I get a phone call every once in a while from single mother friends whose kids don’t want to go to their father’s house… not for the weekend, not for the holidays, not for Christmas. I honestly don’t know how to make it all better, and I understand the pain the moms go through.
Because the kids have to go, or the law might come down on you. It’s his turn, right? He’s their father, no matter what, right?
Maybe.
Yes! Really! Act now, buy it fast, stocks are limited.
Well, not really. But I was looking at my bedraggled little back yard today and dreaming of spring. My patio is my favorite place to be when it’s warm. We have a table for two, and some blooming flowers. Herbs and citronella plants. It’s a nice place to be.
Which of course, led me to thinking about places that make me happy, and that sense of inner quiet I feel when I find them. So of course I began to think about zen gardens.
And so I offer you this, for when you …read more
Sometimes, my career is glamorous. Sometimes, I remember where I live and what I am, and who I get to meet. It’s heady. Who did I hang out with tonight?
A Facebook poll got me thinking about the whole mess that No Child Left Behind has created in our schools. Teachers are teaching to the test. Enrichment programs like art, music, sports are being cut so kids have more time to learn the test materials. Hell, some schools don’t even have recess anymore.
Kids aren’t learning. They are memorizing. They aren’t being taught how to think. They are being taught to regurgitate what they have been told, with little understanding of how or why the answer was found.
I think it’s a disaster.
A single mother in the military says she was forced to choose between her country and her kid. What did she do?
I used to look at my house and despair. How on earth was I going to get everything clean all by myself? I don’t think I ever could if I thought of my home as one big place to clean. Instead, I have broken it down into manageable chunks I thought might help you single mothers, too. And moms with partners. And dads, too.
Keep what you need where you need it. That means a sponge and cleaner in each bathroom. Know what that means? You can scrub the sink while you brush your teeth. You can give the shower a …read more
Talking to your kids about absent dads is a little liek talking to them about sex. Give them as much information as they need for the age, and let it go after that.
Its hard to talk to your kids about your ex. For some ex-couples, it gets easier. But not necessarily If you are a divorced mother, the questions your children ask about their father are apt to be fraught with minefields. If you’re a single mother by choice, you’re going to have a different set of answers to give your kids. Widows will have to deal with loss and …read more
I’m running out of clothes. So far, I’ve lost 18 pounds… and nothing in my closet fits right, anymore. Are you losing weight, and dreading the idea of shelling out money for a new wardrobe? Especially for an interim size?
Here’s my idea: PASS IT DOWN.
I’m swiftly shrinking out of my size 10 clothes. I have some nice stuff, and while I could Freecycle it, put it on eBay, or otherwise try to dispose of it, I thought perhaps I’d encourage others who are losing weight with an interim wardrobe as they pass through the larger sizes to their ideal weight.
I …read more
Two weeks in, and the King of Everything is LOVING school. I’ve never seen him so engaged and interested. It’s amazing. His first grade teacher gives him extra assignments to challenge him, and far from complaining about the extra work, he’s revelling in it, and rising to the occasion.
When he gets home from school he gets to go to the park for an hour, then back home for homework and a science experiment. On Friday afternoon, I got to assist him in the old ’suck the egg into the bottle’ trick, and we all jumped and laughed in surprise when …read more
I couldn’t sleep last night, and wound up thinking too much. First, I thought that I should go buy myself a body pillow to sleep with at night, take up some of the empty space in my queen sized bed.
I’m lonely. I’ve had the rug pulled out from under me in all areas of my life lately, and no one gets it. Oh, all my friends are trying to help — they call, they send me e-mails, they invite me to go places and do things, but they don’t get it. And that’s a big problem. In general, I mean.
I …read more
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