Search Results for: blog single parent families dont have to be chaotic

Who Would I Be?

This long holiday weekend I’ve been busy cleaning and decorating, which has given me lots of time to think. We all wonder when we get divorced if we are doing the right thing, if maybe we shouldn’t have stuck it out, at least for the kids. I can finally say that I did the right thing. My divorce was the best thing that has ever happened to me. As I look around my home, at my things, I can be proud that I worked to provide these things for my daughter. When I got divorced my ex husband got everything, … Continue reading →

Filling Out Forms and Papers

We often talk about the psychological and emotional realities of being a single parent and heading up a family as the solo parent, but there are plenty of logistics that come into play too. Over the years, I’ve found that filling out forms and papers for my kids—everything from school registration forms, field trip permission forms, and even my own application for a passport—have required me to put some thought and consideration into my single parent status and how our family is configured. What are some of the questions that single parents face? Well, are you going to list the … Continue reading →

What Worked Before Might Not Work Now

If you are new to single parenthood, but have been a parent for a while, you might be surprised to find that the way you USED to do things doesn’t exactly work any more. It can be a bit disconcerting to find that life has changed so much that the old ways just don’t’ work any longer. I have found that my role as a parent changed with single parenthood. Since I started out married and partnered, we both tended to “specialize” when it came to parenting and adult tasks–I didn’t have to do it all and there was someone … Continue reading →

Visualize Your Way to a Peaceful Family

The other day I wrote about how single parent families do not have to fall into the myth of constant chaos. It dawned on me that wanting to find more peace and tranquility in our family situations and actually being able to make it happen are two different things! But, I do believe that the first step is to actually get a clear mental picture or image of what you would like your single parent family to be like… We can get so caught up in the stress and tensions of reality that we cannot see beyond that. As single … Continue reading →

How Realistic Are Your Expectations?

I remember years ago when I had tiny children and found myself increasingly parenting on my own–there would be weeks where I was solo parenting and I had certainly never expected that I would be “that kind of parent.” That hadn’t been the agreement I had with my husband and my children’s father, after all! We were going to do everything 50/50, or so he had promised. Over time, I learned all sorts of important lessons about parenting on one’s own—enough so that when it became apparent that I was “almost” on my own and the marriage was over, I … Continue reading →