Single Mom Raising Kids

Arguably the hardest day of the year for any single mom is Father's Day. It is a day to celebrate a person who may have broken our heart, let us down, or fallen into a role as mortal enemy. To say it affects us is an understatement. The impacts can radiate from a multitude of directions. The issues aren't merely related to how our exes have treated us or continue to promote conflict and strife within our lives, but in many cases our hearts break for our children who continue to be impacted and come under a magnifying glass every June.  My kids are lucky. They have some amazing Father figures in their lives and they do have a relationship with their own Father. No one is perfect- far from it- so we've come to accept what they can and can't have as far as interactions go with the men in their lives. They know that they always have a safe place to come home if he misses a visitation, but that doesn't mean that my heart doesn't break for them in the midst o...

It is no secret that getting divorced, or splitting after a serious relationship can bring up a myriad of emotions. Whether the split was mutual or not, it always includes setbacks that can run the gamut from physical to emotional to financial. Digging out of the hole is a struggle, and the necessities of caring for children throughout the course of recuperating magnify each challenge. But, it definitely IS possible! Here's the back story about how I discovered an essential trick for taking note of life in the present, addressing goals, and making progress towards achieving them. When I was young (think 9-12 years old) my family had a stereo system that was the size of a large Amazon box. It played music and we generally played CDs because no one connected the rabbit ears so the radio stations were too fuzzy. I would lie underneath the pool table and stare at the CD player for hours while it played because it displayed equalizer bars. I watched in awe as they danced and refle...