Working Towards a Successful Co-parenting Relationship

 Posted by Brooke on March 7, 2010  Raising Children as a Single Parent  No Responses »
Mar 072010
 

Friday I got an email from my son’s 4th grade teacher. In it, she wrote, “By the way, I respect the way you and Matt work together on Christian’s behalf!  He is lucky to have two parents that care so much!” I immediately sent Matt, my son’s father, a text message relaying the compliment and giving him kudos. It was such a proud moment for us, because it hasn’t always been easy to get to this place.

Co-parenting can be difficult, and it is for most people. You and your ex are no longer one parenting unit; you are two individuals working towards the same goal of raising a happy and healthy child. Most single parents forget this common goal, and things get ugly. When you loose sight of the goal, co-parenting becomes an absolute nightmare. Emotions and past differences can enter the picture, and all of a sudden you are hanging up on one another, arguing about issues that have nothing to do with parenting and spending most of your time generally hating each other. Co-parenting does not have to be a horrendous experience. When you find a way to successfully co-parent it makes life much easier for you and your ex, and most importantly your child.

Matt and I have been co-parenting from separate homes for the last 7 ½ years. It hasn’t always been the friendly, supportive, successful relationship that it is now. It took us a few years to adjust to this new partnership. It didn’t only take time; it took putting our differences, our pride, and our righteousness aside to focus on the goal. It has taken hard work. The goal is always the same: a happy and healthy child. It always comes back to the happiness and the health of the child. That’s it. If you can remember this, you are on your way to creating a successful co-parenting partnership. Continue reading »

I Love Having Teenagers

 Posted by Bill on March 5, 2010  Balancing Work and Children, General, Getting Your New Life In Order, How to Communicate with Your Kids, Raising Children as a Single Parent, Teenagers, The Craziness of Single Parenting, Uncategorized  1 Response »
Mar 052010
 

I can’t tell you the number of people, who when I tell them that I have teenagers, say things like “Wow that must be tough” or “Good luck you will need it”. I don’t care, I love having teenagers. I really do. I can still remember what my life was like as a teenager. I can remember when I was honest with my parents and when I was not. I can remember all of the things that I put my parents through. Believe me growing up in a family of five, where you came home when the street light came on, we had allot of time to put our parents through hell. I know that my kids, or at least one of them,  will do the same to me but… I still love having teenagers.

So why you ask? Why after all that you put your parents through? Why after all of the warnings others are giving you? Why knowing full well that the “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” do you still love having teenagers? Well here is why in this weeks (drum roll please):

TOP 10 LIST WHY I LIKE HAVING TEENAGERS: Continue reading »

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The loss of a child

 Posted by Tracy on March 3, 2010  General  No Responses »
Mar 032010
 

As many of you know, the body of 17 year old, Chelsea King was found yesterday.  She was from the local community of Poway.  When I first heard the news, I started to pray right away and always kept her in my thoughts.   I prayed not only for the safe return of her but I also prayed for the hearts of her parents.  The suffering they must be experiencing at this time is one I can’t even begin to fathom and it brings tears to my eyes and a pain in my chest to even think about.  The first thing I did when I saw my daughter, after hearing the news, was to hug her as tight as I could and count my blessings that I was holding the person that mattered the most to me in this world.

To think that all Chelsea was doing was simply running, an activity that I’m sure brought her great joy.  She wasn’t out partying, she wasn’t drunk driving, she wasn’t acting careless in any way.  Some would say that she shouldn’t have been running alone.  It makes me sick to think that a young woman can’t run alone these days without fear of being raped and murdered. Really?

I remember the days when I was a young girl and how me and my buddies use to go out on to the cul-de-sac and play until it was night.  I never worried about anything bad happening.   And the parents back then, I’m sure didn’t have as much fear that anything bad would happen either.   Now, I can’t even walk through a crowded area and let my daughter get too far away from me without fearing someone will grab her and run away faster than I can chase them. And it really bothers me because I like to let my daughter feels as though she has some sense of freedom without feeling like I’m too far away but not totally over-protecting her either.  But today’s world almost forces us to have to be more over protective than may be necessary.  And that just frankly sucks. Continue reading »

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