Search Results for: blog volunteer time as a single parent

Halloween-Themed Weight Loss Plan for Brave Parents

Have you seen Hershey’s newest Halloween treat? The Screme Egg is a twist on the chocolate giant’s popular Easter sweet, the Cadbury Creme Egg. The shape is the same, as is the egg’s white filling, but the Halloween version features a green yolk-like center instead of yellow. If that doesn’t make you scream, perhaps the nutritional value will. A single Screme Egg contains 150 calories and five grams of fat. While that may not seem like a frightening amount, consider that the average adult can fit roughly four of the eggs in his or her mouth at one time. Add … Continue reading →

I’m So Much More Than Single

What is the most important part of your title as a single mother? Which really defines you? Are you single first and a mother second, or are you a mother first? For me, it’s always about Hailey, my real identity is as her mother, being single in not even in the top ten words that are part of my identity. I am a mother, daughter, sister, friend, valued employee, writer, quilter, voracious reader, animal lover and a creative baker. I just happen to be single. Being single doesn’t define me yet too many times that becomes who I am. I … Continue reading →

Lessons Learned – New Health Blogger Intro

As a new health blogger for Families.com I wanted to take some time to introduce myself. Through the years I’ve been a granddaughter, daughter, two times a wife, sister, and a mother—five times over. At this point, my family consists of only my girls and my sister. Everyone else in my family passed on at a young age, even my first husband. I feel that facing so many health-related tragedies is what spurred me on to study many health fields, as well as doing my best to take care of my own health and that of my girls. No matter … Continue reading →

Residual Income with Suite101 – Being Frugal With Your Time

As a work at home mom, I’m always looking for new ways to bring in money. Being a blogger for the Single Parenting, Home Schooling, and Frugal Living categories here at Families.com is one way to make a little bit of cash while doing something I love. However, there are a lot of scams and just a lot of bad deals on the Internet. Over the past 7 years I wasted more time than I care to think about. I simply learn the lesson and move on. Then again, there are places online where people make a lot of money, … Continue reading →

Volunteering – Time For Yourself While Helping Others

For the past seven years I’ve been a work at home mom. I love the flexibility it offers since I can start and stop any time I please, take vacations, and not have a boss breathing down my neck. Well, to be honest, I’m the worst boss ever. I tend to push myself too hard and since I do work from home, all I think about when I’m at home is work. Whether I’m online writing articles, counseling a client, doing a movie review, or cooking and cleaning when I’m offline, I always tend to work. Since my kids are … Continue reading →

Single Parenting: How to Feel Good Again (Or At Least Semi-Human)

Divorced or Widowed? There is no doubt that you are not feeling yourself these days. On some days it may even be hard to get out of bed. So why bother? I will tell you why. Walk through your house. There are signs of life everywhere…scattered toys, little cups, action figures, Barbie dolls. Go into the bedrooms and see your sleeping children. That is why you must do it. Feeling good again after a divorce or the death of a spouse is like trying to put on a pair of size 6 pants when you are a size 8. It … Continue reading →

Recession Benefitting Your Marriage: Quality Together Time

The other day I got to thinking about an article I wrote earlier this year where I wondered if recession might actually benefit our marriages. I had visions of turning the concept into a mini-series. Alas, so far I only offered suggestions on ways to recession-proof your marriage with dinner. But recently I was reminded about this forsaken series of articles I’d planned to write. Thanks to our trip to Alaska, we’ve been trying to conserve resources. Therefore, more and more I’ve been considering ways Wayne and I could spend quality time together, be active and have fun, yet not … Continue reading →

Single Parents will Benefit from Getting Involved

I know how busy you are—as single parents, most of us have little time to sip a cup of coffee, let alone add more activities and events to our daily lives. I do believe, however, that getting more involved in our communities, our neighborhoods, or other facets of the world around us will benefit us, our families, and make our lives richer and more fulfilling. Instead of focusing on all of the time that you do not have, it might be worth your while to look for ways that you can get more involved with things that make you happy, … Continue reading →

Single Parent Dating—Finding Shared Interests

There is an ongoing debate when it comes to dating and romance—do you look for similarities or differences? When you are a single parent who is also trying to date, time can be precious and it is hard enough to find a little time for ourselves, let alone get out there and “meet people.” A strategy that works well for many single parents is to look for shared interests—whether by meeting people at activities that we already enjoy (church, volunteer work, hobbies, etc.) or find people who like to do similar things so we have a “jumping off point” for … Continue reading →

When a Single Parent Volunteers

Maybe you have read the words “single parent” and “volunteer” and are wondering how in the world a busy single parent finds time to do volunteer work too! Or, perhaps, you have your own tales of how you wish you could volunteer more, or you have been snubbed by the alpha-parents at your child’s school because you are working and taking care of family business instead of baking cupcakes or doing playground duty. The fact is, single parents can and do volunteer, we just need to find the right opportunities that mesh with the rest of our lives. I doubt … Continue reading →