Tag Archives: Family Life

Are You Ready For Your Kids’ Winter Break?

With winter break just around the corner, home – based professional parents everywhere may be both excited about the opportunity to spend time with their children and anxious about whether they will be able to keep up with their workload while the kids are on break. Whether your kids are on break from day care, pre school, grade school, high school, or college, you probably want to spend more time with them than you normally have available during a typical work week. If at all possible, try to plan ahead so that you can lighten your workload during their vacation … Continue reading →

The Value of Playing Games

Have architects and house designers had a negative impact on family life? Yesterday Mick and I went out for the day to look at some exhibition homes in a display village. Not that we have any plans to up and move from where we are, but often it is away to pick up decorating ideas and we did come home with one or two. However the thing that struck me most and saddened me was the idea of parent’s bedrooms often with large parents retreats where they can sit and relax are well away from children’s bedrooms, being at opposite … Continue reading →

Book Review: You’re Not My REAL Mother!

“You’re Not My REAL Mother!” is one adoptive mother’s answer to the remark that most adopted kids probably make at one time or another. Molly Friedrich’s is a mother of four, including a daughter adopted from Vietnam and a son adopted from Guatemala. This book, You’re Not My REAL Mother! is her first book and is based on the answer she gave her daughter when she made the dreaded declaration. Friedrich “took a deep breath and thought fast”. The book’s approach is for the adoptive mother to say, “of course I am, my darling! Does a real mother [have tea … Continue reading →

The House that Fills and Empties

I realized this morning that my family scene is forever fluctuating–the house empties out, gradually fills, or fills to bursting in a very short time. It is not a quiet and predictable place most days, but it is also not as chaotic and loud as it used to be when my children were younger. There are elements of unpredictability about it now, but there is also an ebb and flow that living in a house with older teenagers brings… When my children were younger, we had very organized parenting agreements between their father–they would be with me during the weeks … Continue reading →

Can Everybody be Happy All at Once?

I have often pondered if it is possible to really keep a family with more than one child (or even more than one person for that matter) happy all around? Is it really possible for three children, for example, to all have great days and be happy at the same time? Does it go against the law of nature? Are we only allotted so much in terms of the happiness capacity for a household for any one 24-hour period and if one person uses it all up, the rest have to go without? Is there anything I can do as … Continue reading →

The “Idea” of Children and Family Vs. the Reality

Yesterday I wrote about the single parent’s dilemma of trying to find grown-ups to date and socialize with and not people who are interested in us or attracted to us BECAUSE we are parents and they think we can help take care of them too. As I was writing about it, I realized that there is another “issue” that single parents attempting to date face and that is the fact that many people are intrigued or think they like the “idea” or the “ideal” of children and family life, but they are not prepared at all for the reality… Sure, … Continue reading →

Time Standing Still (I Wish!)

My kitchen clock has finally given out. Now, I was under the impression that if I just kept replacing the batteries, a clock would last forever. Of course, that is not the case and after replacing the battery a couple times and finding the clock still losing time and slowing down, it finally came to a standstill. Even though we are a typical modern family with a clock in every room (including the bathroom)—for some reason, having to replace our trusty kitchen clock seems like a big deal. I think most single parent families are incredibly time-conscious. I suppose that … Continue reading →

Can You Live Without Alone Time (At Least for a While)?

I find that when I talk to new parents—whether they are partnered or single parents—one of the first and main topics that come up is how to find time to be alone. Not alone “as a couple” but genuine, all-by-ourselves, no one hanging on us or asking for anything alone time. Well, sometimes it just isn’t possible… One thing that has helped me over the years is realizing that “alone time” is somewhat culturally constructed. Different societies, tribes, and cultures have different ideas about being alone. There are those societies where the children are either strapped to, or attached to … Continue reading →

Do You Warn People Before They Come To Your House?

A few years ago, I started adding a little “disclaimer” to any invitations I sent out: “Our home houses kids and cats, please let me know if you are allergic to either.” This disclaimer was in response to a few grumbling people and an invitation I received to a barbecue that said “No dogs or children.” I was aggravated and offended, but I realized that there were plenty of people out there who didn’t like kids or animals (I am SO not one of them) and that it was only fair that everyone should know the score before they crossed … Continue reading →

Do We Expect More Responsibility From Our Kids?

One of the stereotypes of the single parent household is that the children are expected to take on more responsibility and at an earlier age than in the “traditional” two-parent household. While I haven’t conducted an official study, I have looked around at the other single parent families I know and made my own observations about whether this might be true…or not… I think that there is definitely the opportunity for kids to take on more responsibility in a single parent home. In my own home, my kids have more of a say and more influence on how the household … Continue reading →