A Guide to Raising Great Kids

Humility

2012-04-29T20:03:00.000-04:00

A great saint once wrote:"Allow me to remind you that among other evident signs of a lack of humility are:—Thinking that what you do or say is better than what others do or say;—Always wanting to get your own way;—Arguing when you are not right or — when you are — insisting stubbornly or with bad manners;—Giving your opinion without being asked for it, when charity does not demand you to do so;—

Am I Over-Parenting?

2012-04-15T23:34:00.000-04:00

A friend posted this book on Facebook recently: and it caught my attention, so I bought it. After I read just a few pages, I was shocked to find out how dangerous over-parenting can be. We are trying to be the best parents, studying and reading all we can and still we can be doing it all wrong! I think it brings out one of the worst fears a parent has and allows us to ask a not-so-simple

Why Won't My Children Listen ?!?!?

2012-03-31T19:26:00.003-04:00

Sometimes we give orders to our children and they don't obey. Why is it that they don't get it? There are many things that influence obedience: the perception of Authority, Prestige, Service, characteristics of our demands, age of our children, etc. Children disobey for many reasons: - to call our attention, or they want to do something with you and you might just want him to go and do

A new year - what can we do?

2012-01-01T20:18:00.002-05:00

St. Josemaría puts it best when he says that in every new year "...let us take a good honest look at our own lives. How is it that sometimes we just can’t find those few minutes it would take to finish lovingly the work we have to do, which is the very means of our sanctification? Why do we neglect our family duties? Why that tendency to rush through our prayers, or through the Holy Sacrifice of

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T11:04:00.002-05:00

Adoration of The Magi carved on the tomb of St. Agnes in Rome

Children Believe What Their Parents Tell Them

2011-12-18T11:13:00.001-05:00

Be careful what you say to your children in anger...

Technique to Help with Tantrums

2011-11-10T16:44:00.001-05:00

This seems to be an effective way to help you and your child get past the terrible temper tantrums. It comes from a very interesting article by Shirley Wang, recently published in The Wall Street Journal. Let us know if it worked for your child! Click on the image to enlarge and read.

Hope (because you can!)

2011-10-29T18:00:00.001-04:00

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Forgiveness

2011-09-13T23:32:00.002-04:00

It is true that someone made me suffer or that they hurt me or my feelings, and it is true that I am patient and flexible, but do I truly forgive and forget??? Our culture teaches us revenge, indifference or avoidance, not forgiveness; you see it in movies, TV, everywhere, but is not right to live in a payback mode, it makes no sense and it is exhausting. When you forgive, you are not

Modesty - protect your family!

2011-09-06T23:15:00.001-04:00

A person’s dignity depends upon living in a manner that will achieve the purpose for which he was created, to be sons and daughters of God. “Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the

Head of the Family During Difficult Times

2011-08-16T20:56:00.000-04:00

World crisis, financial crisis, heightened violence, health issues- you look around and see all these problems and you are the head of the family. Scary, right? I was reading an excellent book on sales in difficult times: "If You're Not First, You're Last" by Grant Cardone, where he writes about getting immobilized by bad news, when things are not going well: a family member hospitalized,

All Is Possible With Love

2011-07-31T19:53:00.001-04:00

We read this today on our church bulletin and we want our children to read it, often! All Is Possible With Love Intelligence without love is malevolent. Justice without love makes you relentless. Diplomacy without love makes you a hypocrite. Success without love makes you arrogant. Wealth without love makes you greedy. Docility without love makes you servile. Poverty without love makes you

Children See, Children Do

2011-07-09T12:06:00.005-04:00

We don't realize the powerful influence we have over our children. They are excellent imitators of everything they see us do; the good and the bad. This amazing Australian made video says it all - without saying a word. Share this post with your friends and make your influence positive!

Summer Plans - Again (and Again!)

2011-06-20T18:12:00.010-04:00

The official start of summer is tomorrow, so I was writing a "Summer Plans" related article for our blog, but halfway through it, I remembered we posted on the subject last year! Reading it again, the most important paragraph for me is still the last one in the post: "There is no particular science to this. Overall, try not to micro-manage every waking moment and give them free time to play on

What Teenagers Really Need

2011-04-22T20:35:00.003-04:00

We see our teenagers taller, stronger, more independent, forming their own point of view about things. They are helping around more, learning how to drive - they still have a long way to go... They still need limits, supervision, they still need to obey us, they need our advise and our approval, they need to see that we respect their ideas and their well being. They require our example, to see

Teenagers - Binge Drinking - Spring Break

2011-03-20T18:42:00.006-04:00

Spring break is one of those holidays in which - "traditionally" - teenagers engage in binge drinking, drug abuse and more. Imagine the freedom they feel: turning 16 with no "responsibilities", having everything: cell phones, enough money, even a car. They can "do whatever they want". They go on group trips and parties. The first drinks generally break the ice and, since they are very well

Selling Ideas at Home - Happiness!

2011-03-01T10:58:00.004-05:00

I recently read the article "The Business of Happiness" by Nancy Cook in the excellent Fast Company magazine.The article explains how the anticipation of a pleasurable experience feels as good as finishing an onerous task (like a marathon or an exam). They discovered that a meaningful experience such as volunteering often makes people happier than moments of pure pleasure. Unknowingly, it seems

The Best Christmas Gift

2010-12-18T20:57:00.001-05:00

Thinking about Christmas gifts, we ran out of ideas for one of our children. They have what they need, but they deserve a lot more; they are great, hard working, fun, normal children. Then I started wondering what was my best Christmas gift when I was a child and I remembered my wonderful snow cone machine. I know my mom and dad worked hard to buy the best possible toys, or watches, the best

Our Children and Drugs - Reality Hits

2010-11-12T16:15:00.004-05:00

Some of us never had any contact with illegal drugs when we were teenagers. Unfortunately, this is not the case for our kids today. I went to a talk on drugs a week ago and reality hit me: children as young as 11 years old can encounter a situation related to drugs up to 2 times a day, every day, depending on the city where they live. It has become more and more "normal" to talk about who went

Money Management

2010-10-03T21:03:00.006-04:00

Even though I have a business degree, my husband studied economics and both of us have worked in the banking industry, I have to say that it is REALLY hard to teach money management to your own children. You walk through the house and see dollar bills and coins on their desks, in the bathroom drawer, on the kitchen table; they have no clue how hard it is to earn a dollar. When our seven year

Detachment From Material Things

2010-08-17T21:04:00.004-04:00

Can money buy happiness? Money gives you satisfaction, maybe accomplishment, but you can have a lot of money and not have a decent life. You might have a lot of money and live a meaningless life. Father Frank says that we should live detached from material things and develop our capability of enjoyment of what we have, while feeling happy about what other people have. You shouldn't feel sad for

Seeing The Good in Others: a necessary daily struggle

2010-06-26T00:42:00.004-04:00

To see the good in people requires practice and is taught by example. During a morning retreat I attended last week, the priest said "...sometimes you don't see any virtues in your husband, (your wife) or your children. What has probably happened is that the virtues you once saw have become "invisible" with time; you became used to them. It is also a common occurrence that what you perceive

Summer Plans, Again

2010-06-07T20:56:00.006-04:00

There are 12 weeks of summer vacation. Our children's ages range from 15 years old to 4 years old. Both of us are working parents and with no nanny at the moment, this could be a challenge... This is how we will try to plan this summer - in no particular order after week 2: Week 1: Re-learning to live all together in the same house without school. Sharing the TV, the favorite spot on the couch

Teenagers Starting to Drive

2010-05-06T22:04:00.011-04:00

I have to admit that I am panicking with the idea that my fifteen year old daughter is about to be at that age where she can take the wheel and drive on her own... I know we did learn at the same age, but I remember myself being more focused on the actual driving... I feel like my daughter is more focused on the mirror (looking how good she looks driving!), trying to find the right radio station,

First Boyfriend or First Girlfriend

2010-03-14T14:04:00.018-04:00

12 years old and we are talking about boyfriends or girlfriends? How innocent and fun it can be if it is addressed correctly. We are talking probably around 6th or 7th grade. Yes, it can be somebody from school, a neighbor, his or her best friend's brother or sister, hopefully somebody you know. And I wonder, how can I prepare my children to manage this relationship correctly? We are not talking