As parents, we spend a fair amount of time agonizing over our mistakes. Certainly, we would have done many things differently. If only we hadn’t been grown children ourselves when we made our relationship choices and eventually married. Most of us had no idea our marriages would end. If we had, we wouldn’t have walked…

When my two oldest were little I read an article about how we needed to spend one on one time with our kids. It was going to make them feel even more loved and yadda yadda. Ever the self-help junkie I set about doing just that. I put my oldest who was four-years-old at the time…

I remember memorizing my childhood steps. My mom was sadly unaware this day had come. As the memories left her – they came towards us. I felt my foundation crumbling. The door to this emotional sanctuary slamming shut and forever exiling a part of me. Scratch that. Banishing a part of my family lost forever. More…

I listen and it sounds all too familiar. A mother I know can’t stop beating herself up. Will her children suffer permanently since they don’t see their father enough? Will her son be okay without a present male influence in his life? Are her children experiencing typical adolescent angst or is it a result of…

The holidays promote the urge to give in all of us. It is truly a beautiful thing. The problem? Like the rest of the well-intentioned harried holiday humans, I could use prompts to do more of said giving. Things just get busier once the calendar advances to December one. This makes me recall a conversation…

I belong to a Facebook Group called Parentless Parents. We are a tribe of individuals who navigate parenting after the loss of our mothers and our fathers. This community was started by my friend and author Allison Gilbert. I initially met Allison when she interviewed me for her book Parentless Parents: How the Loss of Our Mothers…

As parents, we LOVE to do things for our children.  After all, it’s an expression of love. How could it be a bad thing? Or could it be? There comes an age where doing too much for our children WILL negatively impact their future relationships. In a word – It’s called self-responsibility and it is…

I sip my coffee while perusing emails at what friends refer to as my office, aka, the local coffee shop. A big group enters and makes their way to a table. I realize it’s a bunch of teachers from my children’s elementary school. I can’t wait to greet them. These people that I love from…

Four years ago today, I charged into an attorney’s office determined to begin again. Hindsight is twenty twenty as they say. As we all know, I couldn’t have been more naive. But I was gutsy and I was strong and my children’s well-being gave me the additional courage I needed. As my sister once said…

Divorce is a huge loss for children. Life as they know it has forever changed. It is at the same time – a new beginning – a healing of past pain and a stronger, more positive future. Children need to know everything is going to be okay.   They need to have their home restored…

More from Beliefnet and our partners
More from Beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad