Now that my divorce is final, I decided to change my last name back to my maiden name. I hadn’t initially planned on it, and I knew my kids, who are just four and six, weren’t happy with the idea. “But if you have a different last name than us, will you still be our mommy?” My six-year-old broke … [Read more...]
Pamper Yourself With This Natural DIY Pick-Me-Up
When I need some pampering, one of my favourite things to do is go to the spa for a treatment. If you’re in the midst of a separation or divorce, you probably need a little TLC, but you may not have the time or budget to go to a luxury spa. Don’t let that be an excuse! This at-home treatment for a … [Read more...]
Post-Divorce: Do You Need A Therapist?
People don’t like to talk about needing a therapist. Often there is a stigma attached, but I’m honestly not sure where I’d be today if it weren’t for my therapist, Andrea Share. The countless hours I spent chatting with Andrea was one of the best things I did for myself when I separated. Some … [Read more...]
Separated Or Divorced? Our Top 3 Tips For Coping
I never thought I’d be a statistic; part of the roughly 42 percent of Canadian marriages that end in divorce. To me, marriage was something solid and constant. It was unbreakable. You worked through your issues, you figured it out no matter what. It was never something I thought about as being an … [Read more...]
How To Become A Real Life Evil Step Mother
And we thought Cinderella and Snow White had it bad. Katrina Simmons is a stay-at-home mother of three who also has three step children who split their time between their home with their father and Simmons and their biological mother’s home. Simmons recently published an extraordinarily long, … [Read more...]
The Ex-Files Social For Single Parents
I recently had coffee with my friend Erin. She's one of those amazing people that looks for the good amongst the sea of potential darkness. We sat down over macarons and she told me that she and her husband had recently separated. Thump. Just like that my heart sank. "But it's okay," she … [Read more...]
Facing My Fear at 50, Again
All week I watched the parasail float over the water above me as I ran or walked the beach. I could do that, I say to myself, from the safety of the peaceful beach. But do I want to? "Nance, you should do that. I know you are afraid." I am, as many of you know, very afraid of heights. I have … [Read more...]
The Men In My Life
Last week there were men everywhere. In and out of my house like some kind of Big Girl Wonderland. Only major difference is they all had tools. And I was not attracted to any of them. It all started with me going into my daughter's room last May and saying Why does it smell like a wet puppy in … [Read more...]
first rule about marriage- don’t talk about marriage
There is an interesting phenomena when you are married - you don't talk about it to others. If you drink too much and say we never have sex or he sleeps in the basement or we never have any fun or he is lazy or my family hates her or she slept with my best friend or simply we are struggling- it … [Read more...]
backfilling your life
I have written about, thought about and worked on backfilling my life quite a bit over the last year. As one area of your life is shrinking, you must swell a new area. Something is running out the front door, new things have to come in the back door. My children are slowly leaving home and … [Read more...]