Search Results for: blog single and sad or single and sassy

Empathy, Sympathy or Pity?

Empathy in parenting, friendship, and life is important—it allows us to connect with other people and have rich and valuable relationships. Not only can we share our empathy with others, but we also need to feel it come in our direction. Sympathy is another one of those emotions of understanding that can be shared. Where we can get into trouble, however, is when empathy and sympathy become pity… I don’t know about you, but I do NOT want people to feel sorry for me and I know that when I find myself feeling sorry for other people, whether it is … Continue reading →

Getting Comfortable Doing Things on Your Own

One of the adjustments that single parents have to make if they have been part of a partnership or marriage prior to becoming single parents is how to go from being a twosome, to doing things on your own. If you are used to having another parent to go to school concerts and conferences with, or stand on the sidelines together cheering at a soccer game, it can take some time to learn how to feel comfortable doing things as a solo parent. In my situation, I was quite used to doing things on my own even when I was … Continue reading →

No Room for Self-Pity

Now, those of you who read my blogs regularly have probably guessed that I am not a tough, stern, no-nonsense sort of person—especially as a parent. No, I am much more of the sort of person who tends to use humor as much as I can and pick my battles carefully. That said, I am also someone who doesn’t leave a lot of room for self-pity in my life or my family. It might seem like a bit of a paradox that I can be relatively easy-going in so many areas, but pretty intolerant of self-pity and feeling sorry for … Continue reading →

Can a Single Parent Be TOO Strong?

One of the comments I get regularly from people—new people I meet and those who are already in my life is that I must be “strong.” This has never set completely comfortably with me—not because I cannot take a supposed compliment—but more because I know how “not strong” I often feel and I also fear that many of these people might be assuming that I am so strong as to not need help or compassion. I assume that I am sending off such a strong competency “vibe” that people never bother to assume I might need a little help… I … Continue reading →

What Can YOU Do for Other Single Parents?

I remember a few years back there was an ad campaign on TV where all of these sports stars stated: “I am NOT a role model.” Okay, I can understand that, but as a single parent, instead of isolating or distancing ourselves from our single parent affiliation, it might be more worth our while to figure out ways to be supportive and encouraging of other single parents… It might seem like single parents are just like any other parents and don’t particularly need any solidarity or encouragement—I do not necessarily think that is true. In fact, offering to share with … Continue reading →

Single and Sad? Or Single and Sassy?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I think that how we see ourselves and how we feel about ourselves can have a huge bearing on how others see us. As single parents, we can send out the message that we are sad, lonely and struggling—or we can let people know that we are happy, secure and feeling great about our lives. I know that even the most optimistic person does NOT always feel sassy. We all have our bad days and those times when we are full of doubts and wondering how on earth we ever got … Continue reading →