My Sunday Best: Parish Faith Night Edition

It is so amazing to be back! Our computer gave out a couple weeks ago and my cousin came to the rescue. Now to catch up with some great posts because it always happens that you are inspired while unable to share right?

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time and also a Parish Faith Night for our Church. Parish Faith Night is a special event that we host to help share information, fun crafts and fellowship. This particular Parish Faith Night was all about Saints and Feast Days. I was really excited that we were able to attend Parish Faith Night because we missed Mass this morning. My youngest son has been having an extremely difficult time with his emotional outbursts this week and this morning was rough to say the least. We have routines for everything to help our transitions and nothing seemed to keep Goalie in a calm disposition. We had a small talk after he completed Tiny Turtle. We came to the agreement that the wiggles and nervous feelings he was having this morning were very hard to control so we would not attend Mass but we would attend Parish Faith Night. It is sometimes very difficult to make choices like this because it does change our routine but it is better than keeping Goalie in his downward spiral of emotions he finds himself at times. He is formally diagnosed with ADHD but he is currently undergoing testing for an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) because his school and behavioral therapist both have noted concerns that he may have Aspergers, which is a high functioning Autistic diagnosis.

In case you haven't heard of Tiny Turtle before, it is a new anger management skill we have been practicing for Goalie. If you are interested in trying out "Tiny Turtle"check out these simple steps:

First, form an imaginary turtle shell by curling into a little ball.
Second, take at least three deep breaths.
Third, say "I can do it, I can calm down" until you feel better and then you can emerge from your tiny turtle shell and move forward with your activity.

After a rough morning, I am happy to say that we really turned around the day and Parish Faith Night was a success! Our night was centered around the Saints and the Feast Days. To kick things off we started with an enormous pot luck dinner to start our fellowship. We had an abundance of many food, dessert and drinks. After everyone had eaten, we began a discussion with the children about Saints: What makes a Saint a Saint? Who can become a Saint? Who decides who is a Saint? Name some Saints and Feast Days. You know the saying "Kids say the darnedest things?" Well tonight was no different! So many laughs and great memories.

After the discussion we went into our Saint Parade! Here are my two little Saints below: Saint Dominic and Saint Joseph!

In addition to all of our fun events we also incorporated some printables for the families present to work on together. Check out Catholic Icing has an amazing Family Litany of Saints Worksheet that we discussed and there were also All Saints coloring pages. You can check out my Pinterest page if you are looking for some great Catholic coloring pages.

I think that my most favorite part of the evening was being able to sing The Litany of Saints with my two little saints and just be in the moment of peace and fellowship with my parish. I am so glad that the evening was a success and I am looking forward to the next Parish Faith Night in March!

Now that the night is over, I am enjoying a glass of wine with my husband! I am linking this post to My Sunday Best

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: All Saints' Edition

This Tuesday is All Saints' Day and there are only 4 more Sundays until Advent begins! I am also ashamed to say that we have missed Mass the past two weeks due to not feeling well, having one car working properly and just playing catch up. Goalie was actually upset when we were leaving after CCD today but we should be on track soon. Praying and fingers crossed!

I am also disappointed that I did not get a picture of myself and Goalie before I changed into my "I'm in a rut" clothes and got comfy on the couch with a blanket. These past few weeks have been super hard. Broken down car, being sick and fighting the depression and anxiety that become so much harder to deal with in difficult situations. I can share a cute picture of Little Man though. 

Here is Little Man's Sunday Best, he is dressed as Saint Dominic. The Black cape was suppose to be connected at the neck but I could not find a safety pin to keep it together this morning. He is wearing a large white shirt (suppose to look like a tunic) with black pants and a black "cape" which looks more like a veil from this picture. He has a rosary and was pretty pleased with his 1 minute costume. Little Man was dressed as Saint Dominic to do a presentation on him during CCD today.

