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Becky J
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| Posted: July 23 2008 at 5:37pm | IP Logged
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Hi,
I am curious what other moms do as a daily prayer routine with their kids. E.g., daily Mass? Daily rosary? Divine Office? Set times for Bible reading?
Do you do any devotions by yourself?
I'd be curious what you do and also when you do what you do.
I'd also be curious what you think is manageable with "littles" (my kids are 4 and 2).
Thank you!
Becky J
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mellyrose
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| Posted: July 23 2008 at 5:49pm | IP Logged
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I got into the habit this past year of saying a rosary while nursing my youngest ;)
For a few years we said a family rosary before bed. It started when my middle was about 2 and a complete bear at bedtime. I would repeat the Hail Mary, which morphed into a decade, which became 5 decades a night. I'm embarrassed to say that we fell out of the habit when I was so sick with Lydia's pregnancy and haven't yet picked it up again.
I pray with the kids at bedtime each night. We say a few prayers and then ask God to bless various people and mention special intentions.
I pray while washing hands, dishes, etc. Years ago I read the acronym "SOAP (Send Out A Prayer)" and it stuck with me. These aren't deep or intense, but usually quick prayers.
HTH!
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Melanie in AZ
Colin (11/00), Nate (05/02), Lydia (04/07)
My Little Patch of Sunshine
Pictures of our Life
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mariB
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| Posted: July 24 2008 at 5:34am | IP Logged
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Early morning:
-a spiritual reading like The Catechism of the Catholic Church
-Divine Chaplet on CD while kid's are rising and I am emptying dishwasher...
-Rosary with family before Dad goes to work
-evening prayers and parental blessing for children...
I try to attend at least one daily mass a week.
And we attend a cenacle Rosary on Thurs. afternoons with other homeschooled children at our parish church.
-Just started the Saint Anne Chaplet. (Inspired by Aussieannie.) It is lovely, short and quick. I've never had a saint devotion like this. I've said lots of novenas but it is so nice to have Saint Anne to go to!
This question has made me reflect on what we do for prayer here at our house. None of this was planned. when the kids were smaller I would pray the rosary when I nursed too!
We started out with only a decade of the Rosary a day. We did that for a LONG time. The Holy Spirit is so good about guiding each individuals prayer life if we only ask.
Now that I look back over the years, we've taken baby steps in our prayer life...
Hope this helps!
Blessings, 
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marib-Mother to 22ds,21ds,18ds,15dd,11dd and wife to an amazing man for 23 years
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Maddie
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| Posted: July 24 2008 at 7:56am | IP Logged
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Morning prayers:
I start with this one in the morning as I'm trying to crawl out of bed: I will raise my self up from this bed of sleep, to adore my God, and to labor for the salvation of my soul. O may I rise on the last day unto life everlasting.
I found that prayer in an old prayerbook and just love to say it, it really motivates me to get myself going. After I am dressed and ready to go for the day, I say Morning Prayers.
We try to say the Angelus as a family and sing the Regina Caeli together.
In the 3 o'clock hour we try to say some sort of Mercy prayer.
We say the Rosary before bed.
We try to read the Saint of the Day each day, on Sundays I read St. Patrick Summer to everyone, and I am trying to round up spiritual books for my children to read on their own. I really like Catechism in Stories for my middle guys.
We attend a Rosary prayer group and try to include a daily Mass at least once aweek.
We live in an area where Catholic Culture is almost non-existent, so I work very hard at making sure our family life is as Catholic as possible. We celebrate special (to our family)feast days, always pray for the Poor Souls when we pass by a cemetery, we always make the sign of the Cross when passing a church and say, "My Lord and My God, I Love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament". We make visits to the Blessed Sacrament when we are in town. It's a pain in the neck to take three children out of car seats, but I try to make myself do it anyway. The little ones especially love to know Jesus is there waiting for them and that He is so happy they came to see Him. 
We bless our children at night and before they leave to go somewhere.
We always pray a Hail Mary if we hear sirens from a fire truck, policecar, etc.
These are the regular things we do, sometimes we'll say a special Novena or Litany for special intentions.
I try and suggest they offer up injuries as a special sacrifice for a poor soul or any other intention they may have.
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~Maddie~
Wife to my dh and Momma of 9 dear ones
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isjalu0826
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| Posted: July 24 2008 at 10:51am | IP Logged
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As a family, we say a decade of the Rosary each night before bed. (My son is 5). We also try to go to at least 1 daily Mass during the week together. We say grace before meals, a small prayer when we hear/see an ambulance/fire truck/police car with sirens on. (I like the idea of praying for the holy souls while passing a cemetary---will have to remember that one! We do say a prayer for all when we see a funeral procession).
After the nightly decade of the Rosary, we say a few intercession and St.X,Y Z, pray for us... the list grows each night!! :-)
Personally, I try to get to another daily Mass at least 1 or 2 times alone during the week as well. And I try to say the Divine Office and Spiritual Reading, but have not been disciplined about either.
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SusanJ
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| Posted: July 25 2008 at 9:40am | IP Logged
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My kids are the same as yours--almost four and almost two. We go to Daily Mass but I confess that I probably wouldn't if dh weren't available to go with us. He gets home at 5:00 and we can get to 5:15 (I have to make dinner before we go for this to work).
We pray evening prayer (from the Liturgy of the Hours) after dinner with both kids though they are usually just playing in the same room. Ds (4yo) does listen a bit and has picked up a lot of prayers and psalm verses. We just moved so our routine is off but we usually pray Morning Prayer as well. Today was the first time in about a month that we fit that in. The kids were up but just sort of snuggling on the couch with us.
I pray a Rosary while nursing my 2yo to sleep and get in spiritual reading when I can during the day.
Susan
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LucyP
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| Posted: July 25 2008 at 10:41am | IP Logged
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Becky, this is what we do right now. DD is 15mo, and DS is 4.5.
As soon as we wake up we have Family Prayers, which for us is Our Father, Hail MAry x 3, Glory be, and a morning offering prayer, plus any petitions. Then at lunch time, I read a psalm and a chapter from Catholic Children's bible (the Fr Lovasik one). When baby naps, DS and I pray the rosary, re-read the bible chapter, and sometimes I will pray a Divine Mercy chaplet too. When I put the children to bed we do an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory be,an act of contrition and a blessing. We are starting to attend at least one Mass on Wednesday. We also say a blessing with a petition for the Poor Souls at each meal, and a Hail Mary when we hear sirens - DS is so funny and will cross himself and pray even in the midst of a major strop if he hears a siren. And we (I!) are constantly praying little aspirations through the day, just to help me get on through the day!
There's a big gap for me to find more time with my Bible and other spiritual reading. I barely seem to read anymore.
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: What is your prayer routine?
