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jennthmg
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| Posted: June 24 2008 at 1:16pm | IP Logged
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After the great posts on character development and manners, I think we are in great need of something, too. Someone said they think praying together makes all the difference.
SERIOUSLY silly question, but ... how? We make an effort for daily Mass (it's more like bi- or tri-weekly than daily) and we pray before meals, when we hear a siren or when we're having a particularly hard time with something as a family.
I tried a daily rosary last year...but I HATED it.  It'd end up with me frustrated with the same kids and throwing kids out of the room who were too young or too much of a distraction...I'd start the day completely discombobulated after all that effort and sometimes we couldn't even finish. I've tried the angelus...the kids just didn't take to it. We've had some success with a daily bible story and short (tiny) prayers afterwards. We have great success with schoolish activities (discussions during religion class, history, etc about God), but not prayer time.
The kids are aged 12 on down.
Jenn
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saigemom
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I don't have an answer for you. We're in the same boat, so I will be watching this thread.
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Tina
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I started doing daily rosary last school year and gave up half way through. My little one was too distracting.
With him being older I figured I should try again which I did at the beginning of this school year. My oldest 3 and I sit in our "quiet room" which is adjoined to the schoolroom. It's where we have our prayer corner. I put in this Holy Baby DVD or this one. And sometimes this Praise Baby one, even though it's not Catholic, it is Christian and the music is pleasant enough. My almost 2 year old son sits and watches the DVD in the schoolroom. I keep the volume low so it doesn't distract us, and also so he has to stay close to hear. We usually get through 2 to 3 decades before he comes over and starts climbing on us. At that point we go with the flow. I figure it's better to pray this way together, rather than not at all.
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~Tina
mom of 3 girls and 1 little man
The Best of Times
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LLR4
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We begin each day with what we call 'Family Devotion'. It is a mix of scripture study, discussion, prayer petitions, and formal prayer as a family.
We have been using this book below, and have really, really loved it. It is a daily devotion book called 'Making Time for God', and does a wonderful job of taking the scripture, and putting in terms children can understand, and yet not too juvenile for the older kids and parents. It also closes with a prayer related to the scripture/discussion.
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Time-God-Devotions-Children/dp/ 0801045053/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207017546&sr =1-1
The discussion brought about by that days readings and follow up in the book, often easily flows into discussion of related instances or experiences in our own lives, as individuals or as a family. I love all of the discussion it sparks, helping us further connect with one another, and most importantly, our life in undeniable relation to God and our faith.
After discussion, we go around the table with our thanks for blessings and/or prayer petition. Finally, we join hands as a family for the Our Father and Hail Mary.
I hope that gives you an idea or 2 you can use. It is one of my favorite times of the day.
ETA: I think you'll need to cut and paste that link above if you want to see the book I refer to.
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~ Laura
Blessed: Mama to dd{A}13 y.o., and 7 y.o. triplets ds{J}, dd{O}, ds{S} and wife to Michael
Our House of Joyful Noise
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SallyT
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We've had a tough time sticking to daily family Rosary, too, though I personally love doing it. My big kids do pray the rosary themselves, but I like doing it as a family. Meaning to make a redoubled effort in the fall (somehow introducing, or re-introducing things, is easier at the start of a season. That goes for Advent and Lent, too).
We do say the Angelus at lunchtime. It's just become a habit. My littles are often squirmy, but it's relatively short, and we just do it.
In the evening we have informal prayers, right at bedtime, where we bring up the day's intentions. Most of these prayers are sung: we chant the Our Father, the Guardian Angel prayer, and the Salve Regina. Singing really helps us stay focused, though tonight when my 4yo was BELTING OUT the Salve Regina, we did kind of dissolve into irreverent giggles . . .
Sally
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mariB
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I find daily prayer with all of the children tough at times. My 4 year old is very active. I put on a Rosary CD that way I don't feel pressured to lead the Rosary. My little one distracts and always needs something throughout the prayer time. But, that's O.K. That's a prayer too.
I also put on the Divine Chaplet CD while the little one plays and the kids start their school work. At times, I even put on a beautiful John Michael Talbot CD which is soothing as backround music.
