Solo Mother

March 27th, 2008

$204,060: hello, baby!

$204,060
That’s how much the USDA is projecting that middle-income families will spend to raise children born in 2007. What boggles my mind is the fact that folks are SURPRISED that the cost of raising a child is on the rise. I’m now old enough that I can say stuff like, “I remember when a can […]

By christina -- 6 comments

March 26th, 2008

Child support watch: nearly four months

I’m at my wit’s end. The ex is flying to be with his son on the KoE’s fifth birthday, and can afford to do that… but says it will be another couple of weeks before he can catch up on his child support payments. April will begin month four without a dime. And yet he’s […]

By christina -- 18 comments

March 25th, 2008

Ghosts, land mines and ancient history: memories of a breakup

I’m packing up, consolidating my house and my heart for yet another iteration of self in this transformation from married woman to single mother; sifting through what to keep, what to sell, what to give away. I remember the faces of each of the women who came to my rented, crumbling home in those first […]

By christina -- 8 comments

March 2nd, 2008

wise words from a very wise, former single mother

I don’t talk very often about the fact that my mom was a single mother for a while, back when I was a little thing. She was a waitress, and I’d spend the nights with Nanna and Herbert, and the days running around with my wonderful mom. I remember being scared of construction sites (I […]

By christina -- 1 comment

February 28th, 2008

From the blogosphere: a look at divorce and families

Lorra Lynch, a reporter out in Macon, Georgia on WMAZ-TV Channel 13, ran a piece on the impact of divorce on families with children. It gives a ray of hope that families can heal after such traumatic events.
View Part I
View Part II
If you’re just beginning the struggle to recover from divorce, I […]

By christina -- 2 comments

February 24th, 2008

rebuilding from the ashes… one single mother’s story

They had been together for 13 years… but ten months after their son was born, he left her for another woman.
How do you rebuild your life after that?
Katherine Lee, part of the Working Woman crew and formerly an editor at Parenting Magazine, had to figure out how to answer that very question. Read […]

By christina -- 0 comments

January 22nd, 2008

what I’m sick of, single mothers…

It’s time for a rant. I don’t rant very often, do I? I hope I don’t whine and complain often, really, I hope I don’t…
but still.

I’m sick of paying 100% of the rent on 50% (or less, because let’s face it, women still make less than men) of the total income ‘whole’ families enjoy
I’m tired […]

By christina -- 56 comments

January 20th, 2008

PostSecret has a message for us today…

Do you worry that you won’t be able to provide a balance for your child as he or she grows up and misses a father figure? Some of you are full-time solomothers, single parents without significant involvement from your child’s father (and, I suspect, there are some solodads who lurk and read here; know I […]

By christina -- 2 comments

January 19th, 2008

Ghost Fathers

This week has left me raw and rather peeled, and reading this article in the Globe and Mail – well, I’m a little teary-eyed tonight. The article is about Ghost fathers… fathers who pay the money, but don’t spend the time, don’t call, don’t write, don’t get involved with their children’s lives.
I can’t imagine […]

By christina -- 3 comments

January 16th, 2008

A fascinating look at the economic forces behind divorce

If you read nothing else today, flip over to Slate and read the excerpts from Tim Harford’s new book, The Logic of Life.
The first excerpt was published yesterday, about the effect of current factors on marriage — utterly fascinating look at the economic reasons behind what armchair pundits are quick to label ‘Black Culture’… but […]

By christina -- 6 comments