Sign-In
Cart
When Parenting Gets Hard: A Catholic Guide to Discipline, Difficult Behaviour & Raising Faithful Children with Wisdom and Practical Guidance in This D
Paperback
Religion General General Christianity
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Sep 20 2026
Pages: 176
Weight: 0.54
Height: 0.38 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
What do you do when you love your child deeply-but you no longer know what to do next?
When your child will not listen, talks back, lies, becomes defiant, or seems overwhelmed by emotions, it can be easy to believe that you are failing as a parent. When sibling conflict fills the house with tension, when you and your child keep clashing, or when your teenager begins pulling away, the hardest part is often not knowing how to respond without making things worse.
When Parenting Gets Hard is a practical Catholic guide for parents who want to bring together love and boundaries, discipline and dignity, faith and everyday family life.
Rather than offering quick fixes or promising perfect children, Catherine Elowen helps parents look beneath difficult behaviour, examine their own responses, draw wisdom from Scripture and Catholic teaching, and take practical steps that can be used in real family situations.
Inside this book, you will learn how to:
- Respond when your child will not listen, talks back, lies, or becomes defiant without relying on constant shouting or escalating threats.
- Use consequences that teach rather than simply punish, while keeping the relationship intact.
- Handle sibling conflict, overwhelming emotions, repeated clashes, and a home that feels like a battlefield.
- Work through disagreements with a spouse or co-parent about discipline and household expectations.
- Move beyond short-term compliance toward conscience, character, virtue, responsibility, and self-mastery.
- Build a Catholic home where faith begins at home through prayer, the Mass, Scripture, and everyday practice.
- Respond when your child questions the faith without turning every conversation into an argument.
- Navigate screens, social media, comparison, peer pressure, smartphones, gaming, and AI with prudence and clear family boundaries.
- Respond to a child's serious mistake by holding truth, accountability, mercy, and hope together.
- Stay connected when your child chooses differently from you or your teenager begins pulling away.
- Keep the door open when parenting does not produce the outcome you hoped for-without confusing faithful parenting with control over another person's choices.
This is not simply a book to read once and put away. Each chapter combines real-life situations, Scripture, Catholic formation, practical steps, sample words to use, reflection questions, examples, and a prayer for the parent.
The book also includes a Practical Parent Toolkit with eight usable resources, including a difficult-parenting-moment worksheet, a family rules worksheet, a family technology agreement, a daily and weekly family faith rhythm, difficult conversation starters, a family conflict reset, and a 30-day family reset.
Most importantly, this book offers a different way to think about difficult parenting seasons: your child's hardest moment does not have to become your family's defining story. You can correct behaviour without rejecting the person. You can set boundaries without losing warmth. You can apologise when you get it wrong. And you can keep forming, loving, guiding, and accompanying your child even when the outcome is not yet visible.
If you are a Catholic parent looking for practical guidance for discipline, difficult behaviour, faith formation, family conflict, and raising children wisely in today's digital world, When Parenting Gets Hard offers a steady place to begin.
Also from
Elowen, Catherine
The Road from Riches to Heaven: How to Pursue Success, Use Wealth Wisely, and Keep God First
Elowen, Catherine
Paperback
Also in
General Christianity
The Early Versions of the New Testament: Their Origin, Transmission, and Limitations
Metzger, Bruce M.
Hardcover
The Destiny of Modern Societies: The Calvinist Predestination of a New Society
Zafirovski, Milan
Paperback
The Death of Christ: The Bible and Popular Culture Vs Archaeological and Historical Evidence
Rutledge, Steven
Hardcover
The Gnostic Secrets of the Naassenes: The Initiatory Teachings of the Last Supper
Gaffney, Mark H.
Paperback
A Child Shall Lead Them PB: Martin Luther King Jr., Young People, and the Movement
Burrow, Rufus
Paperback
Twelve Ordinary Men: How the Master Shaped His Disciples for Greatness, and What He Wants to Do with You
MacArthur, John F.
Paperback
The Unseen Battle: Spiritual Warfare, the Three Rebellions, and Christ's Victory Over Dark Powers
Muddamalle, Joel
Paperback
Becoming Like Jesus Bible Study Guide Plus Streaming Video: A Bible Study on the Beatitudes
Chandler, Matt
Paperback
The Jesus Discoveries: 10 Historic Finds That Bring Us Face-To-Face with Jesus
Johnston, Jeremiah J.
