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Rita Buettner

Rita Buettner is a wife, working mother and author of the Catholic Review's Open Window blog. She and her husband adopted their two sons from China, and Rita often writes about topics concerning adoption, family and faith.

Rita also writes The Domestic Church, a featured column in the Catholic Review. Her writing has been honored by the Catholic Press Association, the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association and the Associated Church Press.

Baseball before the storm, commencements of the past, Mother’s Day, and seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time (7 Quick Takes)

May 17, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

The other night we thought our little league game might be rained out, but we managed to get a few innings in before the coaches called it a night. The sky was getting really dark when our 8-year-old stepped onto the mound to start pitching.

Thoughts on our little boy’s First Communion day

May 14, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

This weekend our younger son made his First Holy Communion.

Appreciating our teachers, last-minute First Communion party prep, homemade s’mores, and more (7 Quick Takes)

May 11, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

It was Teachers Appreciation Week this week, and I’m not sure I’ve ever sent more than a note to a teacher before.

Sounding out the words

May 9, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Commentary, The Domestic Church

How wonderful that, even when life isn’t easy and we struggle to be all we can be, our Father is watching us with a divine love that is beyond understanding.

When you can’t do it all

May 8, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

I’m carrying grocery bags from the car to the kitchen when I hear our second grader yelling.“Mom! Mom! Can you roll this baseball to me?” Before I can respond, he turns and looks at me. “Oh, forget it,” he says. “Your hands are full.” Then he runs to the door and holds it open. I […]

Cheering for the Orioles, One Beautiful Dream, conversation contests, geeking out, Pokemon, and holy water (7 Quick Takes)

May 4, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Last weekend my uncle gave us two tickets to the Orioles game, so Daniel and I jumped at the chance to go.

Slops for Dinner

May 2, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

On nights when my husband is working late, our boys and I often eat slops.

Chalk drawings, children who grow too quickly, and highlights of a full week in rhyme (7 Quick Takes)

April 28, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Let’s wrap up National Poetry Month with 7 Quick Takes in rhyme!

An open letter to the Duchess of Cambridge: In praise of third children

April 24, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Kate, you may think you have this parenting thing down by now, but you are in for a treat. Because now you and Prince William are parents to a third child.

A taste of spring, when mom cooks dinner, a munchkin survey, and frigid baseball fun (7 Quick Takes)

April 20, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Our saucer magnolia tree is blooming! Spring is here, and then it’s not, and then it sort of is. I think we might see some warmer weather this weekend.

Big fat juicy ones, long slim slimy ones…

April 16, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

On our morning drive to school it was gray and rainy. It looked like a long, wet, gray day without outdoor recess.As our car inched along in the drop-off line, I spotted a little girl—maybe 6 or 7 years old—bounding along the sidewalk. She was stopping every few feet to bend down to the concrete, […]

Tie tying, homework and all that jazz, learning the Apostles’ Creed, a favorite board game, and more (7 Quick Takes)

April 12, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

My parents sent our second-grader a new tie with a First Communion tie tack to wear, and he could not wait to put it on when it arrived.

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