Solo Mother

My son and I have been excited all summer for the start of Little League t-ball. I registered him as soon as the online form went live. I found him baseball cleats in his wide size. We’re waiting. Eagerly. Every morning he asks me when t-ball is going to start.
I don’t know how to tell him it probably won’t.
Our Little League doesn’t have enough coaches. Only one coach volunteered, and 41 little kids signed up. I’ve reached out through every channel I possess to find volunteers for these kids. I’d coach, myself, but I don’t have a car and so …read more

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This video is flying around Facebook right now, and it’s impossible to watch, but imperative that we do. Here is the note that accompanies the YouTube video:
Katie Shank: Producer-
A new public service announcement out of England is part of a campaign to curb teen texting while driving.
The video shows three young girls in a car. The driver is sending a text message when she gets in a major accident including several other cars. The girl is seriously hurt, and her friends and another driver are killed.
The PSA is being shown to high school students in England, to show the serious …read more

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The King of Everything was up long before seven, curling his gangly body into my bed, whispering and tossing and dreaming and patting my face. “I’m not ready to get up yet, buddy,” I yawned, checking the time.  He curled his question mark frame against mine and pulled my top arm over his body. And babbled quietly about how excited he was about his first day of first grade.
When the alarm went off, we went our separate ways, he to pull on the school uniform I’d carefully laid out for him the night before and me to peer bleary-eyed at …read more

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If you want to know how fabulous MomSpit really is, CLICK HERE.
Have a fabulous weekend, single mothers. What do you have planned? Me? I’ve got a hot date with a pottery wheel, library with the King of Everything, a fantastic farmers market, and maybe a little gospel singin’ for this bruised soul.

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When life gets hard and I find it difficult to breathe, I find it easier to sing.
I’ve been doing a lot of singing, lately. And this is one song that makes everything somehow alright.

Even if the video is a little goofy. Enjoy, single mothers.

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One of the things on my school supply list is hand sanitizer for the classroom. My kid’s too old to be eating the stuff, but did you know? Hand sanitizer can contain up to 62% Ethyl alcohol? And little kids who decide to taste the stuff instead of rubbing it into their hands can wind up drunk on a school day. It’s not an urban myth, either.
Luckily, there’s a brilliant product on the market that offers an alternative to that gross stuff.  MOMSPIT. You’ll never spit onto a tissue and scrub your kid’s face again. Here’s how the ladies over …read more

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I came up in a Lutheran church with a very staunch, very ancient, German congregation. The church was dark, the pastor serious in his duties. I sang in the choir and sat with my mother, falling asleep during every interminable sermon on the horrors of the world we lived in.
I hated it.
When the KoE and I first landed in Washington, D.C. with nothing but $400, four suitcases, and an incredible network of friends, some of our staunchest allies took us in.  They sheltered us and loved us through some scary times. And they took us to their church, St. Martin’s …read more

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I held a baby yesterday. This delicious chunk of love and contentment, a bundle of gummy smiles and teething complaints, soothed the aches and pains of me with the sheer, complex simplicity of it all.
I dangled his little toes in the water of the pool, and blew bubbles and dived under the water to make him laugh while his mother cuddled him in the shade of the life guard’s chair. I felt his mother’s absolute trust in me, with her helpless little child. I remembered again that absolute feeling of strength and calm, the duty of the caregiver, the love …read more

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Really. It was great. I was up by 5:30 but that’s okay, I have fabulous coffee in the cupboard. I went to my pottery class. I had lunch with my family.

And then we walked the King of Everything into our local bank and opened a savings account for him. The financial advisor, Eric, was just great. And so impressed with the KoE, who has been saving his allowance and rolling up coins, and saved his birthday check, and lo and behold, he had more than $130 to deposit today.
Eric explained all the things he was doing as he created my …read more

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I was updating my tally sheet of the child support the King of Everything’s father hasn’t paid for over a year. It’s depressing. I still have to file to get back the money the IRS took from my tax return to pay his berloody taxes… from the year we got married… and we were married in November of that year. I spend more than I make, and have been eating ino my savings account since the ex stopped paying.
I have nothing for a rainy day. And my expenses are going to get bigger as I try to retrain myself to …read more

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