Top 10 Catholic parenting tips found in the Ten Commandments
By Mary Carty, Catholic Online

JULY 7, 2006 (www.catholic.org)   –  Parents play a crucial role as lead characters in their children’s real-life video, teaching by the words they choose, the actions they take, the expressions on their faces, the time they spend with family and the tone of voice they use.

Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the important role of parents as being authentic examples and teachers of Christian living to children in July 2, 2006, remarks made before his planned trip to Valencia, Spain, July 8-9, to help close the Fifth World Meeting of Families.

“Families should be "authentic communities of love and life in which the flame of faith may be handed down from generation to generation," he said.

But in a busy, media-crazed world where children are exposed to a multitude of negative images, behaviors and peer pressures, many parents are in search of those guidelines or that guidebook to help them deal with the many challenges they face over time as they help their children grow as healthy Christian men and women.

The good news for Catholic parents is that they probably have already learned and have at their fingertips those valuable and useful guidelines.

The Ten Commandments can serve Catholic parents as a useful reference and foundation for parenting and for their own leading of a moral life.

Listed below are some questions associated with each of the Ten Commandments that might help parents take a quick inventory of their life behaviors and parenting patterns, and lead to confirming positive lessons that can be transmitted to their children: