The Most Important Tip To Successfully Raise A Teenager

Being a parent is one of the happiest, most rewarding, and joyful experience in the world. For me the joy of having children can never be equaled by anything in the world. Along with all these positive emotions that parenthood can create is a great deal of responsibility, stress, headaches, and heartaches–especially during children’s teenage years.

My own parents and majority of my friends would really say that the job of being a parent is most difficult and challenging during children’s teen years. Adolescence ushers in a period of intense growth, not only physically but morally and intellectually. The desire for more and more independence often leads kids to try out different activities, looks, and identities–many of which are not appealing to parents.

Yes dealing with a teenager can evoke a lot of stress, anger, and even feelings of helplessness among parents. But should things really have to go out of control? Definitely not! There are a lot of ways to successfully raise your teen to become a morally upright and kind hearted person. And you know what the most important tip is? Never forget to make Jesus a part of your parenting endeavors.  No one is better able to guide you on how to deal and respond to your teenager.

Be inspired by this article on successfully correcting your teen’s behavior with Jesus’ help: Tuning into Your Teen When They Cross the Line.

Unexpected Lessons We Get From Our Children

All parents are well aware that we are our children’s teachers and role models. We try to inculcate in our children’s minds and hearts the right values, teach them how to discern right from wrong as well as in inspire them to live a life that is centered in Christ. In short we are responsible for the character formation of our kids, but is the lesson giving and lesson learning meant to only be a one-way street? Certainly not!

A post titled, My Kids Keep Teaching Me How to Pray made me see that parents too can learn valuable lessons from our children. We need to take the time to listen and be in the moment when we are actually with them. Of course, we should do our best in teaching our children the right things so that they will grow up to become happy, good-hearted, and faithful individuals. However, we must not allow ourselves to get so wrapped up in all of our parenting roles and responsibilities. Missing out on great opportunities to become better individuals through our children is something parents should try to avoid.

Are You Best Friends with Your Siblings?

In my opinion there is no stronger bond than that of siblings. Siblings grow up together and experience a lot of the same things. When siblings are close in age they can really be each other’s best friends. The bond that I have with my siblings is ridiculously strong, and while I have other friends none of them come close to being what my siblings are to me. As a parent I feel like most of us strive for our children to be best friends.

I found a site recently called The Better Mom and the author Tricia shares the same feeling that siblings should be best friends. Her post titled, “Raising Kids to Be Best Friends for Life” is really awesome. It talks about her family and their relationships with one another. They seem to have a great family dynamic and I respect that.

Tips to Help Your Family Pray Together in the New Year

Finding the time to pray with your family is not always easy. The bigger your family is the more you will have to try to make a convenient time for everybody to pray together. The idea of creating a time like this for prayer is similar to finding the time to have the whole family sit down for dinner the same time each night. If you can set a time and make a habit, it will become easier for your family to do this on a regular basis.

If you have struggled to find ways to pray as a family before, a post I read recently called, “25 Ways to Pray as a Family in the New Year” could help you a lot. The article offers a lot of useful tips to help your family come together for prayer time.

Have You Ever Been to a Dedication Mass?

Have you ever been to a Dedication Mass? If you haven’t then the article I just read about why attending a Dedication Mass should be on your bucket list is one that you should check out.

If you don’t know what a Dedication Mass is the post also goes into great detail about what went on at this particular Dedication Mass. A few of the author’s favorite moments included the deposition of the relics, the anointing of the altar and walls, the covering of the altar and the placement of the flowers. Dedication Masses are longer than the average Mass, but the author and her family found time to enjoy this special Mass. Learn all about their experience in the post!

