Skip to content

Tag: parenting

parenting

Divorce and Financial Aid for College: 5 Factors for Parents to Consider

During the divorce process, spouses are required to make many decisions, especially considering their children and the future of the family’s finances.  One of the benefits of hiring an experienced divorce attorney is to assist you in the decision-making process.  An experienced lawyer can help you avoid potential unintended consequences of the decisions that you make during your divorce.  One consideration that often gets overlooked is how the divorce may impact the ability for children of divorced parents to qualify for college financial aid.  Although the college financial aid process can be complicated, a well-thought-out strategy addressed during the parents’
Read More

Knowing Nana

They messaged with only a moment’s notice – the pair who served as my in-lawed parents for a decade.  They were in town for their annual Christmas break week with my girls – their grandchildren.  My daughters wanted to show them our new home and without thinking about the state of my living room a few days after Christmas, I said yes. I have seen my former in-laws on a handful of occasions since the divorce over 5 years ago at the occasional dance recital or soccer game when they come to town for a visit.  We would exchange brief
Read More

I Resolve

I pull out the well-worn writing notebook I keep in my bedside table.  It is in these pages that I find notes from throughout the years, written visions I prepare at the end of one year – forecasting what I would most like to see in the next, and a summary of accomplishments, failures, and events from the years prior.  I carve out a purpose filled hour to reflect on the lessons learned and how I want to better show up in the year ahead.    I set goals, I chose a word to guide me in the new year (2017
Read More

Home for the Holidays

The biscotti baked, the bows on the boxes, and the Christmas brunch menu planned, I was happy as I awaited the one time a year when my sons return home from opposite coasts. My joy evaporated when one of my homeward bound boys got stuck in an airport over a thousand miles away. There were a dozen other passengers ahead of him, each desperately hoping to get a seat on the next flight out. I commanded my sinking heart to rise up and listen to my rational mind.  He’s an adult. He’s capable. He’ll figure it out. He’s lived away
Read More

The Stocking

I have pulled it out of the red and green-topped box each year since my divorce.   The sole stocking left among my divorce residue  – a reminder of my divided family.  It is the stocking purchased when the dream of my future family was thriving.  I bought four stockings together, perhaps foolishly, during the pregnancy of my first daughter.  I was hopeful from the beginning she would have a sibling.  The first Christmas after she was born, I had the stockings monogrammed “Mom,” “Dad,” and “Anna.”  I left the last blank until the time came that eventually our Sophia would
Read More

Transitioning Traditions

It was quiet Thanksgiving morning.  My kitchen was void of the warmth and scent of stuffing and turkey cooking in the oven.  I trudged down the stairs to get the super- ad-stuffed newspaper to peruse while watching the parade.  This, the first time it felt like a chore.  I felt off – cranky, sad, and alone.   My girls were in Texas with their dad and paternal grandparents for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I was home alone in Nebraska left with my woe-is-me thoughts as my only comfort. Holidays are hard.   This refrain is a reality for most, but not all, divorced
Read More

The Gift

I had just finished stringing cupcake liners on a piece of yarn to serve as party decorations for my daughter’s 10th birthday.  The “Cupcake Wars” birthday extravaganza preparation was nearly complete.  I now needed to wrap her birthday gifts in the fun cupcake wrapping paper I found on a fluke.  Wrapping gifts is my favorite part of any celebration.  I find nothing more delightful than producing a pretty package for the recipient. This year, her dad and I decided to go in together on a joint gift and each pay half the cost of her first iPod.  This was an
Read More

Part 2: Not the Only One

During days of hiking in the wilderness with her son, Susan made discoveries about her child, herself, and the challenges of any great journey. She reflects on her lessons in this three part series. By the afternoon of the second day on the John Muir Trail we had hiked with our packs to over 11,000 feet and over two mountain passes. The sweat from struggling (I was struggling; Jack seemed to be sailing) up the steep ascent of granite combined with the increasing altitude demanded we double our drinking. Jack landed us a campsite surrounded by tall pines and overlooking
Read More

Bitter and Sweet: A Tribute to my Sophia

She arrived at 2:55 p.m. on September 7th ten full years ago.  She charged into this world amid a flurry of frantic activity as my labor suddenly went into overdrive and I dilated from 7 to 10 centimeters in mere minutes.  3 pushes later she took her first breath:  My Sophia Grace. Oh how bittersweet this birthday is marking the completion of a decade spent dancing through the days with this daughter of mine.  From being the toddler who regularly pulled at my ear lobes for comfort in what we deemed Sophia’s ear tugs to now having long enough legs
Read More

Of Mice and Divorce

“We have to ask our client if she has 100 mice in her house.”  My paralegal, Lori, said matter-of-factly as my mouth dropped open a bit, “What?” I uttered in my normal you-have-to-be-kidding-me voice.  “Opposing counsel called today and was informed by her client (the soon to be ex-spouse of our client) that their six year old daughter had reported to him on the night prior that there were 100 mice in her mom’s house.  So some dollars were spent on legal fees confirming that in fact, my client did not have 100 mice in her house. Advice that Lori
Read More

Archives