Are you looking for a good single parent support group? Begin by making a list of the things you're looking for. Do you need to find a group that provides childcare? One that offers weekly small group meetings? Are you hoping to find a community that offers a lot of social outings for you and your children?
Once you have an idea of what you're looking for, begin to seek out groups that are already meeting in your area. Parents Without Partners has a comprehensive, searchable database on their web site, which can help you find a support group that's already meeting in your local community.
Alternatively, consider looking at the community events calendar in your local newspaper. Most support groups should be included there, and you might find some that are too small to have their own web sites, but that would be well-suited to your individual needs.
In addition, if you are having difficulty finding an ideal support group for single parents in your area, consider starting one yourself. The article How to Start a Single Parent Support Group will help you build a network of potential members, find a place to meet, and get the group started.
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Family meetings at our house tend to fall into two different categories: the regular check-in, sync your schedules, share-one-positive-thing-about-each-other version, and the more urgent let's-get-together-to-address-a-problem type of family meeting.
Both formats are certainly helpful. But I've noticed that the more opportunities I give my kids to check in, go over their schedules, and let me know what they need from me ("poster board for an upcoming project" ... "a clean uniform before game day"), the less I have to drop everything and deal with "emergencies" that could have been prevented with a little communication.
How about you? Do you use regular family meetings as a way to keep the lines of communication open with your kids? Let us know by participating in this week's poll or sharing your thoughts here on the blog.
Related: Weekly Co-parenting Meetings | My Two Homes Resource
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I received the following "Thriving Single Parent" story from a reader named Mary:
I became a single parent via foster care. My daughter was 5 months old--a preemie--and she had several health problems. In addition to caring for her needs, I struggled with the ups and downs of the foster care system until I was able to officially adopt her at the age of 3. She is now 7 years old, and she is much healthier.
Looking back, it was very hard to juggle work and day care, along with a child who was sick more often than she was well. There were many sleepless nights, but I'm happy to say we've come a long way!
Mary's story is another example of a single mom who can proudly look back on how far she's come since beginning this journey. Is that something you can identify with? Share your story here about About.com.
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Hey single moms, are you feeling exalted today? According to author and columnist Ann Coulter, in her new book, Guilty: Liberal Victims and Their Assault On America, we live in a nation that has exalted single motherhood. Imagine that!
You can see it for yourself when you watch Ann Coulter's interview with Matt Lauer on NBC's Today Show. The entire interview is more than nine minutes long, but if you click "launch," and fast forward to minute three, you'll find the spot where she talks about her chapter targeting single mothers. After watching it, here are a few thoughts I'd like to share with Ms. Coulter:
Exalted? Actually, Ann, exalted means to raise up, to praise, to magnify. Look around you. Single moms--and single dads--are anything but exalted in this country. Here in the real world, single moms continue to be looked down upon, viewed as irresponsible, even thought of as "a burden." But then, you're familiar with that, since you dedicated an entire chapter of your new book to singling out and condemning single mothers for just about every problem that exists in our society today!
Oh, I understand that you're pointing to "facts," like the statistic that 70% of all inmates were raised by single moms. But you're missing the point, entirely.
It's just not that cut and dry. It isn't that raising a child on your own will automatically increase that child's likelihood of turning to crime later in life--it's that raising a child on your own, without emotional or financial support, increases the chances that you'll either fall into poverty, or live in limbo--earning too much money to qualify for government assistance, but not enough money to live on: factors which serve as greater influences on the very outcomes you choose to blame on hard-working, decent single parents, who are out there in the world doing the very best they can to raise 26% of this country's future, without acknowledgment or fanfare.
But you know what, Ann? I have to tell you that even though we have completely different takes on how to accomplish transformational change in the world, you were on to something when you told Matt Lauer that The New York Times (About.com's parent company) "exalts" single mothers. See, the community we've built here at Single Parents at About.com is a place where single mothers can turn to be "exalted"--raised up, praised, magnified.
Rather than instigate change by placing blame and tearing down, I believe--with everything within me--that real transformational change happens when individuals are supported and encouraged. When someone comes alongside you and says, "I've noticed what you're doing, and I know it's hard, but it's worth every sacrifice." That can keep a single mom going, and when she keeps going, she begins to realize how strong she really is--and with that knowledge, she can claw her way out of the pit and away from the very outcomes you're so eager to blame on her.
So, who knows, maybe you took notice of what it is that we do here in this community of support. Maybe that's why "exalted" came to mind when you were thinking of single mothers.
What do you think? Take a moment to
share your thoughts, or write your own "open letter to Ann Coulter" in our comments section below.
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