Parenting, the job that never ends

By |2010-10-28T17:02:10-05:00Oct 28, 2010|

MaryangelaMy youngest sister, Elise and her husband, Mike, recently celebrated the birth of their first child, Wyatt James. In fact, Wyatt arrived on 10-10-10 at 10 …. 54 p.m.!

It’s exciting to have a new baby in the family, even if he is miles away in Arizona. Hearing Elise talk about Wyatt and how he’s changed life in their household brings back many memories of our own early parenting years: little sleep, interrupted nights, seemingly endless diaper changes and even the dreaded chore of packing the diaper bag before venturing out with the baby.

Oh, it seemed so challenging, and it also seemed like it would never end. But the sleepless nights, diapers, baby food jars and stroller-toting days did end and now that I look back, they seem like a blip in time. And, what has replaced them in some ways is so much more challenging.

There are still sleepless nights, but now it’s not a baby keeping us awake; it’s a teenager with a car out at the Friday night football game or at the homecoming dance; and instead of chasing a toddler, it’s trying to balance the various schedules of three active girls; instead of scheduling doctors’ appointments to make sure vaccines are up-to-date, it’s arranging college visits and making sure applications are turned in on time.

When our girls were little, I could control virtually everything around them, from what they ate to when they slept and where they went.

But as they grow older, my ability to control them and their environments lessens. Certainly that’s a good thing and it’s part of the process where they learn to be their own individuals and make choices for themselves, but as a parent it sure can be difficult.

Parenting across borders

By |2016-04-02T00:59:22-05:00Sep 29, 2010|

PP6-7BaurePortrait9-30-10
The Bauer family includes Terese, holding Mayra, age 1; Paul holding Luc, 3, Aiden, 4, front left and Andre, 7. Paul and Terese served on a medical mission in Uganda last summer. As a family, the Bauers plan to return to mission work in Uganda. (Catholic Herald photo by Amy Rewolinski)
Playing soccer with friends on a soft, grassy knoll, trampling over dusty dirt roads to examine exotic flowers and wildlife might be the stuff of an ordinary summer for most young boys, but for Andre Bauer his summer vacation was anything but ordinary.

At 7, the second grader from St. Sebastian School in Milwaukee has more adventure notched under his belt than most individuals 10 times his age. In July 2009, Andre traveled to Nyakibale, Rukungiri District, Uganda where his parents, Drs. Terese and Paul Bauer, served on a medical mission trip to Karoli Lwanga Hospital.

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