by Carla Galdo
Intense, physical, squirmy, imaginative, verbal, sweet, boyish, and loud: my three-year-old son is all these and more. He is my first baby-turned-child, the first little person I am accompanying on the complicated journey of figuring out how to dwell in the world.

Rating: 5.0/5

by Carla Galdo
My little ones and I made a weekday odyssey into downtown Washington, D.C. today. Highlights included my three-year-old crowing "ALL ABOARD!" in the mostly-quiet commuter train, my one-year-old nearly crawling into an indoor fountain in the art museum, and a perfect-for-little-boys exhibit featuring lots of armor and swords. The day also gave us all an unplanned lesson in sacrificial giving.

Rating: 5.0/5

by Carla Galdo
Clad in bright green and fuscia, my angel slowly wheeled her walker up behind me as I stood at the counter of the local recreation center, trying to fill out paperwork for a complicated refund. My rambunctious three-year old, Gabriel, was leaping dangerously from one side of the hallway to the other, and shaking the 10-month old's stroller in an attempt to "make little Peter laugh." Try as I might, to both fill out papers and distract Gabriel from pushing the stroller down the nearby stairs or putting Peter's eye out with one of his silly flapping gestures, I couldn't seem to do either completely or successfully. My silver-haired angel, assessing the situation, wheeled herself next to the stroller and held it still.

Rating: 5.0/5

Good habits, discipline, obedience... such words come up frequently in the hum of my interior mothering monologue. As a relatively new mother (my oldest is only 3) I often find myself wondering whether I am instilling good habits in my son, if I am requiring too much or too little obedience, and if I am disciplining him in a well-ordered and proper way. Interestingly, the same words that come up in the context of mothering have also been popping up again and again in my own prayer, with regards to my own personal and spiritual life. It has become clear that improving my personal habits and discipline is perhaps key to improving those of my children.

Rating: 5.0/5