Parenting After Loss

Parenting your living children while grieving the loss of a child is one of the hardest things a parent will ever do. You are carrying an extraordinary cross but have the added weight of of knowing your living children are suffering both from the loss of their sibling and the loss of the mother and father they once knew. Give yourself so much grace, dear ones. Cling to the hope that the Lord is close to the broken-hearted and He will be faithful in carrying you so that you can carry them.

Making Space for your Child’s Grief

  • How can you build a relationship with your children that allows for open and honest communication?

  • What can you do to continue to improve that relationship and make space for their grief?

  • How can you help foster your children’s relationships with the Lord, Our Blessed Mother, and the Saints? Do you need to work on your own formation in this area?

  • One way our grief is soothed is through the confidence that through death, life is changed not ended. How can we help encourage and support our children in this truth?

  • Think of ways you can create moments in your life for your children to be open about their grief. Are you able to cry in front of them? Can you reassure them it is good and holy to cry?

  • Think of ways you can help you and your child to feel your feelings but not get stuck in them. Try to create moments for grief that have a beginning and an end: like visiting the cemetery and then getting ice cream, listening to a memorable song together but then watching a show.