I had asked the children in my CCD class to pick and research a saint they would like to learn about. Well, I only had three children dress up but I was very impressed with the amount of effort the kids put into their research and saints. I am hoping to share the other costumes on this post later after I have permission from the children's parents. 

After the saint presentations, I discussed some old Christian Halloween traditions and how they have evolved into the modern Halloween we know nowadays. The kids were really interested in the Soul Cakes and story of the Jack O' Lantern. You can find more information on those topics and more on my Seven Ways to Have a Very Catholic Halloween and {JEI}: All Saints' Day. Overall, I think having a small break from our books and getting some hands on learning was fun, exciting and the kids learned a lot about some of their favorite saints. I even shared information about my Confirmation Saint (Saint Bernadette) and encouraged them to keep learning about the saints because they also get to pick a saint in their Confirmation. 

Remember All Saints' Day is Tuesady! My boys will be dressed up as Saint Dominic and Saint Joseph so make sure to come checkout my pictures on Instagram later in the week!

This was my Sunday Best but I'll try to update with a picture from our All Saints' Day Mass!

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: Politics and Catechist Fun!

Well today was a little insane! I'm not sure whether I have shared that I work in hospitality or not but I work in a restaurant. My certification for Serve Safe Alcohol just expired so I had to retake the class this morning at 7am. To make things super exciting, my husband also works in the hospitality industry and he didn't get home until 4am from work and couldn't possibly get the boys ready for CCD and Mass. So I had to bring my children along with me! It was just as stressful as it sounds and I honestly felt a little rushed taking the test because I was so nervous that the boys would bother someone while they were taking their test. I would appreciate some prayers that I passed the test because I REALLY don't want to have to do it again so soon.

This was my Sunday Best: White Blouse with black pencil skirt and black heels. I rocked my glasses because I've been struggling with headaches and the glasses seem to help some. Might be time for a new prescription.

Moving forward welcome to the Catechist Corner:

I mentioned in my last post that I would be sharing some Catechist ideas and tips during My Sunday Best so I decided I had a few ideas to toss around to my fellow Catechists today. First, do you remember your most favorite CCD teacher? I do! Well, I actually was very blessed to have several teachers that had great impacts on my life. One of them is even the Godmother to my children, if that tells you anything! When I think of the most fun I had during CCD, I think about my 5th or 6th grade year when my teacher would create these amazing PowerPoint presentations that looked like a Jeopardy Game! We would read each lesson out loud as a class and he would sometimes have a coloring page or fun activity for us but we ALWAYS got to play "Jeopardy" at the end of class. Really it was him quizzing us but is was so much fun to answer in the form of a question and the anticipation of being called upon to answer questions. He even had Double Jeopardy questions for us and everything!

Here is what I am doing to make my class entertaining. The class is divided into four different teams. Throughout the class each team can win points for participation, answering questions correctly and being the first team to complete tasks. I have even assigned "bonus" points as homework. For example, Last week I asked the kids to find out what the name of our Bishop is and to discuss it with their parents and tell me today. Only 2 kids remembered to do it (besides my son) but let me tell you the teams they were on were super excited to get that extra bonus point today! I am keeping a running tally of the points until Christmas break and then I will restart the point system new with the New Year. Whichever team has the greatest number of points will receive a reward.

I also discusses All Saint's Day with the children and asked them to pick a saint to learn about. I also gave them the option of dressing up on our class Oct 30th if they wished (I'll be giving out bonus points for the dressed up kids but they don't know that yet). I am also hoping to purchase some Saint metals to hand out to the class as a reward for completing the assignment and putting some real effort into it. I am also emailing the parents so they are aware of what is happening in the class in regards to the Saint Project we started, how the teams work and to invite back students that I haven't seen in awhile. I believe communication is key! Plus it gives families something to talk about that can grow their families together in faith. I am so enjoying this group of children I am working with right now. They are all so entertaining and they all are trying and eager to learn!

