If you are not familiar with the Catholic Toddler Letters of Frankie and Adam, please check out
An Open Letter to the Church Lady
The Catholic Toddler Letters: Adam’s Letter to Frankie (2)
Frankie Gets A Penpal (3)
A Letter to Frankie about Mom’s Mass Survival Tips
January 24, 2013 by 4 Comments
The Catholic Toddler Letters of Frankie and Adam
January 18, 2013 by 2 Comments
This is an excerpt of a letter from a wonderful little boy named Frankie, graciously transcribed by his Mom at=&0=& to the Lady who yelled at his Mom at Church.
I love how eloquent this letter is and how Frankie clearly rises above uncharitable reactions. He has clearly grasped the lessons of St Therese, converting experiences with cranky people to opportunities for growing in virtue.
Please check out An Open Letter to the Church Lady Who Yelled at My Mom for the full letter in its wisdom-filled entirety!
Now, my mom and I both know you are wrong. I’ve been coming to this Mass with my mom since before I was born. These people are crazy about me. “EVERYONE” seems to me to really like seeing young families at Mass.
…Well, here’s what I have to say about that: Who says you get to have peace and serenity at Mass? Either of you? You can be hair shirts for each other. And maybe it will make you both better people.
All right Church Lady, that’s all for now. Those block towers aren’t going to smash themselves. But I’ll see you tomorrow morning. And pretending you don’t see me just makes me try harder to get your attention. love Frankie
The truth is, Frankie sounds a lot like my little guy Adam. Adam likes to be busy and he has been known to bang things around and shriek a little at Mass. OK, a lot. Frankie’s Mom and I have decided to let Frankie and Adam be pen-pals and explore the world of Mass, cranky people, Catholic traditions, being the youngest of 5 or 6 kids and how they are doing on their daunting task of training their Moms, Dads and siblings in their Catholic vocations.
Little Frankie writes:
…you took that opportunity to tell my mom a lot of stuff including that she is “a big distraction in Mass” and “everyone thinks so”. Ouch.Now, my mom and I both know you are wrong. I’ve been coming to this Mass with my mom since before I was born. These people are crazy about me. “EVERYONE” seems to me to really like seeing young families at Mass.
…Well, here’s what I have to say about that: Who says you get to have peace and serenity at Mass? Either of you? You can be hair shirts for each other. And maybe it will make you both better people.
All right Church Lady, that’s all for now. Those block towers aren’t going to smash themselves. But I’ll see you tomorrow morning. And pretending you don’t see me just makes me try harder to get your attention. love Frankie
The truth is, Frankie sounds a lot like my little guy Adam. Adam likes to be busy and he has been known to bang things around and shriek a little at Mass. OK, a lot. Frankie’s Mom and I have decided to let Frankie and Adam be pen-pals and explore the world of Mass, cranky people, Catholic traditions, being the youngest of 5 or 6 kids and how they are doing on their daunting task of training their Moms, Dads and siblings in their Catholic vocations.
Here is Adam’s first response to Frankie (graciously transcribed by Adam’s Mom):
Hi Frankie,I know just what you mean. My mom gets uptight about cranky old people who glare at her just because I like to stay busy at Mass. Sometimes I want to sort the hymn books or just flip through them, pretending I can read music. Sometimes the kneeler isn’t down and someone has their foot on it and it makes it hard to have it ready for kneeling time. Sometimes I just want to make a dash for the aisle and see how many pews I can cross before someone grabs me.
Kitchen Table Felt Castle
January 17, 2013 by 22 Comments
I’ve seen so many cool DIY forts made to fit the kitchen table that I just had to make one for my own kids. This is a project I actually tackled a couple years ago, but my kids still play with it. We’ve also been able to breathe new life into it, by adding IKEA felt tools…
Review: 100 Activities Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church
January 10, 2013 by 3 Comments
This book contains over 100 self-contained activities, reproducible for the classroom, categorized as primary, intermediate and advanced levels of difficulty. The activities include fill in the blanks, letter puzzles and codes, chronological events, yes or no quizzes, true/false, word scrambles, drawing exercises, picture identification, scriptural reflection prompts, hymn and prayer composition and small research projects. The book offers excellent supplemental materials to teach Scripture, Commandments, Sacraments, the Life of Jesus, the Mass, Morality and Prayer.
The book includes plenty of directions, and sometimes even a script for the teacher, as needed. Answers are included in the back of the book for easy reference.
A few of the activities that got my attention were “the Attributes of God” as described in Scripture and how the first letter of the names of the Apostles…almost spell Baptism!
I like the suggested research projects, encouraging study and reference to Scripture, the dictionary and the Catechism. Simple answers are given in the back, while more descriptive definitions may require research to check.
I generally shy away from word searches, letter coded messages and letter puzzles, but these easier activities seem to be appropriately aimed at the younger primary kids, to help familiarize them with the proper terms.
Classic Games: Converted 2 Catholic!
January 5, 2013 by 3 Comments
One of my favorite ways to integrate our Catholic Faith into regular family life is to find activities and games that our kids like to do anyway…and infuse Catholic Catechism and Saints into them.
So far, we have showcased the Saints in =&0=&, used Catechism facts to add meaning to coveted card combinations in=&1=& and used our Painted Saints as player pieces in =&2=&and =&3=&Our latest awesome favorite game…converted to Catholic with Saints… is=&4=&
We have made =&5=& for the =&6=& like the =&7=&
Did you make a resolution to get better organized in 2013?
January 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Happy New Year!
this post is linked to Sunday Snippets: A Catholic Carnival!
Did you make a resolution to get better organized in 2013? I did! I also want to study more saints…and add to my Painted Saints collection and
Super Saint Trivia Cards!
I Spy…the Saints index
January 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I Spy…December!
I Spy…November!
I Spy…October!
I Spy…September!
I Spy…August!
I Spy…July!
Dragon Slayers with FREE Progress Report
January 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I just love this book! Dragon Slayers is an imaginative and inspiring book to help train 8-12 year olds in the virtuous task of Dragon Slaying! Sir Wyvern Pugilist instructs with humor and diligence how to identify sins and vices in the form of dragons, learn tactics to withstand their attacks through Scripture and the proper use of the Armor of God. He also introduces our ultimate mentors: the Dragon Slayers of Old (the Saints) and the Chief Dragon Slayer Himself (Jesus). It is such a creative book, complete with an enrollment certificate, profiles of successful Dragon Slayers and the dragons and helpful advice and encouragement along the way.
This book will captivate your 8-12 year old, and you might just find yourself reading eagerly along with them!
This is an awesome gift for your child, niece, nephew or Godchild!
Project Portal: Advent & Christmas!
December 30, 2012 by 1 Comment
In my attempt to reorganize (and de-clutter!) the Equipping Catholic Families blog, I am creating side-bar Project Portal buttons that will lead to multiple photo galleries of Equipping Catholic Families projects, organized by particular Season or Catholic Family focus…like Saints and Converted 2 Catholic games and activities! Thanks for your patience and thanks for checking out our past projects!
Merry Christmas…from the McConkey Minions!
December 26, 2012 by 3 Comments
I usually make some kind of crazy family gift…and this year I decided to make our first ever family set of matching T-shirts. I know it’s a bit of a stretch to call this a Catholic craft…but I think it was a hit as a family gift, building on our own funny little family culture.
