Several people, including myself, have been known to throw "the parents of St. Terese the Little Flower" out there as good examples for married couples with children.

But what about some choices/actions on their part that are FAR from a Catholic ideal? To what extent were they going with the flow, doing things that everyone else in their culture did that were far from ideal in a Catholic formation?

One item in particular: Both father and mother each worked at their business, and sent off their babies to be raised by someone else until they were a certain age! How can we Catholics follow this as an ideal?

I suppose it's one of those things where the saints should NOT be imitated. In other words, saints are not perfect in EVERY respect. The Church canonizes a saint because they reached a level of heroic virtue, but it doesn't mean everything the saint did -- from early childhood to death -- was the best choice.

So I suppose all we can do is "be inspired" by their virtues, but we can't really follow their lifestyle, since using nurses/nannies/servants was a big part of it.

I just find it interesting -- How many of us, here in 2010, would look up to a well-to-do, double-income Catholic couple who sent their children to daycare? Perhaps it's a testimony to the sweetness of St. Terese the Little Flower?

Several people, including myself, have been known to throw "the parents of St. Terese the Little Flower" out there as good examples for married couples with children.
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One item in particular: Both father and mother each worked at their business, and sent off their babies to be raised by someone else until they were a certain age! How can we Catholics follow this as an ideal?...