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Single Parent Tip—Holds, Reserves, and Call Aheads

Who has time to run all over town taking care of errands and making daily purchases? Not many single parents I know do. Over the years, I’ve learned how to take advantage of being able to put things on hold, make reservations, and call ahead whenever possible. It saves time and headaches and makes it less likely that I’ll get stuck running behind schedule. Here are some big single parent lifesavers: If your library has a web site where you can search for books, videos, DVDs, etc. and the place them on reserve—use it. I live in a moderate-sized city … Continue reading →

Single Parents and Chores and Errands–On the Weekend or During the Week?

Time management is one of those ongoing and heated topics of conversation amongst single parents–how do we get everything done and still have time to pay loving attention to our selves and our kids? One of the issues that comes up for single parents is how to manage household chores and errands like grocery shopping–do you save it up and do it on the weekend? Or do you try to squeeze them in during the week so you can spend weekends with your family? I confess that I try to get as much as possible done during the week so … Continue reading →

What Purchases Can I Make Without Actually Leaving My House?

I always swore I was not going to be one of those online/mail order divas—I was concerned that I would spend more money if I did things that way and did not want to give in to late night impulse shopping. I have found that single parenthood, however, has led me to trying to cut corners and save time as much as trying to save money. Now, I ask myself just what I can purchase and get—without having to make an extra trip! I pre-select my library books via the world wide web instead of perusing the shelves; I’ve learned … Continue reading →

How Much Can You Squeeze in a Lunch Hour?

Over the years, I have read all sorts of parenting and time management articles about how parents can run errands, get in their daily exercise, take a nap, pump breast milk, etc.—all during that brief 60-minute break during the work day. From a single parent’s perspective, I’m wondering just how much we can squeeze in during a lunch hour? I confess, I have tried it all—I’ve done my grocery shopping on the lunch hour, driven home to bake cookies for a kid party, headed across town to volunteer at the school, tried to get in a spirited walk or some … Continue reading →

Schedule Play

As single parents, many of us have a tendency to schedule everything–we keep calendars and lists to make sure we get everyone to soccer practice, piano lessons, make those work meetings, and ensure that we don’t run out of milk and bread. But, one of the things that can get shoved to the back burner is a little play. It might help to schedule in play time–both with our child or children and for ourselves–just as we would schedule in all those other things we do to keep our families thriving. I know it might seem a little square and … Continue reading →