Paperback
Experiencing the Heart of Jesus for 52 Weeks Revised and Updated: A Year-Long Bible Study
Lucado, Max
Paperback
Church History in Plain Language, Fifth Edition: The Story of the Church for Today's Readers
Shelley, Bruce
Paperback
The Elijah Mandate: A Call to Courageous Faith in a Hostile World
Tsarfati, Amir
Piflaks, Tolik
Paperback
Contend: Standing Boldly for Biblical Truth While Winning the War Within
Mitchell, Philip Anthony
Hardcover
Torn: Why People We Love Are Leaving the Church and What We Can Learn from Them
Strong, Jeff
Paperback
Tactics, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
Koukl, Gregory
Paperback
Christian Beliefs, Revised Edition: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know
Grudem, Wayne A.
Paperback
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
Kobes Du Mez, Kristin
Paperback
Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity): On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence
Leo XIV, Pope
Hardcover
When God Doesn't Fix It: Lessons You Never Wanted to Learn, Truths You Can't Live Without
Story, Laura
Paperback
Jesus & Your Mental Health: Linking God's Word and Modern Science to Find Peace about Mental Health
Maxwell Lmft, Rebecca
Paperback
Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy
Jones, Robert P.
Hardcover
Friendship in the Lord: A Catholic Classic on Holy Friendship and Life in Christ a Christian Classic
Hinnebusch Op, Paul
Paperback
Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence
Pope Leo XIV, XIV
Paperback
Determined to Believe?: The Sovereignty of God, Freedom, Faith, and Human Responsibility
Lennox, John C.
Paperback
The War on Reality: Recovering Truth in a World That Celebrates Lies
Hayes, Phoenix
Turek, Frank
Paperback
Sounding the Seasons Enlarged Edition: One Hundred and Ten Sonnets for the Christian Year
Guite, Malcolm
Paperback
The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important That Happens in Between
Koukl, Gregory
Paperback
Making Your Case for Christ Bible Study Guide: An Action Plan for Sharing What You Believe and Why
Strobel, Lee
Mittelberg, Mark
Paperback
The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus
Strobel, Lee
Paperback
The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The Revised and Updated Translation of Sacred Gnostic Texts Complete in One Volume
Meyer, Marvin W.
Robinson, James M.
Paperback
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World
Comer, John Mark
Hardcover
Love Thy Stranger: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West
Ehrman, Bart D.
Hardcover
Bloodline Deliverance Study Manual: How to Set Yourself, Your Family, and Your Bloodline Free from Demons and Curses
Brewer, Mike
Brewer, Andrea
Paperback
The Official Study Guide to I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
Jimenez, Jason
Geisler, Norman L.
Paperback
Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions-A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord - 2nd Edition
Concordia Publishing House
Hardcover
Tactics Study Guide, Updated and Expanded: A Guide to Effectively Discussing Your Christian Convictions
Koukl, Gregory
Paperback
Evidence That Demands a Verdict Bible Study Guide: Jesus and the Gospels
McDowell, Sean
McDowell, Josh
Paperback
The Unoffendable Heart: Breaking Free from the Cycle of Offense to Live in Freedom, Love, and Forgiveness
Signorelli, Mike
Paperback
The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God
Strobel, Lee
Paperback
Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You
Burke, John
Paperback
All-In-One Holy Bible with Apocrypha: 300 Books in Print Plus Audiobook, Videos, and Thousands of Digital Books
Publishing, Dunatos
Hardcover
Did America Have a Christian Founding?: Separating Modern Myth from Historical Truth
Hall, Mark David
Paperback
From Genesis to Junia: An Honest Search for What the Bible Really Says about Women in Leadership
Sprinkle, Preston
Paperback
Every Moment Holy: Death, Grief, and Hope: (Pocket Edition) (Over 100 Prayers and Illustrations for Finding Purpose & Hope During Seasons of Loss or S
McKelvey, Douglas Kaine
Hardcover
The Divine Conspiracy Bible Study Participant's Guide: Jesus' Master Class for Life
Willard, Dallas
Paperback
The Two Swords of Christ: Five Centuries of War Between Islam and the Warrior Monks of Christendom
Ibrahim, Raymond
Hardcover
Dwelling in Christ: Discover the Threefold Path of Spiritual Transformation
Bailey, Jonathan R.
Paperback