Here is a list of the Saints that the class has chosen so far to learn about for All Saint's Day:

Saint Joan of Arc

Saint Thomas Becket

Saint Rose of Lima

Saint Valentine

Saint Nicholas

Saint Dominic

Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Saint Paul

As you can see I also have some research to complete so I am able to share as much information with the kids as possible! If you have posts, crafts or other neat ideas surrounding these saints please let me know so I can make them available as resources for my class.

I am also collecting resources for Advent! It's almost here so start planning your families and classes activities soon!

Fellow Catechists, what are you doing to make your Religious Education fun for your children? I would love to hear all about it! Maybe if I get enough interest we could start a link up? Let me know!

After CCD we headed straight to Mass today because Little Man was Altar Serving. Mass was really good and informative today! We discussed the upcoming election and why it is important to vote. Voting is one of the things we can do to help others that don't have a voice so it is our duty as Christians to vote and to vote for the better good. Included in the bulletin were several materials to explain about the issues that will be voted on this election year and they included several prayers to help our Nation. I really liked that they included the picture of Mary Untier of Knots as this prayer card. 

After the exciting Sunday we have had, I am so glad to be home! I plan to enjoy another cup of coffee (or four) and relaxing some before getting the house in order for the week and completing the two or three other posts I am hoping to share!

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: Zombies and Guitar Solos

Wow it has been awhile since I have had the time to linkup with My Sunday Best! I have missed this great linkup so much. It is always nice to reminisce on a great Sunday, especially like the one we had today! Religious education, a great homily about ZOMBIES (yes, you read that correctly, I'll share more later in this post) and Goalie rocking solos with his mini guitar he bought at the Dollar Tree. 

Here is a picture of what I wore today. Its not a great picture because I couldn't find the selfie-stick in the messy house so this was the best I could do today. White blouse, black leggings with a black skirt and black boots. It's been chilly in the mornings lately so I was bundled up!

I have volunteered to be a Catechist at our church and today was my second Sunday teaching Little Man's class. We are having a great time and I have some great ideas to really get the kids involved in their faith. As of right now, I have separated the class into teams and as we progress through lessons each team can earn points and I am keeping a running tally until the end of the religious education school year and the winning team will get a prize! Obviously I will be gifting all the kids something but the team with the most points will get something a little extra. If you are a fellow Catechist keep a look out for the upcoming My Sunday Best posts that I will try to share some ideas and teaching ideas that we can use throughout the year. I also wouldn't mind if you all have ideas or suggestions you would like to share with me!

After classes we headed straight to Mass. It came to my attention that Goalie snuck in his toy guitar he purchased at the Dollar Tree yesterday. When I say he snuck in his toy... he really did. My son put his toy inside his jacket and zipped it up and didn't unzip it until after Mass had started. I honestly didn't know what to do when I saw the guitar. I tried to get him to give it to me but then I triggered an emotional response of anger. Goalie struggles with his emotions so the only thing I could do was compromise. He could play the guitar while the songs were played but when it was "listening" time he had to put it in my purse. It worked pretty well and Goalie rocked out during the songs. He sang, dance and played his little guitar. Several people thought it was cute but I was on pins and needles all Mass hoping he wasn't disturbing anyone. 

To make Mass even more more exciting, our priest gave an amazing Homily today! He pulled the congregation into it by talking about Zombies. He explained that zombies are humans that have contracted a disease that makes their bodies numb. Numb to pain and possible loss of limbs (that was a joke). The body itself cannot work the way that it once had worked before. He then explained that this "zombie" virus works much like leprosy. One of the readings and the Gospel today discussed this disease. 

First Reading: Second Kings 5:14-17

Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

The boys actually listened really well today... for obvious reasons. Zombies and Leprosy actually both spiked their interest because my boys like creepy things, like zombies and leprosy intrigues them because their Papa D's (Grandpa) name day saint is Saint Damien of Molokai.

I hope you all are enjoying this amazing day the Lord has made with your families! Time to clean and get ready for work for me tonight. I am enjoying the smell of chili in the slow cooker filling my home. 

