When I first remarried, a co-worker of myself and my husband remarked, “your husband must be very patient if he’s willing to take on you and your children.” I found the comment incredibly insulting. Granted, I was a bit of a wreck after my divorce and the car accident but my husband and I have Read More
Tag: blending
Moving Past Narcissistic Abuse and PTSD
“When you leave, he’ll invent stories about you.” The narcissist in my life started inventing those stories long before I left. He couldn’t take the blame for anything, so logically, everything was my fault. As much as I like to think that I’m out from underneath the abuse, I still feel it. One Christmas I Read More
Do My Children Need Therapy? A Divorced Mother’s Worries
Do my children need therapy? I have to admit, this is something I’ve struggled with. I’ve had extensive therapy since leaving their father – and it’s helped me a great deal. I’ve been able to reflect on why I married their father, why I stayed married for almost ten years despite a broken relationship. Why Read More
Coparenting: When Back to School Means Back to Conflict
The problem with negotiating a “one-size fits all” parenting agreement is that it’s impossible to anticipate what types of changes the children are going to experience as they get older. The after summer transition to a new grade can be particularly trying as both parents try to adapt to new teachers, more homework, different lunches, Read More
Our Story: Marriage "After" Divorce
My divorce was long, difficult, and messy. We’d discussed finalizing the paperwork, but my ex outright refused to pay his half. “I’m Catholic. I don’t believe in divorce.” Yeah. Catholic. Right. Anyway – everything was done except for the decree. I didn’t have the piece of paper that said I was completely and wholly apart Read More
Preparing Your Kids for the Death of a Pet
When my husband and I were dating, I met his kids well before he “met” mine. He had joint custody of two gorgeous dogs – Montana, a full Rottweiler, and Apollo, a German Shepard Rottweiler mix. Montana was about eight at the time, and Apollo was about eleven. I say “about” because we’re not quite Read More
Merging Households: 5 Ways to Make Common Financial Goals
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. One of the failings of my first marriage was our approach (or rather lack thereof) to managing money. I admit freely that I did not have a mature understanding of budgeting, and my ex, although he was much older than I, had learned to manage money by using his Read More
Every New Day is a Gift
Those of you who have been reading my blog know that I’ve been in a bad car accident. My leg was broken rather severely. My femur was split in two—I have a big metal rod inside it now that knit it back together. My knee cap was broken into five different pieces. The surgeons strung Read More
When Should you Teach your Children to be Independent?
I face a continual struggle with my children’s birth father with regard to parenting techniques. I work very hard to foster their spirit and independence and self-confidence. My ex doesn’t understand because that isn’t the way he was raised. He works hard to ensure the children are dependent on him, in part, I think, because Read More
I’ll Love You Forever
Over each of my children’s beds is the quote from Robert Munsch’s most popular book: “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living, My baby you’ll be.” A reminder for each of them. At the beginning and end of each day. If you’re a parent, chances are you’ve Read More