I’ve always loved handmade tree ornaments with their picture on/inside them. My daughter’s 1st grade teacher is asking us to send in photos, I’m sure, for just this reason. I love hanging them on my tree every year. It’s usually a wreath with their smiling face in the middle. The wreath can be preprinted for the child to color or made from clay constructed by the child. I can’t wait to read the ideas of other parents. This site is always a wealth of information. Good luck!

Not sure of your budget, but the best gifts my children ever brought home were small plates (if you can find some solid dessert sized plates at a discount store), with Christmas 20xx ( the year) and their name painted around the edge, and in the center, a snowman made out of a footprint, or a reindeer made out of a handprint. Three of mine went to the same school, so I have 3. I am thinking of making them myself with the others when they get old enough, I display the plates in my Dining Room china cabinet all year long.

I don’t know if you have access to an oven (the cafeteria ladies helped me out), but I have baked cakes in mason jars for each parent.  It can be as simple as you want (cake mix and ingredients) or all homemade.  Just google “cake in mason jar” and there are a lot of recipes.  I think each batch made 8 jars, so we split into three groups.  Each kid got to add an ingredient and help mix.  I took pictures of each kid before hand and put their picture and Merry Christmas on a label, printed them, and stuck them on the jar (after it was baked of course).  There is a cost involved (mason jars aren’t cheap), but it is something that parents still remember.  Good luck!

I am having this EXACT SAME problem!!  My Catholic friends are posting this video.  (I actually have not watched it because I am sure that it paints a lovely picture!) I am pretty much done with FB because I have no idea how to respond.  Thanks, Mary!  Any ideas?

I personally don’t respond to such posts on facebook. I don’t think it ever leads to anything productive. People posting this link aren’t looking for discussion, they are just posting their belief for all to see. If you really feel the need to respond, the best approach might be to post a counter-link that supports your views. It will let all your fb friends know how you feel. I don’t know about you, but this particular link has been shared by about a dozen of my fb friends so far. I’m certainly not going to comment on each one and how could I pick which one I should single out.

@Rebecca,
I thought that, too. Do you have a video/link which I could post to counter theirs? Thanks!

I don’t have a good one, but maybe someone else here will have an idea.

Just ignore it.

People generally are not posting things on FB looking for debate.

If it bothers you to have to scroll around it all the time, hover over the corner of the post and click ‘block story’.

Same boat here.  At least 7 friends on Facebook posted that link, most of them Catholic.  It’s really annoying to me but I usually don’t say anything.  Finally, though, I posted a comment on one person’s saying the link was interesting, and I certainly respect the young man’s poise and conviction, but I don’t think he is persuasive in making a legislative argument.  I thought that was fairly non-inflammatory.  If she wants to challenge it I would then be able to reply more.  An impassioned, “I’m doing great, I love my family, I don’t want them to be second-class citizens,” says absolutely nothing (to my mind) about the nature of marriage, the reasons why marriage is defined in law as it is, the importance of fatherhood, the impact on religious freedom, etc.

As an aside, you know what struck me about that video?  The student made a comment in the beginning about how his sister was conceived by the same anonymous sperm donor, “so we’re full siblings, so that’s kind of neat.”  And I thought, wait, you mean biology somehow might matter?  No doubt he loves his family and is a nice young man, which is great, but he and his sister will never know their father, because of the intentional choice of their mother.  I think that’s a true shame and I certainly wouldn’t want society to enshrine that mother’s same judgment in law that fathers are irrelevant.

Kallie: Great advice and great reflections.
@Kallie & cjmr: I don’t want to ignore it. I do not want to do nothing because they are making a point to people that don’t have an opinion, yet. How can we sit back and do nothing? I believe that is where problems start: When good people do nothing.
I just want to make a point regarding same-sex marriage. Have you heard of the show ‘Modern Family?’ This is a great example of how “society” is trying to form us into accepting that there is nothing wrong with same-sex marriage. That they are “normal.” I heard something on NPR radio a few weeks ago. I forgot the radio hosts name, but she had a caller on that was pro-gay marriage. In fact, he was gay and he and his partner had a daughter. The host asked him a question regarding how society views gay marriage and what he hoped for the future. He said that society is coming around and that SCHOOLS are doing a great job teaching the youth that a same-sex family is NORMAL! I was sickened. Most people do not have an opinion, yet, and I can’t take a back seat. It is a crucial time to protect families.

