Parenting – To Jesus Sincerely

The Saddest Game of Pretend Play I’ve Ever Seen

How to fight the influences of evil threatening to corrupt our children through the practice of spiritual adoption.

The cool water swirled around my ankles as I stood at the edge of the lake, toes buried in the wet sand, watching my four children splash in the shallows.

I couldn’t help but overhear snippets of conversations of a group of children – around 8 or 9 years old – as they played a game of pretend a little farther out in the water.

It was the saddest pretend play I’ve ever heard.

There was a mom and a dad, and the rest of the kids seemed to be their children.

Their pretend conversations went like this:

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August 1, 2019August 1, 2019 by tojesussincerely Categories: Parenting, Prayer LifeTags: childhood, fighting evil, Parenting, pretend play, saving children, society, spiritual adoption 1 Comment

Do You Want to be a Better Catholic Parent?

This post is sponsored by Evango.

I’m not a pro at parenting.

I would propose that none of us are.

There’s always something new to learn about our kids, and our kids always have something new to teach us about ourselves.

Any time I think I have it all figured out, a new situation comes up which challenges my preconceived notions. Any time I think our family is rocking it – in behavior, in manners, in the faith, I discover something we could be doing to improve ourselves.

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June 4, 2019June 5, 2019 by tojesussincerely Categories: ParentingTags: catholic education, catholic parenting, continuing education, education, Parenting 2 Comments

Dear Public School Catholic Families, I See You.

Growing up, we were “those public schoolers” in the Catholic circle.

But in the public school circle, we were those “church kids” to our peers.

It’s hard when you’re the outsider from all angles, and you feel totally alone. You want to be a witness to the secular society you’re immersed in, but you have no Catholic community to stand behind you.

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May 31, 2019May 31, 2019 by tojesussincerely Categories: ParentingTags: catholic parenting, catholic school, culture war, domestic church, homeschooling, Parenting, public school, raising kids in the faith 5 Comments

Father Ben Gets Ready for Mass

This post is sponsored by Katie Warner and Faith First Treasury and contains Amazon affiliate links. I received a free copy of Father Ben Gets Ready for Mass in exchange for an honest review.

Katie Warner has been releasing so many amazing Catholic kids books, I can hardly keep up!

I’m just the biggest fan of everything Katie, does, so when she offered me a copy of Father Ben Gets Ready for Mass, I was all over it.

As soon as it came in the mail, my kids swarmed. We tore the packaging open, and sat down to read it.

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March 18, 2019July 10, 2019 by tojesussincerely Categories: ParentingTags: Catechesis, family life, holy mass, Mass, Parenting, raising saints 5 Comments

Teaching Kids to Pray the Catholic Way

This post originally appeared as a guest blog I wrote for The Thin Place. You can find the original posts here:

Part 1: Teaching Kids to Pray: A Catholic Perspective.

Part 2: Teaching Kids to Pray: Common Catholic Prayers.

As Christian parents, we long to see our children embrace the faith we hold so dear to our hearts.

We teach them about Jesus and about the Bible. We help them learn about the virtues. We have them memorize daily prayers and, as they grow, study theology.

But most of all, we want them to have something deeper than a collection of facts and information.

We want our kids to love Jesus with all their hearts. To have a meaningful and vibrant relationship with Him.

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March 13, 2019March 13, 2019 by tojesussincerely Categories: Parenting, Prayer LifeTags: Adoration, holy mass, Intercession, Mass, Parenting, Petition, prayer, Prayer Life, praying with kids, Rosary, teaching, teaching kids to pray, Thanksgiving Leave a comment

What To Do When Punishment Doesn’t Cut it

Four Tips for Discipleship Parenting

“Kids will never learn if you don’t punish them.”

Hold up.

Let’s think about that for a moment.

A while ago, my son had picked up this habit of growling. He growled when he was playing. He growled at his sisters. He growled when I said something he didn’t like.

It drove me absolutely bonkers.

I tried every punishment I could to get him to stop.

I put him in time out. Separated him from the rest of the family. I took away his toys. His screen time. I sent him to his room. I yelled at him. I cut sugar from his diet. I could go on and on.

Nothing worked, of course.

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February 5, 2019February 5, 2019 by tojesussincerely Categories: ParentingTags: children, disciples, discipleship, discipline, education, Kids, learning styles, Parenting, raising saints 6 Comments

A Biblical Approach to Sibling Rivalry

Today’s post on Sibling Rivalry is #MyMassTakeaway for the Mass readings on 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Find the Mass Readings here: 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 23, 2018 Continue reading →

September 23, 2018September 23, 2018 by tojesussincerely Categories: #MyMassTakeaway, Parenting, Prayer LifeTags: #MyMassTakeaway, children, Gospel, holy mass, Jesus's Name, Mass Readings, Parenting, sibling rivalry Leave a comment

We don’t have to constantly live on the verge of losing it. It takes dedication, but we can take back our sanity! Use the Healthy Mind Platter and Emotional Thermometer to maintain wellness.

An Easy Way to Maintain A Healthy Mind in Stressful Times

This post is not intended to diagnose or treat depression or any other mental or emotional health conditions. I simply wish to share my experience with life-changing strategies I first learned through counseling.

“You guys better clean up before I lose it!”

It’s hard to be around our kids all the time. Their needs and messes and noise are constantly weighing on us. It can be easy to lose ourselves to the demands of motherhood. To let stress take over. To be the yelling, tantruming mom we swore we’d never be.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Continue reading →

January 25, 2018March 19, 2020 by tojesussincerely Categories: ParentingTags: depression, emotional thermometer, health, healthy mind platter, mental health, momlife, momming, mother, motherhood, Parenting, wellness 6 Comments

And it's in here, not out there, that I find myself. Here in being loved by my God, and sharing that love with my family. My heart is in this beautiful, noisy, chaos of love I call my home. My heart is in my vocation. My heart belongs to Christ.

Inspired to be the Heart of the Home

Lessons from Mary: how I reconciled with “A mother is the heart of the home.”

My birthday was coming up and I had big plans.

I was going to do all the things I wanted to do for me. It was going to be a whole day of me-ness. I planned to take off first thing in the morning, meet a friend for breakfast, do some shopping by myself, have a nice lunch in a coffee shop, maybe even do some writing, and come home to a quiet dinner with my husband.

I had been feeling overwhelmed with meeting everybody else’s needs, and I was sick of it. For once I wanted to just do what I want. To not have to answer to anyone else. I was becoming more and more short-tempered. Less engaged in effective discipline. More shouty than problem-solvey.

So I was going to escape. For an entire day. Happy birthday to me. Continue reading →

January 3, 2018January 3, 2018 by tojesussincerely Categories: Meditations, ParentingTags: family, heart of the home, marriage, Meditation, momlife, mother, Parenting, peace, relationships, vocation 6 Comments

A shower prayer (just for fun)

Have you ever heard of the shower prayer? I pray it every day. It goes something like this:

Lord, wash my feet that they may follow Your path. Wash my hands that they may do Your work in this world. Cleanse my head of all distractions and fill it with thoughts of You –

JUST KIDDING!

I wish I prayed like that in the shower every morning. I probably should. But my shower prayer (and I don’t pray it every day, only every-day-I-shower) goes more like this… Continue reading →