An indoor waterpark can cure any single parent's Thanksgiving Blues. Photo Credit: DiscoverDuPage

Let me start by saying I love Thanksgiving. I love the ritual of re-creating family recipes every year, I love getting family and friends together, I love the women gathered in the kitchen, drinking wine and sharing family stories, and I especially love that moment when we all finally sit down together around the table, thankful to be there together, in that moment, and for all the many things that we have to be grateful for in our lives.

But, this Thanksgiving, though I find myself ready to get into the holiday spirit, I also find myself with a family divided. Without nearby family to descend on with my two sons, Thanksgiving has suddenly become a daunting prospect. That is, it was daunting—until I decided to take the path of least resistance. Continue reading »

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Fewer than half American households are married couples. Less than half! Not only are divorce rates high, but many people choose to cohabitate instead of tying the knot. In fact, there’s been a 25% increase in the number of unmarried couple over the last decade. And based on recent studies, 44% of Millennials think that marriage is becoming obsolete. With divorce rates nearly 50%, it’s no wonder people are losing faith in the institution of marriage.

However, more than 70% of adults under the age of 30 say they wish to get married someday. That doesn’t sound like marriage is becoming obsolete to me. I really don’t think the future of marriage is all doom and gloom here. We seek out good friends. We’re happier when we have good relationships with others. We want someone with whom we can share our lives. So why do so many marriages fail?

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I know you mean well, but...

It’s Father’s Day today, a happy day for those of you out there who can celebrate your wonderful fathers and husbands.  Unfortunately, I can’t do either of those things because I lost my Dad in 2008 and I left my husband in 2009.  (I’m still looking for a Sugar Daddy in 2011.  Ba-dump-bump!)  But seriously, folks…

Father’s Day can be kind of a strange day for single mothers, us overworked, often underpaid women who care for kids, some with co-parents and some without.  I get a lot of well-meaning comments from friends about my single-with-child status, but they don’t always come off as well as they’re intended to.  So I thought I’d continue in the “5 Things NOT to say” tradition established by my earlier post about how to talk to the parent of a preemie – riffing off this great list of 10 Things Never to Say to a Mom by Ellen Seidman – and give you five things you should avoid saying to a single lady with a baby: Continue reading »

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Single Parents on the RIse?

Look around the playground, is one of the first four moms or dads you see a single parent? If so, that would be very much in line with the new study saying that about 25% of children in the United States are being raised by a single parent. Personally, I was surprised to hear this figure, but according to researchers, one in four children is living in a single parent household. And in the United States, the numbers are seemingly on the rise and are much higher than other ‘developed’ countries. How much higher? Continue reading »

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Single mamas are still seen as "bad for society"

It’s a week of good news for gay teens. First, there’s Kurt and Blaine’s kiss. Now we have news that gay families are becoming, well, normal. Gay parents are finding more acceptance than ever, in their home communities and our broader culture. The teens growing up today will, one hopes, live in an ever more tolerant society.

A new Pew study shows that the majority of Americans now think gay families are at least OK, and many think they add something valuable to society.

Not so single mamas. Only a third of Americans are accepting of family situations involving a single mom. That hasn’t changed much in the decades since Dan Quayle tore into fictional TV character Murphy Brown for being a single mom. Why are we so stubbornly judgmental about women raising their children alone?

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Is it me, or does Oracle CEO Larry Ellison look just a little bit like Dave Navarro?

I had a friend back in the day whose dad passed along this tidbit of advice: Son, it’s just as easy to fall in love with a rich woman as it is a poor one. Maybe even easier.

Of course, my friend always knew that his dad was just joking with his pithy little saying. Though, oddly, he really did wind up marrying an extremely wealthy woman. Oh. And he also ended up getting divorced from an extremely wealthy woman. At that point he became a millionaire divorcee. But he’s got nothing on the billionaire divorcees that the Huffington Post just detailed.

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A pastor in Memphis says no baptisms for babies born out of wedlock

A Baptist pastor in Memphis is taking a misguided stand against teen pregnancy by refusing to baptize babies born to unwed mothers.

Ralph White hopes to shame young men into marrying their baby mamas, by refusing to baptize their babies. It’s hard to see how this is supposed to work. Isn’t it the babies and mothers who are being punished here? I thought baptism had something to do with saving your eternal soul. Refusing it seems like a pretty harsh punishment for something your parents did (or didn’t do) before you were born.

The Rev. White isn’t really consigning little babies to the inferno if their parents won’t get hitched. He’s open to the possibility of doing the baptisms – just not in church. We need to make sure we don’t condone this kid’s behavior in front of people, you know. Or something.

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