Seton Magazine Catholic Homeschool Articles, Advice & Resources
by Kathy Rinker
Car rides. They can be a blessing or a curse. They can be an exciting road trip or something that makes us want to pull our hair out. I am sure you can guess why car rides can have such a range of emotion wrapped around them. If you guessed it had to do with the day in the life of one of your children, then you are correct.
Now some of us have kids who, reluctantly, can tolerate being in the car. Some us have kids that I think would rather walk the hundred plus miles or so than suffer sitting in a car. Yes? And who can blame any of them. If I had as much energy as little ones do, then I would be reluctant to ride in a car and might even suggest walking. Such energy requires a distraction most of the time.
There is this super neat invention that parents these days are taking huge advantage of – the car stereo. God bless whoever invented this amazing thing, especially the person who invented the CD player for cars.
I used to visit my friend Nicki and her family a lot when she lived close by me. We did everything together; we went to movies, shopped, ate out. Nicki had the two most beautiful little girls, who really preferred to never be in a car, even if it meant doing these fun things.
It was a bit torturous for them. One day, we were all going out to do some shopping. I think the girls were having an especially rough day. But thank goodness for superhero Mom who came in and saved the day. Nicki produced a bunch of CDs that had stories on them, popped one in the CD player, and the car grew silent.
I turned around to make sure the girls were ok – or even still in the car – but to them it was as if the car no longer existed. They were listening with eyes wide and jaws dropped. I was amazed – stories on CD for children. I was so stuck in my adult world at the time that the concept never crossed my mind. All I ever paid attention to were books on CDs for adults.
Now remember my previous post on the lives of the saints? Now picture your children riding in the car with eyes wide and jaw dropped listening to stories of the saints. That is perfect timing. Providing a distraction for your youngster and at the same time enriching his or her life with the story of an awe-inspiring saint.
Multi-tasking can have salvific benefits. There have been numerous edifying CDs on the Church and Her saints for adults. But now Seton has introduced me to this new gem of edifying CDs for children called Glory Stories. And yes, I listened to all of them.
I cannot imagine better saint stories for children on CD. I say this because not only do the stories consist of the lives of various saints, the stories also instruct little ones on extremely important teachings of the Church. I don’t particularly care for the expression two birds with one stone but it seems to fit perfectly here.
Glory stories. They are truly a blessing. They can fill the time with learning about saints going all the way back to Saint Joseph and up to modern day Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
These stories are narrated in such a captivating and charming way that even I, as an adult, turned up the volume if I could not hear them.
Remember what Saint Clement said? “Come to the saints.” And this can be done at home, on an air plane ride, or a car ride. The lives of the saints are accessible to us and to our children at any time and any place.