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: Selfie Sticks & Donuts

I have a confession to make... and it is a big one. We bought a Selfie Stick! I never in a million years would dream that I would purchase one of these little things but the impossible has happened. We tried it out today before heading to Mass. The picture came out better than I thought it would. Sorry about the glare and slight blurriness. I washed our curtains yesterday and have not put them back up yet and WOW! The light just pours through our front window. I am hoping to use it to help take our Sunday Best pictures and bring it along on our hikes!

We are enjoying some slightly cooler weather so I pulled out a bright colored three-quarter sleeve shirt with my longer khaki colored skirt. This particular skirt is one of Goalie's favorites because it can swish when I turn. Little Man and Goalie decided to rock their cute little polo shirts and some khaki pants as well. I wish I would have gotten a picture of my husband with us. He joined us at Mass after his workout and went straight to bed when we got home, while I bought donuts! He has been working the late shift so he needs naps before heading out to work. 

I wish I had a cute little story or saying from Mass today but I think we were all recuperating from the past week. Goalie had a hard time sitting still but he didn't say much... just random noises like he sometimes does. My kids are the source of all my entertainment and today we were all just tired!. Little Man was able to sit with us today and he had fun watching the other altar servers helping the priests. 

Remember those donuts I mentioned earlier? Well, we have been doing a much better job sticking to our healthier eating plan this past week so we decided to buy some delicious donuts as a reward! Here are the two I devoured after returning home from Mass. A lemon creme and raspberry filled donut. They were amazing and I enjoyed another cup of pumpkin spice coffee in my favorite coffee cup. It says "To everything there is a SEASON... and a time to every purpose under the HEAVENS" Ecclesiastes 3:1. My husband bought me this cup when we had a brunch right before we moved away from Florida. This is one of my favorite lines from the bible and the painting of trees on the cup is beautiful.

This little cutie joined me as I enjoyed my after Mass treat because the boys grabbed their donuts and ran out the door to go play with their friends. I think my sweet little Lemon has been a little jealous of our new additions to the family this past week so I will enjoy the extra snuggles while I can get them. Saint Francis of Assisi said, "A cat purring on your lap is more healing than any drug in the world, as the vibrations you are receiving are of pure love and contentment." This is so true. Lemon's purring is making me so calm, I might be ready to take a nap too!

Both my husband and I work tonight so I am going to enjoy the quiet for a bit before I start preparations for the babysitter tonight. I still have to make dinner, organize the boys clothes for the following school week and make sure their bags are fully packed for school tomorrow. How do people figure out how to spend their Sundays peacefully the way God intended? I need some suggestions because I feel like I am insanely busy everyday no matter how I complete my household chores and work.

I am linking this to My Sunday Best, Good Morning Mondays at Darling Downs Diaries and Modest Monday at The Modest Mom Blog

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: I Want to be the Boss!

Today is the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary time and we started our day bright and early! Little Man was Altar Serving at the 8am mass and it was a bit of a struggle to get going this morning. We normally attend the 10:30am mass so as you could imagine everyone was a little grumpy. My poor husband had to close at his job last night and did not get home until after 3am so I didn't wake him for church this morning but I am sure he heard all of us rummaging through the house.

My boys were looking so handsome this morning! They got fresh new hair styles yesterday and they are rocking them! My Little Man is growing up way to fast... while we were school shopping and getting ready for Back-to-School he requested I buy him some deodorant, a comb and gel for his hair. I thought I was going to burst into tears.. how can my Little Man be growing so fast?! Well as you can imagine he fixed his hair with gel this morning and has that fresh scent of a young man's deodorant. Goalie requested some gel for his hair too. He wants to be just like his big brother!

I was very proud of the boys behavior today. Little Man was more confident in his Altar Serving Duties and dressed up nicely. Goalie wore a similar outfit but decided to wear his ninja turtle belt and a tie (not pictured above) and sat relatively quiet too. Today was a win!

