Finding time to be with just one child when there are several in the household is nearly impossible. But, as I found recently, the trouble to make it happen can be also incredibly rewarding. For our mother-son, one-on-one date, I took my son to evening Mass.
The toy purge challenge
The experts said we should get rid of three-quarters of our kids’ toys, so we spent a Saturday morning rounding up most of the toys in the house. Here’s how we got rid of most of them…and why fewer toys may be better for our kids’ spiritual health.
Invocations: Super-short prayers for when life gets crazy
You’ve got a baby in one arm, groceries in the other, your toddler somehow got your phone, which is ringing—quick, what do you do? When you need to pray but don’t really have time to sit down and compose yourself, an invocation might be just the ticket. Invocations (or “pious invocations”) are very short prayers—usually a phrase or sentence—that can be said once (as a quick, spontaneous prayer during stressful or busy times) or repeated over and over as a way of meditating on the presence of God.