Tag Archives: past

Are Past Relationships Affecting Your Parenting?

For some strange reason, one of my daughters reminds me of my sister. She always has—at least since she was a toddler. It used to be that every once in a while I would even slip up and call her by my sister’s name. While I haven’t ever gotten down to the bottom of all the ways they remind me of each other, I have learned how to NOT let my past relationship and interactions with my sister affect how I deal with my daughter. It sounds easy and obvious enough, but it might be surprising how often we let … Continue reading →

Coming to Peace With the Past

While holding on to the past is a pretty common theme for single parents–and it can take us a while to let go of guilt, anger, disillusionment, etc.–coming to peace with the past and learning to let go and live in the present really is the healthy thing we can do. It is the healthiest things for our families, for ourselves, and for our futures. Someone once told me that I would know when I had fully recovered from a painful past when I could actually be “grateful” for it. Now, at the time, I thought that was the craziest … Continue reading →

If You Could Do it Over, What Would You Do?

If you could go back in time to before you were married, would you wait? Would you hurry? Would you give yourself and your spouse more time to get to know each other, to discuss important issues, to save money, wait until you were older, or to do anything else different? I think I would have married sooner. I always used to tell my husband that I wished I’d met him earlier. I could have saved myself a lot of bad dates. He laughs and says we weren’t ready for each other yet. Frankly, I do agree with him. I … Continue reading →