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...
Kids & Tech: What We Do and Why We Mostly Don’t
I’ve received many reader questions on this topic over the years, and just discussed them again this week in a Q&A session after an online talk I gave to a parent group, so I figured it would be a good time to go ahead and get it in a post. Updates on The Catholic...
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...
Changing the World One Casserole at a Time
I don’t want to fall into hyperbole, but the apostolate of bringing a meal really and honestly changed the way I see the world. It changed my heart when it happened to me, and practicing it for others is something that brings me great joy. While I was expecting my...
Moms of Difficult Toddlers, Rejoice: Catholic Stuff Saturday
It's been a very busy week and is going to be an even busier weekend, but I wanted to pop in here to share some thoughts that really resonated with some of you already, and this week's very excellent Catholic Stuff giveaway. From a social media post . . . Mothers of...
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...
The Country Bunny and Seasons of Mothering
It had been many, many years since I had read The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward when we got it out of the library last year. And I was like, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD, children's book from 1939 about how to become the Easter Bunny!" Because,...
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...
Creating a Family Culture
When my eldest son was in preschool, I made the mistake of handing the buck to the Pope when it came to some of our parenting practices. When Jack would ask why he couldn't watch a particular show that his friends were watching, I'd say, "Well, we're Catholic and...
The Three Most Important Things I Do Before Having a Baby
Hey all, I'm super excited to be guest posting today for my friend Haley from Carrots for Michaelmas while she finishes up the edits on her Liturgical Year Cookbook. The Three Most Important Things I Do Before Having a Baby If you’re expecting me to say things like...
Always Mean What You Say: The HOW of Parenting With Authority (a summer re-run)
Here's another summer re-run from the early days of the blog, so maybe you've already seen this one. But if your kids are driving you crazy this summer, this might be able to help. For a post on WHY we practice Parenting With Authority, see here. I started out to make...
Charity That Kids Can Understand
Among our many goals for our kids is that they would grow up to be generous and charitable. We figure the best time to start laying that foundation is . . . now. But it's easier said than done, right? I started my kids' charitable giving by secretly cleaning out...
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...