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May/June 2008 Issue | Posted by Tom and April Hoopes in Homework

International Mom

I wanted to tell you that you are doing a great job with Faith & Family. We have four kids under 5 years old. We just moved a month ago from Iowa to Luxembourg. I am having my subscription sent to my mom’s house and then she will send them here to Lux­embourg.

It will be a wonderful piece of home in my new world that speaks French! You continue to be a great inspiration to so many moms. Keep up the great work.

Jill Brown

Luxembourg

Family Planner

I was ecstatic about your March/April 2008 issue. In Wayne Laugesen’s Mar­riage Matters, “Adopting God’s Plan,” and in Susie’s Lloyd’s article, “Small, Medium, and Large,” both writers took for granted a fundamental principle that is very often completely missed by many teachers and writers on Catholic family life regarding the size of families, including Catholic families. And that principle is that God plans families.

He plans families through the particular and unique circumstances of each family, in dialogue with the couple, who discern God’s plan through each other and together, hopefully with the help of a profound trust in God, which is nourished by fidelity to prayer, regular and devout use of the sacramental life, and the faithful and loving fulfillment of the various duties associated with their respective responsibilities in their family life.

Father Alfred R. Guthrie

St. Fidelis Church

College Point, New York

Stressed Out

Faith & Family doesn’t usually run two pieces back-to-back by the same author in the same issue. But since I am the mother of one of the special needs kids in my article (see page 31), it is fitting that I also wrote the article about St. Thomas Aquinas’ advice for stress relief (page 27). Aquinas has a lot to say in that story about stress. After all, stress has been around since the Fall of man. That’s when human beings first learned that children don’t have to have special needs to cause anxiety:

“Cain! That’s the third time this morning you’ve hit your brother. How can I get the thorns and thistles out of this garden patch before Dad gets home if you two won’t stop fighting? Now you two get over here and help. Abel! Cain! Are you listening to me?”

And that’s also when Eve grabbed a chocolate bar, lit a scented candle, and took the first bubble bath.

Daria Sockey

Senior Writer

Do WHAT?

Thoughtful Thanks

We asked readers: In what creative ways do you thank a teacher or coach at the end of the year?

• One year we made a “My Favorite Thing” book. Each student drew a picture and wrote “My favorite thing about Mrs. Smith is — ”

• As a teacher myself, my dream is to receive cards from students with a message to me that is written in a student’s own handwriting. That means much more to me than anything with monetary value.

• Gift cards for teaching supply stores.

• Try to keep an eye out for things they like. I noticed that our CCD teacher liked to use gel pens in a variety of colors, so I bought her a nice set of those.

• Teachers love food! The mini quick breads make a great little treat.

• I write a note thanking them for their efforts. If they have been especially good, I let their supervisors know, too.

Say WHAT?

Too Much Information

We asked readers: What do you say to a friend who tends to share too much information with you about her intimate life?

• I make a joke out of it and say, “Whoa! TMI!” (too much information).

• I cover my ears with my hands and sing “La La La Laaaaaa, I can’t heeeeeear you!”

• “Oh dear, that’s a bit too much for my tender ears to hear.”

• “I don’t want you to feel badly about what you just shared, but I would like you to know that I am not comfortable hearing those kinds of details.”

• I listen to what my friend has to say and then casually change the subject as though she was speaking of the weather.

• With a smile and a bit of humor I say, “So what did you say you are cooking for dinner tonight?”

Homework:For the September/October 2008 issue send answers to these questions:

Say What? What do you say to someone who talks about anxiety-inducing topics in front of your children: “Did you hear the news about the abducted 4-year-old girl?”

Do What?How do you jump-start family conversations at the dinner table?

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