For a long time we only did 1 or 3 decades of the Rosary and I felt that was O.K. too as long as the children were getting that prayer time was really important! At times our prayer time (if someone could have peaked in our windows) looked like a zoo with the little ones climbing around and wiggling.
Now my prayer life...that's different. i find I really need to pray on my own with no children or at least LESS children around.
One time Elizabeth posted how she prays 1 or 2 decades of the Rosary before she gets out of bed and I LOVE that and have really tried to incorporate that practice in my daily living.
I hope this helps.
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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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Tina P.
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Maybe you could start with just one decade of the rosary? And then, as the kids are more able to handle the quiet, add another. A family we know passes pictures of the mysteries around while they say the prayers. We've adopted this routine as it helps calm little ones.
We also have morning devotions, like Laura, but our littles are still asleep when we're saying the prayers.
We have great difficulty getting to daily mass. We *had* been getting there one weekday per week. It can be enormously stressful to wake children in the morning and have them wearing something decent in time to make it to what amounts to a half hour mass. But since I had 6-8 weeks left in my pregnancy, I slowed down and have been taking on less and less. Sometimes, it's just not feasible to do all that you want to do.
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Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
Mary's Muse
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Mary Chris
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I echo Tina, start wih one decade. I think Matilda suggested this also for evening prayers maybe. With one decade a day you do the Rosary in a week.
We have lots of Rosary books including a comic book that has ten picture per mystery, so you can either use your Rosary beads or the pictures in the book. We also take turns leading each mystery.
The Graces of praying together come, no matter how many prayers you say.
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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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Lisbet
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We have made family rosary part of our nighttime routine. After dinner, baths, and jammies we all cozy in the livingroom and dad leads the rosary - the littles (I'm usually nursing one or two) fall off asleep on by one, leaving the bigger kids up to finish. After we pray the rosary, I take those that feel asleep off to bed, and dh stays up and spends some time with the big kids. This has always worked for us. Of course it's not foolproof and sometimes one or two little are wound up and distracting for some reason, and we just deal with that on a case by case basis.
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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missionfamily
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We start our day with morning prayer after breakfast. We light a candle and practice singing a hymn (we learn a new one each month). Each of us shares a prayer intention to offer the day for and we make a morning offering. We recite a formal prayer (again we work a on a new one each month) and then move into whatever our faith formation block is that day...maybe a Catholic Mosaic book or a First Communion Prep lesson or a saint story and narration or scripture study. We close with a consecration to Mary and move into the rest of the day. It takes about half an hour and the little ones do what little ones do, but it is kid-focused and we do it every day and have for most of their lives, so I don't even really stop to think about whether it's working or not, it's just what we do. We stop for The Angelus at noon and The Divine Mercy in the afternoon (not always at three). The kids are invited but don't have to say the Chaplet. We do an evening prayer that is Dad-led--usually rosary.
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Colleen
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Mom2gaggle
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We have always struggled with the family rosary. I have started using coloring pictures of the different mysteries to help keep the quiet. We have started with just one decade. The kids have the picture upside down during the Our Father. They have picked out the 2-3 colors they want to use. Then when we start the Hail Marys, they turn the paper over and slowly color their pictures. When the decade is over we stop. Then the next time we are doing that mystery they will start that picture again. Those that find coloring, praying, and trying to decide colors too much for them, use sacrifice beads and pull them for the rest of us. Also, it seems calming for a little one to sit on my lap and watch me color. So far it has been working. I am hoping by the mid-school year to be able to do one whole mystery. We will see!
-Leanne, mom to 6 (15-3) and 3 in heaven.
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graciefaith
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The Rosary is hard for us to get through. My mom encourages me to try or at least pray about it. We stopped praying daily together as a family and for a while, my private prayer time was non existent. I would come to Mass on Sunday feeling horrible that i had barely given any time to God during the week.
This past week, i made an effort to pray 3x a day, as a family. My kids even remind me. lol They really do love to pray. Its not picture perfect though. We pray in the morning, after breakfast and before we start school. We do it at the table.