To make things even better Goalie expressed a desire to be a priest today. It made me giggle because I asked him what makes him feel that way and he said, "I want to be the Boss!" Apparently he thinks the priest is the "Boss" of the congregation and tells his brother what to do while Altar Serving. When I explained that the priest is not a "boss" that does not tell people what to do but is a person God has given a special job to help guide people in their faith and teach them what is right. I also explained that Little Man is not "bossed" around by the priest but he is the priest's helper. Goalie said, "that sounds too hard, I'll just do what brother does and help." Oh Goalie how you keep me on my toes! So who knows if Goalie will be a priest but apparently God is speaking to him.

Included in the bulletin there was this great insert about the Keys to Keeping Kid's Catholic. I thought I would add it here because it has some great suggestions.

Now that I am home and still attempting to wake up. I am going to enjoy another cup of coffee and relax before I have to go to work tonight. Since it is the last Sunday before school begins I have included a prayer to say to begin a school year. I hope that everyone enjoys this beautiful Sunday and ready to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption tomorrow. 

Linking up with A Blog for my Mom at My Sunday Best,  Good Morning Mondays at Darling Downs Diaries, The Mommy Monday Blog Hop and Modest Monday at The Modest Mom Blog

Prayer to Begin a School Year:

God of wisdom and might,

we praise you for the wonder of our being,

for mind, body and spirit.

Be with our children as they begin

a new school year.

Bless them and their teachers and staff.

Give the strength and grace as their bodies grow;

wisdom and knowledge to their minds

as they search for understanding;

and peace and zeal to their hearts.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

My Sunday Best: God Loves My Clothes

August is in full swing. Today is Sunday and officially ends the amazing relaxing summer for me. I am going to do my best to enjoy lots of coffee, reading, my children, a nice long nap and at least one glass of wine! Tomorrow will be the first day of the normally crazy life I live and love. I'll share more on that crazy life later but for now, I am forcing myself to live in the present and enjoy the day. 

So far today I have enjoyed a nice hot cup of white chocolate coffee. Its a fancy coffee my husband makes for me that is super simple to make. Its just a plain black coffee (I prefer Kona Coffee) with a tablespoon or two of white hot chocolate powder mixed into it. It's not the healthiest but it tastes so good and I am going to celebrate Sunday the way it should be. 

After my delicious cup of caffeine, I prepared the boys for Mass. It was a difficult morning to say the least. Goalie wanted to wear everything except something that looked presentable. While I was getting ready, he put on a pair of his brother's pants that were WAY TO BIG and were camouflage with a neon lime green dry fit soccer shirt. When I explained he needed to wear his "nicer" church clothes he proceeded to pout his lips and say "God loves my clothes" as he marched away. I should have known getting him dressed was not going to be easy after that. He came running back to me to show me his new outfit. The same neon lime green soccer shirt with a pair of jeans riddled with holes. All I could do was smile because I knew that Goalie was not in his normal cheery mood. I finally had to ask for Little Man's assistance with Goalie's wardrobe. He picked out an orange polo shirt with a descent pair of khaki shorts: I prefer for the boys to wear dress pants but I was willing to make the compromise today considering the mood of the morning. Thank goodness Little Man was already dressed and brushed his teeth so we could hit the road on time, even after all the fun wardrobe changes for Goalie. We have days like this ever so often. You can check out 5 Tips to Help Your ADHD Child During Mass if you struggle with similar issues. 

Apparently taking pictures made Goalie feel better so we had to take a couple. This one was his favorite. I can't wait to get Goalie new glasses. his bit the dust last week and he just looks so handsome with them.

At Mass, everyone behaved for the most part. Goalie had the wiggles towards the end and was singing EXTRA loud today but I have to say I was quite impressed with how he held his composure today. Little Man has been acting so grown up at Mass. He is quiet, prayerful and respectful the entire time. He said he is more excited about going to Mass next week because he gets to Altar Serve. My babies know how to make a mama feel proud!