I wouldn’t create debate.  It is true that kids can grow up well adjusted in homosexual households.  They probably grow up better adjusted than the millions of kids (40% by todays estimates) who grow up in a single parent family.  I wonder if he realizes that he may have 100’s of half siblings out there as well.  I wonder too if we will start seeing a movement for polygamist families and their rights now that the show “sister wives” is on TLC.  Do these same people posting this link believe that polygamists should have the same right too? Where does the definition of marriage end?

Mary, here’s a link I just ran across - very thought provoking.  I think it would be a better response to post this, rather than get into a facebook debate with every friend who posts that other one.  I had a friend post that pro-gay marriage one too.
http://youngandcatholic.net/2011/07/catholic-and-gay/  God bless.

Friends of mine (but non-Christian) posted that as well. I never comment on such things on FB, but someone did direct one friend to this report, which I had previously read but didn’t think of in response to this:

http://www.familyscholars.org/assets/Donor_FINAL.pdf

The parent organization here, Institute for American Values, has many studies it’s put out regarding marriage, reproduction, and other family-related issues.  The “statistics game” can be tough b/c people seem very willing to ignore stats they don’t like, but the above report may be a place to start… or is at least interesting reading if you think you’ll be in discussions about this in the future.

I think I understand where you’re coming from. I would love my kids to have more of a classical education. I love many aspects of homeschooling. But right now, they are in a good - not perfect - Catholic school.

Part of what helps bring me some perspective is to think of my own experience. The Catholic grade school I attended wasn’t terribly challenging for me in some respects. There were some things lacking in retrospect. But, I turned out ok. I excelled in school through the years, and I continue to love to learn.

Sometimes the best we can do is really the best we can do.

Dear Josie,
I would suggest that you call upon the graces of your marriage and remain in prayer with your husband regarding your children’s education, get in touch with other Catholic Homeschoolers in your area (check for homeschooing groups at you local library or online), and try to remember that Perfection is only found in Christ.  Whatever you do now or in the future, I think that it is important to remember that we as parents are responsible for educating (even if we delegate some/all of it) and passing on the Faith.
God did not bless us with our children and say you are on your own.  He wants us to come to Him for all things. Hang in there and enjoy the gifts that are your children, while you continue to seek His Will.

I think it helps to have the perspective that there isn’t a “perfect” way to educate your children, just find the best way for that particular season of your life. If it helps, have you and her husband come up with the top 5 things that you feel are crucial to your children’s education, and then seek out the method that serves MOST of those Top 5. I think it’s also a helpful discussion to re-visit every year or 2, as things (and people!) change. And, most importantly: PRAY!!!!
God Bless!

Hi Josie,
I guess I have done it all - Catholic school, public (high) school, and homeschool.  For me, homeschooling ended up being the right solution.  I wish I had started sooner!  But it is a little crazy at the beginning, and with younger children, and even later on at times.  There is no perfect school setting.  Looking at things with a “best for now” attitude helps; perfectionism doesn’t.  Finding others who support you helps; isolation doesn’t.  Good days are good and bad days are bad no matter what school environment your children are in.  Pray, make the best decision you can, and then don’t worry about it, even if you decide to reconsider later on.

Josie, getting a degree in education is a very interesting idea - but look into it carefully before you invest.  If what “getting a degree” means is courses in class management, as I have sometimes heard, and totally focused on listening-based learning (i.e., classroom style teaching), it will not apply well to home schooling.  You might do better to find a place where you can audit classes (less expensive) and choose the content-based ones (how to organize a curriculum, hands-on ideas for elementary school science, etc.).  It’s not the degree you want, it’s the skills that will serve your family.  Good luck!  P.S.  You have a supportive husband - what a gift!  Let him know you appreciate him!

Gloria, the best resources for schools in your area are the moms who have children there.  I found out all about my parish’s school when my kids were your kids’ ages when I joined a mother’s rosary group (we prayed, the kids played).  Their insight convinced me to NOT send my children there.  If I still lived in that area, I would count on them to help me pick a high school for my son.