Early this year, St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan let us know about HALO, Hope After Loss Organization, a program offered through the hospital to assist parents who have suffered a pregnancy loss. It was one of those stories we were eager to share with our readers as it highlighted an effort that helped young families through a very difficult time in their lives.

Yet, it was also one of those stories that is a bit evergreen in the sense that it wasn’t tied to a specific date or event. Therefore, we could run it when we had the space and the time to complete it.

With a small staff, other stories took priority, and months went by before we scheduled it for the paper. I share all this background because this issue of Catholic Herald Parenting features that story, and in a sense, it’s a better story than had we run it when we first learned about the program. I say that because the story now has an even happier ending!

I love Christmas but one aspect that troubles me is the way our holiday gatherings seem to be more about [...]

Laura and Chris Rector, members of St. Mary Parish in Marytown, stand in the nursery originally decorated to welcome home [...]

Mayra, our youngest, just had her cast removed. A month ago, she tumbled head over heels out of her crib [...]

At a recent meeting with all of the players in our foster daughter’s case — social workers, attorneys, birth parents, [...]

Joseph PirilloEating meals together as a family strengthens the family unit, fosters fellowship and overall cohesiveness. I know that, I [...]

My 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.

When I was pregnant with our first child, Jacob, more than 15 years ago, I came upon this quote by [...]

I am a catechist who is involved in first Eucharist preparation. I am appalled that so few of the children [...]