Summary: 

Listen in as we respond to Catholic parents seeking guidance on navigating sensitive family issues through faith. One parent is concerned about supporting her 11-year-old daughter who expressed same-sex attraction after speaking with her bisexual sister. Another couple is figuring out how to explain same-sex relationships to their young children with both compassion and clarity about Church teaching. A mother balancing part-time parish work and parenting feels overwhelmed by her toddler’s distress and behavior changes. Others seek advice on newborn sleep training and resisting parenting product marketing. They all value faithful, practical support in raising children with love, discipline, and Catholic values amid modern challenges and we did our best to respond to them from our own experience - always giving principles but encouraging them to make their own choices.  

 

References: 

• Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First 3 Years Matters   https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143109294?linkCode=ssc&tag=onamzmessypar-20&creativeASIN=0143109294&asc_item-id=amzn1.ideas.26NWEBLKG2VH&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ons_d_asin

• Age Appropriate:  https://messyfamilyproject.org/mfp-048-age-appropriateness/

• The Art of Raising Humans:  https://messyfamilyproject.org/mpf-326-the-art-of-raising-humans/

Key Takeaways

• When a child is coming to sexual maturity around 11-13 it is a very sensitive time of development and parents need to be very careful about the messages those kids are receiving at that time. 

• How we respond emotionally to alternative lifestyles is a powerful example to our children of how to love people who don’t share our values

• Kids, especially toddlers, have no idea how to express their emotions so we have to recognize what they are going through, even if it's not the ideal situation, and respond to it. 

• The key to babies sleeping is routines!  And getting them to a point when they are almost asleep, but not quite asleep.  Give them support to fall asleep independently and little by little they will be able to do it! 

• Every parent needs to take in the different philosophies of parenting and do what works for them!  As children grow, you will respond to them differently - sometimes with more directives, and sometimes with more conversations.  It all depends on their stage of development!