Books for the #boymom: On Confession

Lindsay Schlegel launches a yearlong series on book for moms raising boys with Kendra Tierney’s A Little Book about Confession for Children.

Last year, I gave birth to my fourth son. Of course, I was interested in the unique joys and challenges of raising boys from the moment I held my first, a decade ago. But now that interest has quadrupled.

It’s time that I finish those good parenting books I’ve started and make time for the others on my to-be-read list. And so I’m inviting you to come along on the journey with me as I spend this year exploring “Books for the #boymom.”

Not all the books I’ll review in this space are expressly for those parenting sons, but most that I have planned are. As I begin this series, my boys are aged 10, 8, 3, and five months. We also have one in heaven, and right in the middle of our boys, we have a little girl, aptly named Sarah (which means “princess”).

The first book on my list is A Little Book about Confession for Children by Kendra Tierney. When my oldest was preparing to make his First Confession, I laid this book on an end table, and he gobbled it up in a matter of hours. He opted to use the examination of conscience in the back to make a list to bring to the sacrament, and it really seemed to help him.

My second oldest made his First Confession this month, and while he also loves to read, he wasn’t as interested in reading the whole book on his own. Instead, he and I spent some time together with it shortly before his (socially distanced, masked) time in the confessional. I read the examination one page at a time, then closed my eyes to give him space to privately write or not write something down.

I received the sacrament that day as well, and I found the reflections on the Ten Commandments to be helpful for myself. Tierney looks at each commandment from a bunch of different angles, helping children (and apparently, parents) to apply them to their lives in an age-appropriate way. My son felt well prepared for the sacrament, and he gave it a thumbs up after he was done!

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I’m grateful for a resource that helped them joyfully anticipate what I pray will be a routine practice their whole lives long. #catholicmom

I’d highly recommend A Little Book about Confession for Children to parents of any child preparing for Confession — First or otherwise. It spoke to my two oldest — who are very different people — in their own ways, and I’m grateful for a resource that helped them joyfully anticipate what I pray will be a routine practice their whole lives long.

Copyright 2021 Lindsay Schlegel
Images (top to bottom): Canva Pro; copyright 2021 Lindsay Schlegel, all rights reserved.
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