Linking up with A Blog for my Mom at My Sunday Best,  Good Morning Mondays at Darling Downs Diaries, The Mommy Monday Blog Hop and Modest Monday at The Modest Mom Blog

God Bless!

5 Tips to Help Your ADHD Child During Mass

I have two rambunctious boys that keep me on my toes as a mom. In addition to the normal craziness that little boys bring into every day, my youngest son has several sensory issues, ADHD and some developmental delays. I love both of my children more than anything else on this earth but there are some situations that really stress me out when I am dealing with the combination of what society deems appropriate and keeping my children happy and involved in this crazy thing we call life.

We are a Catholic family and our faith is the center of our lives. With that being said, there are tasks that we do daily and weekly to be fully immersed in our faith. Going to church weekly and on special occasions is one of those tasks. I personally love going to Mass. I love the simplistic beauty of the chapel, the calming grace of the music, the emotional connection to God that you feel throughout Mass. However, I am sure that you are already realizing that a young child with sensory issues and ADHD can feel uncomfortable very easily in this same setting. Here are the things that we do to help my son feel comfortable and an active member of our parish. These suggestions will help your child but they are not "one size fits all". You will have to adapt them to your own child based on their own special needs. I am going to be real honest. If your child is similar to mine, expecting them to be perfect angels during Mass is probably not going to happen anytime soon but these tips will help them control their outbursts and have a better understanding of what the Mass is and help them make a better connection to God through the Mass.

1. Dress for the Occasion

For my son this means making sure he is "comfortable". I do like to dress in my Sunday Best but making sure your child is comfortable should be your main concern. Some examples of things that I have to consider in making wardrobe choices are based on the touch of the fabric or tags, the sounds his shoes make when he walks, or knocks them against the pew and even if the clothing has a distracting pattern. In addition to these possible sensory malfunctions, I have to consider what I wear too because my son normally sits next to me or in my lap. I can normally wear a sundress as long as the material is soft because he likes to rub the material between his fingers. It is a calming feeling for him, which makes sitting still a little easier too.

We have found that simple works best for our family. A basic tagless polo shirt (not too bright colored) or cotton button up with cotton khaki or black cotton pants or dress shorts and a pair of solid colored socks that cover the ankle and black dress shoes (not too squeaky, so we can't wear these on days it rains or snows) or velcro tennis shoes. He will even wear ties at times. My youngest also enjoys if he is wearing something similar to his older brother, not identical but similar, so I try my best to incorporate the similar wardrobe too. As I mentioned before, this is something that can be adapted to your child's special needs.

2. Find the Perfect Spot to Sit

Once you get to the church, this is extremely important. Logistically planning where to put your child makes a world of difference on your experience and your child's experience during Mass. This is going to sound CRAZY but we sit in the front pew or the closest pew we can get if there are pews reserved for people with difficult mobility. Hear me out.. I am sure that you are imaging me in the front pew wrestling with my child to sit quietly and whispering in his ear several times a minute. Well I would be lying if I said that doesn't still happen but sitting up front actually has helped eliminate some of the extra movements he makes and sounds because he gets pulled into the action on the altar.  We use redirection often when helping get our son back on track and it is very effective during Mass. My oldest altar serves so pointing out big brother always puts a smile on his face.

Things to consider when making your big decision about where do I sit? 

Attention span: Bad attention spans actually will be able to have better attention where they can see what is happening. It is also important to know if your child is old enough to understand what is going on or should you prepare some acceptable activities for your children to do during Mass.

Age: My son is almost 6 so we have decided to make the leap from the quiet room into the church pews. If your child is too young due to age or mentality then siting in the quiet room or in the back is nothing to be ashamed about. When we are having "rough" days we still go into the quiet room.

Logistics: My youngest son ALWAYS has to use the bathroom at some point during Mass. Logistically it is easier to get him to the potty without incident if we sit at the end of the pew closest to the walkway to the bathroom.

