I Think I’m Going To Be Single For Awhile…

 Posted by Bill on January 31, 2011  Balancing Work and Children, Dealing with Divorce and Your Ex, General, Getting Your New Life In Order, Taking Time for Yourself, Uncategorized  1 Response »
Jan 312011
 

It seems that I am always getting emails from people asking me what the secret to happiness is as a single parent?  So many of these people are just plain unhappy being single as, a single parent. They seem to believe that they need to be with someone in order to validate their life. Then I get the emails from the married people telling me how unhappy they are, and again, if they were just single they would be happier. To this group I say “Be careful what you wish for”. The only place that you are going to find true happiness is first and foremost, within yourself. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

So why is it that everyone who is married thinks that I have the perfect life as a full time single dad. My friend Mike likes to tell me that I have it all figured out. I have branded myself at www.singleparentstown.com as a single dad, and in order to continue my mission, I must stay single. I remind him that some day I hope to find my soul mate again and live happily ever after, but he doesn’t believe me. He says  that he just likes to live vicariously through me. I then have to remind him that I have no vicarious to live through…

I recently noticed on Facebook that I must be single, married or complicated. Why are those the only options I have? Why can’t I be single and uncomplicated? What about those who want to be single and married? Or those that are married and want to be single? Oops, I better not go there… What about those who are complicated and want to be uncomplicated? Facebook really needs to give us all a few more options if we truly want to let our friends know who we are. Continue reading »

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Never Give Up – The Gift of Hope

 Posted by Michele on January 30, 2011  General  No Responses »
Jan 302011
 

One of the things I have always tried to instill in my children is to never give up.  I taught them that regardless of how hard things get or what difficulties life brings it is important to keep putting one foot in front of the other and to always have hope.  It is with conviction that I have lived my life believing that I can survive and that even though things can become overwhelming and   painful at times, I will never quit.  My children have demonstrated this attitude repeatedly over the years showing amazing perseverance and strength through adversity, loss and challenges that were hard to face.  I am proud of them and thankful that we as a family have learned to keep moving and have done the best we could under some very difficult circumstances.

I believe that there is wisdom in the wounds we must sometimes face and that wisdom can be a true gift if we are open to listening for and recognizing the lessons that present themselves along the way.  When embraced, we can share that wisdom with the world making a significant difference in changing lives.  Finding that wisdom can lead us to new and exciting opportunities that we never dreamed possible.  I have always believed that much of what happens in life happens for a reason and I would not be the woman I am today if it were not for both the wonderful and difficult things that have happened.

We as parents can play a powerful role in the lives of our children in the simplest of ways and sharing the wisdom of our own journey is a good place to start.  It is true that we can lead by example and try to direct them to make good choices but in the end children will need to learn to choose in their own journey and mistakes will occur.  We cannot always control what happens in life nor what happens in the lives of our kids but I feel a lot better knowing that my kids have learned to live with the belief that they can survive and that it is not always what happens in life that is most important but rather what they choose to do with what happens.  My children know that no one can take hope away from them nor can anyone control their attitude. Continue reading »

Because I Said So

 Posted by Kelly on January 29, 2011  General  2 Responses »
Jan 292011
 

Okay parents.  I am piggybacking on last week’s post of the crazy things kids say.

But…

I just could not pass up the little pearls of wisdom that we parents have.  Oh you know what I am talking about.   You say and then you think WHAT?

Did that come out of my mouth?

Is my mother here?? Continue reading »

Keeping Them Healthy

 Posted by Lisa on January 28, 2011  Balancing Work and Children, Getting Your New Life In Order, Nutrition  2 Responses »
Jan 282011
 

For my recent Parents Express article which is online now in the February issue, I touched base with doctors and book authors who give busy parents advice on a healthy lifestyle at different ages: toddlers, tweens, and teens. Recently I read a joke that said something along the lines of when you become a parent you should just have your paycheck directly deposited at the grocery store. Ha! That feels so true as my boys approach teen-dom. It seems I spend a lot and go to multiple stores to get the good foods we like.

For the article, Dr. Miriam Vos, MD, MSPH, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and author of The No-Diet Obesity Solution for Kids, notes: Eating well and keeping the family active can be challenging.  However, parents and children can learn to make smart food choices and use teamwork to eat better and stay more active. 

Some tips from Dr. Vos: Continue reading »

A Letter To My Friend…AGAIN!

 Posted by Davis on January 27, 2011  General  1 Response »
Jan 272011
 

As I was getting ready to write my blog today…The Secret of Being Happy Part 2, I checked my email and found a message from a single friend of mine. She told me how touched she was by my blog that was titled, “A Letter To My Friend”. She felt it had been written straight to her and to many of her friends. She wanted them to read it but getting them to go digging for it on the site and in my blogs seemed to be too much for them so she asked me to post it again. She said every single woman in the world should read this and ICOULD NOT AGREE MORE! She went on to say every man should read it so they can see what goes on with a woman. AGAIN, I AGREE.

So, this is for my friend and her friends who need to read this and share it with their friends.

Enjoy again. I’ll post the blog meant for this week next week. Continue reading »

The Lonely by Jennifer Maggio

 Posted by Jennifer on January 26, 2011  General  No Responses »
Jan 262011
 

There is a beautiful song out there by JJ Heller called “Love Me” (http://bitly/yxfoU).  As I was driving home the other day, my 15-year-old son mentioned to me that he loved this song and asked me to turn the radio up.  As I began to listen to the words, tears rolled down my face. 

“Who will love me,  for me?……….not what I’ve done or what I”ll become…..” Continue reading »

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A Dad’s Point-of-View, by Bruce Sallan – Is Change Good For You

 Posted by Bruce on January 25, 2011  How to Communicate with Your Kids  No Responses »
Jan 252011
 

Is Change Good For You?

Facebook made a minor change in how its interface worked, if that is even the right terminology.  I went into a minor fit, immediately e-mailing a techie friend for help, in my momentary panic, because it seemed my Facebook “Wall” was gone!  My friend was unavailable and after a little while of searching around on my profile and my “page,” I was able to figure it out and all was again well with the world.

Continue reading »

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