Be a Happier Parent or Laugh Trying. Betsy Kerekes

      Betsy Kerekes is both comical and compelling as she takes a clear-eyed yet light-hearted look at the challenges of raising a Catholic family in today’s secular world. Just the book for a frazzled parent!

      – Dr. John Bergsma, Ph.D. Professor of Theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville

      Through her engaging, conversational style, Betsy Kerekes presents parents with the means for a happier, more mindful parenting experience, and provides quite a few laughs in the process. A great read for both new and experienced parents.

      – Dr. Gregory Bottaro, Founder and Director of the CatholicPsych Institute, author of The Mindful Catholic: Finding God One Moment at a Time

      The endorsement for this book could be summed up in one acronym: ROFL! Get it. Read it out loud. Then laugh out loud over lines like this: “How best to handle tears and whining can be summed up in one word: Oreos.”

      – Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., Founder and President of The Ruth Institute

      Betsy Kerekes combines a TED Talk’s worth of wisdom with enough humor to bring down the house at a comedy club. A generous measure of compassion and prayer round out this encouraging manual for moms who despair of ever having it all together.

      – Barb Szyszkiewicz, editor, CatholicMom.com

      Witty, insightful, and full of practical advice, Betsy Kerekes shows how almost any difficult parenting situation can be handled better with humor. Be a Happier Parent or Laugh Trying imparts solid parenting wisdom with a whimsical approach and a thoroughly Catholic perspective. With this light-hearted slant on the most serious of topics, you’ll learn to parent with confidence while keeping your sanity and getting your kids to heaven.

      – Marc Cardaronella, author of Keep Your Kids Catholic: Sharing Your Faith and Making It Stick

      This is a refreshing and hilarious book, chock-full of wisdom and laugh-out-loud stories from the parenting trenches. A fun and encouraging read.

      – Catherine Harmon, Managing Editor, Catholic World Report

      Who doesn’t want a happier, more fulfilling parenting experience? This book will help you attain that dream. It’s easy to read, witty, entertaining, and full of real-life stories and parenting advice that will help guide you and your whole family to greater happiness and unity.

      – Bryan Mercier, Catholic speaker, apologist, and author of Why Do You Believe in GOD?

      Be a Happier Parent or Laugh Trying

      Betsy Kerekes

       www.osv.com

      Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division

      Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.

      Huntington, Indiana 46750

      Except where noted, the Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible — Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition), copyright © 1965, 1966, 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.

      Copyright © 2019 by Betsy Kerekes

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      All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission from the publisher. For more information, visit: www.osv.com/permissions.

      Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division

      Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.

      200 Noll Plaza

      Huntington, IN 46750

      1-800-348-2440

      ISBN: 978-1-68192-292-8 (Inventory No. T1969)

      eISBN: 978-1-68192-293-5

      LCCN: 2019930128

      Cover and interior design: Lindsey Riesen

      Cover art: Shutterstock.com

      Printed in the United States of America

      Dedication

      To Our Lady, the Blessed Mother of Jesus, our greatest model for one of the most difficult jobs of all.

      A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves. … The fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace.

      • Saint Teresa of Calcutta •

      (And peace in one’s home means happiness.)

      Table of Contents

       Introduction

       Chapter One

       Being a Happy Parent

       Chapter Two

       Being a Good Parent

       Chapter Three

       Having Fun with Children … Even Your Own!

       Chapter Four

       Tears and Temper Tantrums — What to Do When Your Kids Are Crying Too

       Chapter Five

       The Dreaded D-Word — Discipline

       Chapter Six

       Cleaning Up

       Chapter Seven

       Teenagers

       Chapter Eight

       Keeping the Faith

       Chapter Nine