3. Routine Schedule

If your child has any type of therapy or supplemental learning programs they attend, you already know the importance of keeping them on a routine. In regards to ADHD, late morning is normally the best time to take my son to Mass. It gives him time to wake up and play to expel some of that extra energy he has prior to being calm and quiet for a bit. We have attended some evening Masses as well but he normally falls asleep. I want him to feel apart of the experience and I feel like he misses out taking a nap. It is also not so fun to put a child to bed several hours after they had a power nap. Every child is different though try out different times and see which works best for you.

4. Keeping Your Child in the "KNOW"

I am love with Catholic Mass and the way it brings the Eucharist to us. There are times to sit, stand, kneel. Time to sing, pray and be quiet. Making sure my son is aware about when it is time to do what has helped him exponentially with behaving. This actually starts well before you ever arrive at the Church. Sunday morning when I wake up the boys we go through our normal morning routine and get ready for breakfast. While they are sitting and eating, I give them their "game plan" for the day.

"Boys after breakfast, we need to all get ready for church. Let's brush our teeth, get dressed and then mommy will fix your hair before we leave"

I don't give too many instruction at once because neither boys can remember more than 3-4 steps. Once we have all gotten ready, we load up in the car and say,

"You guys look so handsome in your church outfits. Remember when we are at church that there are times we can make noise and times we have to be quiet. I know it's hard so I will remind you what to do, ok?"

I like to compliment my boys because I want them to know its important to look presentable at Mass and then give them a reminder of what is expected of their behavior at Church. My oldest is 9 and doesn't need to be reminded but it makes my youngest feel singled out if I give direction only to him. He normally responds back to me with a little attitude that "he knows and he's not a baby". So this system just works for us.

As we walk into church and bless ourselves (holy water fonts are a favorite because of the sensory stuff), I will remind the boys that it is quiet prayer time when we sit but when the priest walks in we get to sing! My little guy LOVES to sing. I will normally open the missalette to today's Mass and find the songs to show him. I allow him to hold our donation to give during the offering and allow him to pass the basket. As long as I make the experience interactive to the best of my ability, he seems to enjoy the experience more.

As you can see this step will keep you busy but making sure your child is aware of what is happening and making them feel included is a great way to encourage their participation. Now I do not want to give you the false impression that my son will do exactly what he is suppose to do when he is suppose to do it. That is not the case, he will stand when we kneel because he wants to see the priest better. He will sing the chorus' solo parts with them. He will even copy the priests blessings when we are suppose to be quiet and reverent. He has cried when we go get communion because "it's not fair he's not old enough". All these and many other outcries have come from my son during Mass but what matters is that he has a love for the Mass and a growing connection to God.

5. The Back Up Plan

There will be days that your child will be in a bad mood or just can't deal with things. Trust me, we have our fair share and that is where the back up plan for Mass comes into play. I am sure that you noticed throughout this post that I referenced having several options for clothing, sitting, participation levels and redirection. All of these things are directly correlated to your child and their unique calming techniques. Make sure to give yourself options for everything if your child is having a rough day. Just make sure that option isn't skipping Mass because it can set a precedence that is hard to break. Here are some ideas to keep in mind that may calm your child if you have to sit in the back or quiet room.

Calming sensory bottles
Church related coloring pages
Children's Bible or story book
Bringing a Snack

I highly suggest checking out Holy Heroes and Catholic Child to find some great toys, story books, rosaries and so much more. My boys personally love the Holy Heroes Glory Stories and Coloring Books.

These 5 tips are basic guidelines to help you and your child enjoy your time at Mass together but as I have stated several times before, each child is unique and their needs are too. I do not medicate my son so we have to find coping activities to help him frequently. I know these guidelines will help you and I hope they benefit your child as they have mine. I completely understand how difficult it is to bring an active child into an environment that is not within their comfort zone. I know the struggle well and I know that God does too.

I am sharing this at Let's Get Real, Theology is a Verb and Reconciled to you.

God Bless.