A Free Confession Prayer Book

Published on by Mary Cooney2 Comments

In a few weeks, our youngest daughter is going to have her First Confession. Finally, she will get to join the rest of the family when we all go to Confession. More importantly, she will get to experience God’s incredible mercy and the abundance of graces that come through this wonderful sacrament.

To help prepare her for confession, I made a little booklet. I thought it would be beneficial if she had all the prayers she needed and an examination of conscience all in one little booklet — with beautiful art work, of course.

Continue reading “A Free Confession Prayer Book” →

A Bright Consensus About Screens and Kids

Published on by Mary CooneyLeave a comment

Earlier this week, the NY Times published an interesting article: A Dark Consensus About Screens and Kids Begins to Emerge in Silicon Valley. Essentially, there is a growing movement among the technical gurus of Silicon Valley to seriously restrict their children’s use of cell phones and tablets. Interesting, but not surprising. As my husband says, it’s pretty obvious that smart phones and tablets are not good for kids, especially when you see them so sedate and glued to the screen. Normal heathy kids should be running around, playing outside, and using their imaginations. Most parents would agree that we need to limit the amount of time our children spend in front of the screen; many parents struggle to do so.

Continue reading “A Bright Consensus About Screens and Kids” →

A Score for Down Syndrome

Published on by Mary Cooney4 Comments

Happy November! October was Down Syndrome Awareness Month… how did it go by so fast? Even though I’m a little behind the ball, I’d like like to share this little story with you:

It was the last game of our son’s basketball season, and his fifth-grade team was winning. Towards the end of the last quarter, the coaches called a time out. The teams huddled around their coaches and listened to their instructions. Then the players  ran back onto the court to finish the game.

But something surprising happened. Instead of playing with their usual energy and aggression, the boys on my son’s team started fumbling. A player on the opposing team quickly got hold of the ball and tossed it to his teammate, No. 33. It was a strange move for a player who only had a few minutes left to close the gap on the score. You see, No. 33 was the least athletic kid on the team. He was the smallest. He was the slowest. He had Down Syndrome.

Continue reading “A Score for Down Syndrome” →

Screwtape Intercepted: An Angelic Letter for a Homeschool Mom #2

Published on by Mary Cooney2 Comments

I hope you enjoyed last week’s Screwtape Letter for a Homeschool Mom #2. Screwtape is a nasty one, isn’t he? You’ll be glad to know that Bitterwench never did get the letter because, just like last time,  Martha’s vigilant Guardian Angel intercepted it. Here is Archangel Gabriel’s advice to Angel Fairlight:

Continue reading “Screwtape Intercepted: An Angelic Letter for a Homeschool Mom #2” →

Story of Civilization Vol. 2: The Middle Ages – Book List, Literature Guides, and History Dates

Published on by Mary Cooney4 Comments

This year we are once again delving into the Middle Ages. This is my favorite time period in history because we witness the blossoming of Christendom despite barbarian invasions, the spread of heresies, the Crusades, a devastating plague, and division in the Church. Indeed, we can see the hand of God guiding the Church through all of this turmoil, raising up great saints to spread the Gospel. I just looove the Middle Ages.

Continue reading “Story of Civilization Vol. 2: The Middle Ages – Book List, Literature Guides, and History Dates” →

How Catholic Parents Can Reform the Church

Published on by Mary Cooney3 Comments

It’s been a tough summer for Catholics this year, and I would not be surprised if by now you’re tired of hearing and reading about church scandals, church politics, and maybe even church in general. As we wait for our bishops, cardinals, and the Pope to shed light on how they will address these problems and “clean house”, we lay people can feel rather helpless. Especially as we watch our beloved Church get attacked from the outside and ripped apart from within.

But I have news for you… well not quite news, but an important reminder:

Continue reading “How Catholic Parents Can Reform the Church” →

Teaching Your Child to Read with Short Vowel Stories… and a free give-away!

Published on by Mary Cooney7 Comments

When my oldest was a kindergartener, I wrote some super short stories to help her learn to read. I then used them to teach all my other kids to read, along with a variety of other phonics books. Variety is the spice of life, so it is good to give your emerging readers a mixture of books  with which they can learn to read.

Continue reading “Teaching Your Child to Read with Short Vowel Stories… and a free give-away!” →

Church Scandals – What’s a Parent to Do?

Published on by Mary Cooney5 Comments

How have you been coping with all the recent news of church scandals and clergy abuse of minors? All this news makes me sick to my stomach. Part of me doesn’t want to think about it, much less talk about it. But that’s part of the problem, isn’t it? The silence, the covering-up, the pretense that sexual abuse by clergy isn’t really real.

But it is.

And while church officials talk about accountability and processes to protect youth and reform the system, we parents need to take the bull by the horns and talk about it with our kids (at least middle schoolers and older). If we don’t, they will catch wind of it somewhere else and feel confused and scandalized (as they should), and their faith may be seriously compromised. Here are three points to think about and possibly talk about with your kids:

Continue reading “Church Scandals – What’s a Parent to Do?” →