Single Mom

Single Moms: Keeping a Sense of Humor

singlemom — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:06:47 +0000

S1metimes it can be hard to keep a sense of humor, sometimes it can be easy. Either way, a sense of humor is imperative when raising children.

What about when your young adult does something wrong? Maybe she steals. Maybe he breaks gets caught selling drugs to his friends.. How do we keep a sense of humor in the face of such things?

Well, I am here to tell you. Your young adult is not perfect, and he or she will eventually do something wrong. The only thing that matters is how you react to the situation, and how you support your child.

Mind you, I am not talking about murder, rape or child abuse. I have no idea how parents handle these types of situations. I cannot even imagine how hard that can be for a parent.

However, I do have a young adult child who is not perfect. She has messed up. She did something with her friends that she should not have done. She knows it was wrong. She is trying to better her life, and she is willing to deal with the consequences of her actions.

At first, I was upset to learn of the situation. It lasted only a few minutes, and I am thankful that she was not here when I received the news. I would have completely messed up the situation by overreacting.

After a few minutes, I was fine. I thought about things that I did when I was young. Things my friends did when they were young. And things that other family members have done. Some got caught, some didn’t.

My daughter did.

I talked to her, told her some stupid things that I and others have done, let her know that I still love her, and did not lose my temper with her at all.

In return, she trusts that I will be there for her. She knows that I love and care about her. And she knows that I still want to be around her.

How do you handle these situations?

Shannon

Single Moms: Should You Work Inside or Outside of the Home?

singlemom — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:33:57 +0000

It can be tough, leaving your children with a babysitter to go to work. Is this really necessary? Not all of the time. Sometimes, you may be able to think of a way to earn money from home. You may still wish to hire a mother’s helper, but you will be around to keep an eye on things.

Here are some ideas for work-at-home opportunities:

Childcare
Adult Care
Freelance Writing
Bookkeeping or Accounting Services
Laundry and Meal Preparation Service for Busy People
Scrapbook Business

There are many other options available as well. How about sharing what you do?

Shannon

Single Moms: Parenting Children with Autism

singlemom — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:14:00 +0000

I do not know much about autism, personally. This is why I haven’t touched upon this subject here yet. I know that there many single mother’s living with one or more children who have autism, so I wanted to share some resources that I came across today.

These should be very helpful:

How to Teach Consequences for Behaviour to Autistic Children: This is an account of a single mother with two children, one of whom has autism. It is amazing the things that children can learn when they know that they are expected to learn them. This was a wonderful article with some very helpful information at the end.
Bright Tots: This is a site with a multitude of information for parents of autistic children, includind discipline and therapies. It is very nicely written, and touches upon many topics.
Helping Children with Autism to Handle Their Emotions: This is a very important skill for everyone. Lisa Jo Rudy, an About.com guide, shares this excellent article with us.

Please share what you have learned about raising children with autism.

Shannon

Resources for the Single Mom

singlemom — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 11:27:09 +0000

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to share some resources with you today. I hope that you enjoy them.

I write a for a single mom page on Examiner, and you may be interested in reading the articles there. I will be adding new articles regularly, so you can subscribe to the updates there.

I have updated the Frugal Recipes blog with yummy recipes for all! Please, while you are there, comment on the post about what readers would like to see on the blog. I am in the process of planning an overhaul, a different look and new content.

I am also planning an overhaul for Living the Low-Income Life, but I am not as far on this prject as I am on the Frugal Recipes project. Feel free to let me know what you would like to see there, however. I have also added new content.

You may wish to check out Journalstar.com. There is an article over there called The New American Dream is Economic Security that highlights a single mom family.

Karen Reimer has an article, Adopting as a Single Parent That you may be interested in. Karen is the LA Single Parenting Examiner.

Shannon

Are You A Thrifty Single Mom?

singlemom — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:15:25 +0000

I am!

Even if I had all of the money in the world I would still be thrifty. Why? Because I think that prices on most items are ridiculously high. And, because reusing items purchased by other people is better for our Earth.

High prices can be lowered with a few simple tricks like less packaging, less package advertising. Rather than these things, why not have a description of the environmental and health guidelines posted everywhere that the products are sold. I guarentee that people will still purchase the items, and manufacturers will be spending far less money. These savings can be passed onto the consumer.

People throw trash out left and right. I try to limit my disposable items as much as I can. I donate things, give things away, and even offer broken items for free. People know how to fix these things, why not let them rather than throwing the items into landfills.

