Getting divorced is so much more complicated when there are children involved. The marriage may be over, but this person will continue to be a part of your life for the next 18 years because of the simple fact that you have children together. This is one of the most difficult things about divorce; you get a constant reminder that your marriage failed and that you now have to share your children. Like it or not, you are tied together for life. You now have to find a way to navigate your new co-parenting relationship, which trust me, is a … Continue reading →

Single parents get a fair amount of criticism from the community on a regular basis. It seems you can’t turn on the TV without hearing about how the world’s problems all go back to these kids coming from broken homes. “If only his father was around, then he wouldn’t have dropped out of high school.” “If her parents had stayed together she definitely wouldn’t have ended up pregnant!” We’ve all heard it a thousand times before, but when it comes down to it, we’re not really that different than our married counterparts. We love our children just as deeply, support … Continue reading →

I recently read a staggering statistic about the number of negative thoughts most people have in a day. How negative do you think you are? This article claimed that most people have around 300 negative thoughts every single day. I’d be willing to bet that when you are in the middle of a divorce that number is much, much higher. That first month after my divorce I remember being completely consumed in negativity. My life was falling apart, how could I not be? I wish I could go back and show myself what a positive thing it turned out to … Continue reading →

My son loves his daycare. He’s made lots of little friends and is learning social skills that he may not have learned otherwise being an only child at home. But lately I’ve been a little worried about him. He’s been coming home saying that one little boy in particular has been being mean to him. Little kids often get into little scuffles over having to share a favorite toy or taking turns on the swings, but when Logan started coming home from daycare with scratches all over him I knew I had to do something. I couldn’t switch daycares at … Continue reading →

Every once in a while I find myself becoming a tree. I may not be literally standing out in the yard trying to grow leaves, but you’ll understand better in a moment. It isn’t uncommon for single parents to be upset with where they are at in their lives. Getting divorced is hard, dealing with the loss of a spouse is hard, raising kids is hard, pretty much anyway you look at it, single parenting is hard! It is easy to dream of a simpler world where the laundry would fold itself, the dishes would magically end up in the … Continue reading →

Mommy’s Christmas Break is coming to a close. Monday it’s back to school and back to daycare. My heart sinks every time I think about it. I’m usually really excited to get back to school, but this time the thought makes me want to break down and cry. I’ve gone to school from the time Logan was born. It’s all he’s ever known. But now that I am officially into my major I have a lot less flexibility with my schedule. This means that he is going to be spending a lot more time in daycare. The lady that does … Continue reading →

Kids love sock puppets. They are easy to make and we all have some old socks laying around. Just throw on some googly eyes and poof! You have a new little friend for your little one. You can make these as simple or elaborate as you want. You can add little antennas and turn your friend into a bug, add some little ears and make yours a puppy, the sky is the limit. While these do make great toys, they also can serve a much higher purpose. Logan had an imaginary friend named Greta. He played with her, talked with … Continue reading →

Today as I was teaching my 8-11 year old girls in Sunday School the issue of cell phones came up. When I was in elementary school I never would have even thought to ask my parents for a cell phone. In my mind it was like asking for a car, it was an adult thing. None of my friends had cell phones and I don’t even remember my mom having one until I was in middle school. As a kid I remember when my grandpa came home with the cool “car phone.” We all thought he was so high tech! … Continue reading →

One of the hardest things for kids to deal with is having one set of rules at Mom’s house and a completely different set of rules at Dad’s house. How are they supposed to keep everything straight if things aren’t consistent at both places. My ex and I grew up with a very different set of values, we were raised completely differently, so coming together on rules was a hard one for us. Things that were a big deal to me, were quite often the opposite for him. In cases like these communication is extremely important. You may not be … Continue reading →