guys, Frankie here. Adam from Equipping Catholic Families has written back to answer my question about Mass survival tips! Head over there to check it out, then check back here next week for my post about what our family does.This post is third in a series on...
A Well-Organized Toy Closet: Setting Kids Up for Success
This post is one in a series on chores for kids . . . I have posted previously about the first chores we assign our toddlers--the ones that they really love. Today I want to discuss getting them to do chores that they are less excited about, and helping kids of all...
Chores for Enthusiastic Toddlers
Two-year-old Jack (and his black eye) doing a little mopping. I have had two different readers request that I address the subject of chores and chore charts. For us anyway, this is an area that has seen a lot of flux over the years. Since...
Why We Wii
I have to preface this by saying I don't "get" video games. I don't play them myself. Not since my dad and I conquered Myst anyway. If I'm going to sit down and stare at a screen for two hours I at least want to have a blog post to show for it. I have...