There are a few women that I know and we're part of the club that you don't want a membership to.  We are motherless mothers.  At UrbanMoms alone there are a slew of us.  There are books about being a motherless mom.  It's a 'thing'. I was very fortunate to have had my mom for many years (not nearly enough but still) but I still ache for her guidance and support in raising Will.Last night, Oprah focused her Life Class on another named group 'Fatherless Sons'.  I wasn't going to watch, even though I'm in the midst of raising one... More »

Have we all recovered from yesterday's post yet? My siblings may still be attached to oxygen masks as we speak.  How could I resist?What isn't an April Fools joke? Will is almost five.  People said to pay attention because it goes by in a flash and instead of wanting to punch them, maybe I should have listened.  It's shocking.The boy is surrounded by friends.  He has collected a ton in his five years.  He/we are totally fortunate on that front.  As he gets older, so do his friends, some of whom are pushing the ripe old ages of seven and... More »

There's a new show on TV called Seed!.  Have you seen it yet?  Here's the trailer.    Premise?  Dude who donated sperm gets contacted by families who used his donations to get knocked up.  Of course he's a doofus and not exactly who he described himself as in his profile.  While the little bit I've seen is sort of hilarious, I'd like to thank the writers of Seeds for putting a show on television that feeds into everyone's fears about sperm donors.After five years of having the inside scoop on donors, here are the standard 'aren't you afraid that' I... More »

Over the past couple of weeks, there seems to be this barrage of articles about different types of families and which is better.  Two parent? One parent? People!! There are STUDIES devoted to this.  I kid you not.  Educated researchers who could be spending their days... oh I don't know, looking for a cause of autism, a cure for cancer...are spending their days examining how well children do or do not do if they're raised by a single parent as opposed to two.Here is the biggest problem I have with this 'debate'.  There are many kinds of single parents.  There... More »

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 lot of last year doing things for my kids to try to help them feel the loss a little less keenly. The trip to Toronto. A first-time visit to Disneyland. Another trip to Toronto in the summer. This year is going to have to be... More »