Messy Family Podcast : Catholic Conversations on Marriage and Family

I love playing with preschoolers. They make me feel so powerful! Family game night is quickly becoming lost in our technological age, but it is an extremely valuable pastime for families with many benefits. Not only can board games bring people together, but they also exercise our brains and people skills while having fun! Listen in as we discuss why we play games with our family, the types of games to play, and some obstacles we have encountered with our kids. What are your top three family games, games you played when you were growing up or games you play now?

"There are no such thing as stupid questions - only stupid people." (but not you all!) All of you out there have helped to make this a lot of fun for us, and we love to hear from you! We have gotten so many encouraging comments from our listeners, but also some really great questions. In this episode, we decided to take some time to answer some of the questions we have gotten from all of you out there, so this is a very eclectic podcast! Some of the topics we cover include sleeping situations, dealing with kids who don't want to ask forgiveness, reading suggestions for newly married couples, family routines, and more. Thank you to all who sent in questions: keep them coming, so we can address them in future podcasts! Show Notes: here are some resources and podcasts we mentioned: Exceptional Marriages The ministry & show of Dr. Greg Popcak Our podcast on Love Languages and the 5 Love Languages book Our podcast on Family Meals Our podcast on Sibling Conflict Theology of the Body for Teens Our podcast on Preparing for Adolescence Family Prayer (special links: Book on Devotion to the Sacred Heart and Ceremony for Enthronement of the Sacred Heart)

Life was so much easier when Apple and Blackberry were just fruits. Changes in technology happen rapidly, and kids are usually way ahead of their parents on the newest app, social media, or website. It is hard, or even impossible, for parents to keep up! Some parents choose to keep their children away from all screens, and though sometimes we envy these people, this isn't the route that we have chosen. The reality is that techology is here to stay, and as parents, we need to prepare our children to become responsible adults who can function in this world with self-control and discernment. There's no easy answer, but we can offer some encouragement and perspective!

Sometimes we try to love someone in a language they don't understand. We all know that our mission is to love our spouses and our children, but how do we communicate that love to them? How do we speak so that others can understand what we are saying? Gary Campbell has written a book that we have referred to often called The Five Love Languages, and it is a great way to figure out how to speak in the way that our family can understand our love. Show Notes: The 5 Love Languages (website and resources) 5 Love Languages of Children book by Gary Chapman

"The desire of a child to do a chore is inversely proportionate to their ability to do it." ~ attributed to a frustrated mother Chores are a part of every family's life, or at least they should be! Sometimes, faced with children who can't do a job correctly and with children who refuse to do a job without complaining, parents find it easier to just do everything themselves. But this doesn't teach children responsibility, nor the essential life skills every person needs. So why are chores valuable? More importantly, how can we get our kids to do them? Show Notes: Age-appropriate chores from Focus on the Family Happy Housewife chores based on age Maria Montessori's philosophy on children's work

"Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior." Ephesians 5:22-23 Catholic lectors regularly skip this passage for a reason: people in the pews start squirming when it's read! Why is that? But this is an integral passage to help us understand not only the relationship between husbands and wives, but in understanding how we can image God to each other. Often this passage is misinterpreted and misunderstood, but after years of thinking about this and living it out in our marriage, we want to offer a different view. The heart of what we talk about is how God wants to love each husband and each wife through their spouse. Marital love is a powerful thing because God wants to use it to show us His powerful awesome love. Listen in as we offer our perspective on this compelling passage of God's Word. Show Notes: Read it in the Bible: Ephesians 5:21-31 Fr. John Riccardo's podcast on The Biblical Vision for Marriage An old article Alicia wrote on submission in marriage ( from 1998!)

"…the happiness you are seeking, the happiness you have the right to enjoy, has a face and a name. It is Jesus of Nazareth, hidden in the Eucharist." - Pope Benedict XVI The only way our faith as Catholics makes any sense is when we see our lives as a journey to deepen our relationship with Jesus. If our lives aren't about Him, what is the point? In this podcast, Mike and Alicia interview Alicia's parents, John and Michele Doman, who are the parents of ten and grandparents to over forty young Catholics! Amazingly, and by God's grace, all of the Doman children are living lives as dynamic Catholics - married and in the priesthood. John and Michele discuss their own faith journey and how they guided their children into a relationship with Christ over the years. There is much wisdom in their words, as well as humor and honesty. What a wonderful resource to hear from a couple so in love with the Lord and with such great experience!

"All great change in America begins at the dinner table." ~Ronald Reagan Those of us who grew up with family dinners and who continue that tradition with our kids may not realize how counter-cultural we are becoming! Having dinner as a family is one thing you can do for your children to help keep them healthy, emotionally stable, and academically successful. It's a simple thing, so why doesn't every family have dinner together? In this podcast, we discuss why family dinners are an important part of our parenting, why they can be challenging, and some ideas to make your mealtime even better than it is now! Listen in and join the conversation. Show Notes: Grace Before Meals with Fr. Leo Family Dinner Box of Questions Game Once a Month Cooking or get their cook book Once a Month Meals Family Dinner Project

"Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight." Proverbs 12:22 One of the trickiest parenting situations to deal with is when a child tells a lie. Do you punish them? If you do that, won't they keep lying to avoid punishment in the future? How do you know they are lying? What if you think they are lying, and they are actually telling the truth? In this podcast, we will share with you what we did in our family when we had kids in our household who had a habit of lying. What we've learned is there is not a "one size fits all" approach to this issue, but we can give you some ideas and suggestions as we share our experiences with you.

"A happy marriage is a union of two forgivers" - Ruth Bell Graham The only person in the world you will always agree with is yourself. Especially in marriage, people are going to disagree and this can lead to heated arguments between two people who really love each other. This is normal and healthy! We have to fight to work out our differences and come to a greater unity in our marriage. The goal of an argument should not be to be right, but to be unified. Even if you disagree, arguments should lead to greater clarity and understanding. In this podcast, we talk about why to argue, principles for good arguing, and some basic ground rules.