Step by step as the Domestic Church you will get there, put your heart and head into it. Start off by teaching the children to say Grace before every meal.
Here’s your first step:
Grace:
Bless us Oh Lord and these Thy gifts for which we are about to receive from Thy Bounty, through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
They will forever associate their earliest prayers with yummy food and you will have hit the celestial ball out of the park on your first step. Give them lots of hugs and cuddle them while you teach them prayers. You are the primary educator in their lives. From the early days I told my kids right away there there was an invisible side to them, their souls, that would never ever die because God loved them so much and that they were Baptized. We had many wonderful conversations about God. Since young children have a natural ability to grasp this on their level at the preschool age, it will give them a basis to understand the catechesis that will come with school.
Look at some of the materials used in the Catholic homeschooling community as support aides. This is one site I recall from over a decade ago but google for others:
Then for the 2nd step start teaching them to say the Our Father and the Hail Mary. Don’t be afraid - it will flow naturally once you start. You were born for this.
Thanks. :)
We do end every day with the Our Father. Both kids can say it from memory although my little boy who just turned 3 mangles it a little. ;) My daughter likes to talk about God at bedtime and I love those conversations. Saying grace is spotty, it’s not something I grew up with and at 39 old habits die hard so I need to make more of an effort. I want to be able to make Christ a tangible part of our daily lives, not just on Sundays or bedtime. My Protestant friends are really good at that and I admire them for it.
Thank you for the link. Also, I just remembered that there is a new Bible study starting up this month for mothers in our parish who have young kids and have not been able to join a study group because of that. So that will be great, we’re new here and I can meet some Catholic mothers to hang out with finally. It will be good to pick their brains. :)