Search Results for: blog fun is okay for a single parent too

Parents + Easter Egg Hunts = Hare Raising Experiences

Have you ever taken your child to a public Easter egg hunt? I have, and vowed to never subject my sweet, innocent little lamb to another hare-raising event like it ever again. NEVER. EVER. EVER. AGAIN! Okay, maybe I’m being a bit dramatic. Never is a long time and my child is not always sweet or innocent, but she sure doesn’t charge at plastic eggs like wild animals let loose in the Serengeti. Who am I kidding? Wild animals rushing around the Kenyan outback behave better than some of the aggressive parents who flock to local Easter egg hunts. For … Continue reading →

Single Parenting: Managing Transportation for Activities

If you are a single parent you likely work outside the home. This can be a problem without the extra set of hands and wheels that a person in a dual parent household has when it comes to transporting the kids back and forth to their various activities. Kids these days have many more activities to attend to then when we were kids. There is the baseball, football, hockey, cheerleading, soccer, volleyball, swimming, dancing and so on. Many kids have more than one activity as well making the situation even more complicated and overwhelming. We all want what is best … Continue reading →

More Playfulness for a Single Parent

Responsibility, authority, organization—all important elements in the life of any single parent. After all, for most of us, if we do not hold it together and ‘take care of business’ for our families, who will? Unfortunately, this can mean that we forget to get silly, have fun, and get playful with our children. They need to see both sides of us and we need to find some pleasure and joy in parenting too. Sometimes, getting goofy and playful is the best way to do this… Silliness can be incredibly therapeutic and playfulness can help us to connect with our children … Continue reading →

It is Okay to “Fall Into” New Things

We talk a great deal about organization, moving forward and conscious planning here in the Single Parents blog; I thought it would be fair to talk about the other side of evolution. Sometimes, we really do “fall into” new career paths, relationships and life altering changes. This does not have to be a bad thing; in fact, some of the greatest developments in life can be surprises… It is okay to accidentally find yourself in a new circumstance. I know that we single parents may be feeling like the more we can control things, the more intention and purpose we … Continue reading →

It is Okay to get a Babysitter

I know that it can be expensive to hire a babysitter and I also know that as single parents, we may feel like we work so much and are away from our kids so much as it is, that hiring a babysitter is a bad thing. I have not yet met a single parent who did not carry around a fair amount of guilt and spending non-work, non-obligation time away from a child or children topped the list of guilt-inducing activities. I am here to say right now, however, that it is OKAY to hire a babysitter. If expense is … Continue reading →

Fun is Okay for a Single Parent Too

I think many of us single parents work so hard to distance ourselves from the stereotype of the irresponsible, different-date-every-night, financially precarious single parent that we take on a very serious and determined demeanor. In fact, we can get so focused on putting family first and rising to the challenges of duty and responsibility that we forget to give ourselves permission to have some fun. Some of us may even be “punishing” ourselves for our situations or think that we don’t deserve to have a good time since our lives are such a challenge. But, in fact, single parents deserve … Continue reading →

Denial and The Single Parent

You may know by now that denial is an amazingly powerful survival tool. Like many human coping mechanisms, it is not one of those things that is inherently good or bad, but, instead, is a survival skill that has its place. As single parents, we may find ourselves utilizing denial to help us through a particularly difficult time, but at some point, we do have to learn how to process and let go of all that denial. Denial can show its face in many forms–in thinking that we will get back together with an ex who has left or abandoned … Continue reading →

On the Road Again, Parenting on Vacation–Part Two

I introduced my take on vacation parenting by posing the age-old question–Just because you can travel with your children, should you? In my own childhood, we never once took a family vacation. My parents weren’t ogres, but they were busy, working-class people and since we lived in the country on 40-acres, my dad couldn’t see why on earth we would want to go camping or even leave our country paradise during the summer months. So, no vacations. When I grew up, I was determined and dedicated that I would travel with my kids and we would “do” the family vacation. … Continue reading →

Live in the Moment: Advice from a New Baby Blogger

As the newest baby blogger here at families.com, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about all things baby. My own daughters will be three-years-old this spring, and when I started thinking about all the baby topics I could write about, I began to relive some of the moments I’ve shared with my girls since they were born. It may sound trite, but it really brought home to me how quickly the time goes. So for my first blog here, I thought I would give a bit of advice to new moms – don’t waste a single minute wishing for … Continue reading →

The Fitness Blog: Week in Review – Sept 23-29

Fitness Blog’s: The Week in Review Sept 23-29 It’s been a terrifically busy week here in the Fitness blog and you’d think after 10 months of talking about fitness, I’d be tired of it, but I’m far from that date. We’re winding September down and we’re heading into October. Be sure to check out the September End of the Month Fitness Goal Check today and be back here tomorrow to start our run on October fitness. We’re going to talk a lot about Women’s Fitness in October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In the meanwhile, here’s a review … Continue reading →