Why are you a thrifty mom?

Shannon

Easy Ways for Single Moms to Green Their Families

singlemom — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:26:38 +0000

Greening our homes is the ‘in’ thing, but it is also important for our Earth and the health of our families. We want our children to grow up happy and healthy, with the ability to live in a clean world as adults.

This post is my way of offering up some simple ways in which you can green your family life:

Teach your children to recycle everything that you can. Be a good example to them by showing them the correct way to reduce, reuse and recycle.
Grow as much of your own food as you can, in an organic manner.
Teach them how to purchase at thrift shops, and why it is important to do so.
Show your children how to yard sale and bargain, and tell them why it is importnat to do so.
Find natural alternatives to harmful cleaners.
Learn to compost as a family.
Learn about vermiculture as a family.
Reduce the plastic that is in your household.

These ideas are just a springboard. Let us know what ideas you come up with.

Shannon

As A Single Mom, What Do You Like About Being Alone?

singlemom — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:59:20 +0000

Being a single mother certainly has its advantages. Sometimes it may not seem that this is the case, but it is. You just have to sit down and think about it for a while, and you will come up with a pros list that may look like mine, or may look quite different.

Here is my Pros List for Single Momhood:

I have plenty of alone time, which is good because I am a bit of a loner. Though, many times, this does not happen until the evening hours, I have time to myself which I need.
I was able to raise my daughters how I saw fit, with no interference from someone who may not have been as open-minded as I am.
My daughters were able to learn about and choose their own religions.
I learned how to be independent.
I learned that I do not need a man to make me happy. I can be happy with or without someone.
I never had to get a divorce, and drag my children through all of that.
There was no father in the home to disagree with my choice to homeschool my daughters.
I can come and go as I please, and I don’t have to answer to anyone.

Those are the major pros of my single motherhood. What are yours?

Shannon

My Daughter ‘Met’ Her Father and Aunt

singlemom — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:13:19 +0000

My older daughter, Skye (19), grew up without benefit of her father’s presence in her life. She met him only once, when she was 18 months old. He rejected her then, and again when she was about six.

Skye has always wanted to know her father, but he did not let that happen.

One evening last week, Skye sent me an instant message asking many questions about her father and his family. I answered honestly. The next morning was spent with both Skye and myself (living 3 hours apart) online searching for her father.

We eventually found him and his sister on MySpace. Skye sent friend requests to both of them, and they both accepted. Each day now, her father emails her, and she loves learning about her family and emailing with her aunt.

I am so excited for her, and I told her so. I also sent her father a thank you message expressing my excitement for the two of them. He added me as a friend as well. And, I emailed her aunt thanking her as well.

I asked Skye if she was going to meet him. She said no, she is not ready for that yet. And, she said that she certainly would not be going alone when she did decide to meet him.

She found out that she has cousins, and a stepmother as well as a baby sister. She is very excited over all of this, but Skye hates change. When I asked why she contacted her father if she wasn’t ready to meet him, she said that she did not think he would accept her.

I’m so glad that he did, and I know that they are trying to build a relationship.

Do any of you have experience with this?

Shannon

Are You A Single Mom Writer

singlemom — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:59:18 +0000

Or, would you like to be. I honestly feel that there is a huge market for single mom writers. Writing about your experiences as a single mom, throughout a divorce and whatnot can be helpful for others.

You can even expand on the single mom theme with titles like Organizing for Single Moms and Homeschooling for Single Moms. Pretty much any subject can have a single mom slant.

So…what are you waiting for? What a great work-at-home opportunity!

Shannon

http://howtolivethefreelancelife.com

Are You Going Through A Divorce?

singlemom — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:46:52 +0000

My friend is. I am trying very hard to be supportive of her and her son. I have never been married, though, so I am not sure if I am doing and saying the right things.

Divorce seems to be such a hard thing to go through, not just for the mother and father, but also for the child. Especially when one of the parents wants to be a jerk. I can say this honestly, because this is what her husband is doing. He said that he would, and he didn’t lie about it.

I feel so bad for my friend and her son. I wish that I knew better how to support them right now.

Maybe those of you single moms who have been through this process can help me out? What did your friends and family do and say when you were going through your divorce that was helpful to you and your children? That was not helpful?

Sharing these experiences can be therapeutic, but it can also help others who are going through the same thing right now.

Shannon