I've picked out a few prayers. We open with a morning offering(I got it from someone here and it was easy and rhymed), then 3 Hail Marys with O Mary, Mother of Mine, protect me from mortal sin through this day. Then we do the Angelus. We pray the Magnificat. We pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary and 1 Glory Be. Then they end with an Act of Confidence which rhymes so it's easy for them to remember. It goes, Heart of Jesus, I adore thee, Heart of Mary, I implore Thee, Heart of Joseph, Meek and Just, in these Three, I place my trust.
Now, they dont pray all the prayers with me. The Memorare and the Magnificat, they just listen as i pray. With all the Our Fathers and Hail Mary's, they take turns leading, which gets them involved more so they're not so bored.
For lunch, we just do the Angelus. At bedtime, we do a simplified version the Act of Contrition, they say the Act of Confidence, Guardian Angel prayer, Now i lay me, and 3 Hail Mary's but instead of protect me from sin through this day, they change the last word to night. Oh, and 1 Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.
I'm going to start saying 1 decade of the Rosary so maybe with time, we can pray it entirely.
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Blessed wife and mom of 3 girls, Sept. '01, Dec. '02 and Oct. '07
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ALmom
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We do a morning offering - followed by prayers they know, a short Bible reading and some brief discussion before everyone goes off about their day. We try to do it before breakfast but sometimes must do meal first.
As far as focus on character development and manners, we have found those cards in CHC lesson plans tremendous. I cut them out and laminated them for use by the whole family. We pick a card to work on as a family. It becomes part of our morning offering (Please, God, help us all to consider others first and not interrupt) and evening exam of conscience if we are really on the ball. I think each family must have certain bad habits that seem to be family weaknesses - these are the ones we focus on. Interrupting was one of our first - and one that still needs considerable work. We could certainly make additional cards (I keep them all in a basket near our kitchen altar and post it on a cork board or display it on the altar as a reminder. We don't do the stars or anything - just keep on working on it until it is time to move on. I find that my children's weaknesses are typically learned from me but I find it easier initially to "see it" in them and discover how much trouble I have once we start working on it.
The family rosary is really difficult for us to do - (and I too have more of a tendency to get frustrated here and lose it )so we do this on Sunday for the Holy Father when my husband leads. I'd like to do this more often when dad is around if we ever can outside of weekends, but for now,we are struggling with establishing really good bedtimes and rising times. Perhaps when we are more consistent with our routines, we'll try again. Until then, I am trying to pray the rosary in my private prayer time.
Janet
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teachingmom
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We have had the same family nighttime prayer routine for many years. It is a mixture of rote prayers (Angel of God . . .,Our Father, Hail Mary), songs, a litany of God bless so and so which includes family and friends, and spontaneous prayer intentions and thanksgiving by each family member. It ends with a chant/song of Simeon's Canticle from the Liturgy of the Hours night prayer. It's a wonderful way to end the day and brings such peace before bedtime.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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Maria B.
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Oh Irene, I love the idea of ending night prayers with a chant song. How beautiful! You have given me something to think about as an addition to our nighttime prayer routine.
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Maria in VA
Proud Mom to 10 Great kids!
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teachingmom
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Well, I don't have much singing ability , but I'd be happy to teach it to you, Maria! Joe learned it from some religious at a monastery that he spent time at one summer.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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monique
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Praying can be very hard with little ones. Consistency again here (as with Mass) is the key. We started the family rosary before bed about a year ago. Some nights are good, some aren't so good. But it's a journey and just being persistent has helped. We often put the 3 year old to bed before we do the Rosary because if he hasn't had a nap he turns quite growly so that helps keep the Rosary quieter. 
We also sometimes pray the Liturgy of the Hours. We are struggling with this right now because it isn't quite as interactive for the kids as saying the Rosary. So I'm trying to come up with some ideas to get/keep them involved.
In the mornings we always start with Morning Prayer if we don't attend Mass. We also say some other prayers--Memorare, Holy Spirit Prayer and the Prayer to Our Lady of Good Studies.
I try to remember the Angelus at lunchtime but....
Monique
Mom to 5
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Praying Together
