I explained divorce to my children two years ago when the concept was new and am constantly reinforcing the same messages: 1. Divorce is never the childrens' fault. 2. Mommy and Daddy wanted you to have two happy homes instead of one unhappy home. 3. Even though a marriage can end a … [Read more...]
EmBARKing On A New Family Journey
There are few things I wouldn't do for my kids, but when they asked for a dog two years ago I said no. When they asked for one last year I also said no. But this year, it started to feel like they could use some extra love. "Please, Mama," they begged. "I just want something to love and to … [Read more...]
Managing A Crisis On Your Own
If you've read my column before, you know that I am a recently divorced mother of two. I've faced a lot of challenges since the end of my marriage, but none of them compared to this. At 4am on Monday, May 19, I faced every single parent’s worst fear. A medical emergency. My five-year-old … [Read more...]
The Perks Of Being A Newly Single Mom
One of the things I love about being a single mom is the bond I’ve formed with my kids. Sometimes it feels like it’s just me and them in the world. They know I will always be there for them and protect them. I’m the one they count on to take them to school, pack loving notes in their lunch and take … [Read more...]
Diamonds Are Forever, Even If Marriage Isn’t
A few weeks ago I signed up for a class called 40 Days to Personal Revolution at Power Yoga Canada. The course involved yoga, meditation, prescribed readings, a fruit cleanse and weekly meetings that were more like healing circles than any meeting I’d ever been to. At the beginning of the first … [Read more...]
What’s In A Name: Life After Divorce
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...]
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...]
first swim of summer
If your summers have followed a familiar pattern, first swim, in the lake you have known forever, will wash over you with all the memories of all the summers you can remember. You are the little girl who swam endlessly until skin shrivelled, the pregnant woman cooling off feeling at … [Read more...]
Our New Holiday Tradition
This year marks the second Christmas for my girls since their Dad and I separated. It's also going to be the first Christmas since the separation that we spend alone, at home, just the three of us (last year we flew from Calgary back 'home' to Toronto to be with my extended family). I spent a … [Read more...]