Keeping Christ in Christmas: How You Can Help

I have posted a pretty good amount recently about keeping Christmas based on the birth of Jesus. Keeping the Christ in Christmas is an important thing to focus on obviously. I have had some conversations with my fellow blogger Janet, who writes the more parenting centered posts here. Her and I agree that when you have young children it is even harder to keep the focus of Christmas on Christ. This is because they probably go to school and have friends whose parents don’t keep that as the focus. The idea of Santa Claus and presents is much more enticing to a six year old than Jesus and the story of his birth. If you can get your children to focus on Jesus for even a little bit during the Advent and Christmas season, then you are doing a good job.

I read a story yesterday that I thought was really cool, and totally in line with the keeping Christ in Christmas line of thought. A mom bought a tree topper ornament that was Santa and turned it into Saint Nicholas instead. This decoration makeover was simple and easy, you should read about it! It was a thoughtful and really cool idea that I felt was worth sharing.

How to Get Your Baby to Sleep While Traveling for the Holidays

A big concern for many parents with a toddler or baby around this time of the year is keeping their sleep pattern regular throughout the holidays. Traveling or having family over for the holidays can definitely disrupt your babies sleep schedule. Whether they miss their afternoon nap or just can’t seem to fall asleep at night, it can make for some serious problems. Strive for normalcy, as that is what they are used to, but if all else fails just go with your instincts. If a typical nap time is missed, substitute a different one later.

A post titled, “Holidays, Travel, and Baby’s Sleep” had some great pointers for just this issue. The last thing anybody wants is to spend all night up with a baby, and then deal with a travel day the next day with a cranky baby. One of their best bits of advice was to bring a dark towel or sheet with you when you travel. Babies used light and dark cues often in their sleeping patterns, and turning an otherwise bright room dark with a sheet or towel could mean a successful nap.

Catholic Dads: How to Be a Positive Spiritual Role Model

I read a post on Catholic Mom recently that I found to be inspiring. It was by a Catholic Dad named Eric Neubauer, and the post was about “Catholic Dads and the Domestic Church”. The post was inspiring to me because Eric was calling dads everywhere to action. He wants them to be more involved with their children’s faith, mainly in the development of it.

There were some tips given in the article that I thought were good advice. Overall, attending Mass more regularly and participating actively when you do was the theme. Setting this example for your children makes you a positive spiritual role model, which is something many dads are not doing anymore. Also he suggested being more attentive at home, this means less time in front of screens and more time spent with your loved ones. I think we could all stand to take something away from Eric’s post, so check it out.

Don’t Over-Schedule Your Family This Holiday Season

The holidays are a really stressful time, especially when you factor young kids into the picture. You are probably expected to visit all sorts of family, or have them visit your house. The kids will likely get overly rambunctious out of the excitement of Christmas, and because of all the sugar they will consume through Christmas treats. Sounds like the makings for a parental meltdown at any moment. Don’t let holiday stress get the best of you though, stay cool my friend.

A post called, “8 Parenting Tips for Happier Holidays with Young Children” features some great advice. First off, having realistic expectations for your family is the right way to go. If you think the day is going to be perfect and your kids will behave like perfect little robots, you are doomed to be disappointed. Chances are something minor will go wrong and one of them might get upset. Be ready to deal with this and don’t get angry. If you lose your cool it will only negatively affect your children. My favorite bit of advice was to not over-schedule. You know what your family is capable of doing in one day, so know your limits.

Celebrating Advent: How to Get the Whole Family Involved

I think the best way to get your family on board with the celebration of Advent is to get an Advent wreath and Advent calendar for your home. Having the calendar in your house is a great way to get kids excited for Advent. Each day a child can open a new window on the calendar and receive a piece of chocolate. The wreath is the more religious of the two, and hopefully if your kids get excited for the calendar you can carry that over for the wreath as well.

If you want to learn about everything involved in having a nice Advent wreath at your house check out this post called, “Reviving Advent” that I found recently. The article goes into how to make your Advent wreath, blessing the Advent wreath, lighting the Advent wreath, and even gives you some ideas for daily Scripture readings that you can use.

How do you celebrate Advent at your home?