Stay ConnectedManic Rambling Spiral (MRS) is a podcast about single parenting, but it’s not a parenting podcast. Rather, MRS is a podcast about living life – having a life, a career, and a self – in a setting that is constantly dictated by, built around and sabotaged by our children.
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Talking to kids about your ex's new relationship.Introducing a new relationship is one thing, talking to your kids about this new person is something else entirely. From the high road and the cheap seats, we're talking about what to say and not say when kids ask questions, apply labels, and hurl insults (that make you laugh).
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Because self care definitely doesn't come naturally to kids.We both have 12-year-olds, and that means hygiene is becoming a topic of interest. From shaving legs, to applying deodorant, to a discussion regarding the delicacy of John's nipples, this week is all about physical self care. Oh, and school lunch. But don't worry, it comes full circle.
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School is back in session and we're back in the corner whimpering quietly.Another school year already? How many two pocket poly folders? How about a nice Trapper Keeper? Is this really be happening? What grade? All this and more will be left unanswered in this week's back-to-school spiral. Grab a Lunchable and enjoy!
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Religion is a personal choice. How parents approach it with their kids should be as well. Amen.Heather is an atheist, John is an agnostic and their kids are little horned heathens. Just kidding. The kids are doing fine. So how do they raise kind, balanced humans without religion at the center of everything? Carefully, respectfully, and with the memory of funeral potatoes and Dan Quayle.
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We rambled again and somehow this is where we ended up.It's funny how time away from our kids lets us step back a bit to reflect on past relationships, homework strategies, and being promiscuously Mormon. Even more amusing is how it all spirals into a lament about student loans (Heather doesn't have any and John isn't AT ALL bitter about that).
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Co-parents usually enjoy a regular download of information, but single parents aren't as lucky. This week we're happy to be joined by Assistant Professor Hillary Hyde. As a single - or, rather, solo - parent with considerable professional experience working with children and families, she's got a lot to add to our ongoing conversation. And she's got a theory as to why some of this is so difficult. But just some of it.Photo Credit: Matthew Kulisch Photography
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Yes, we're white. And yes, we're probably wrong about a lot of this. But we need to be talking about race and we need to be talking to our kids about race and we need to try to do be better. To say things better. To be better.
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Tackling our own mental health with openness, honesty, and kids at our sides.Mental health is important, but it's difficult to maintain and "easy" to ignore (for a while). From deeply entrenched social stigmas to concerns regarding how to address things like anxiety and depression with our kids, it's a lot to juggle. But mental health is one ball we won't drop beca--oh hell. We dropped it. Five second rule!
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Discussing that special feeling you get when you resent the wrong people (your children) for the right reasons (maybe?)Is there difficulty and contentment? Yep! But there's also a whole slew of misplaced frustration, resentment, and GUILT when you're trying to do "what's best" - whatever the hell that means - for your kids. Maybe that's what happens when life is a bit like trial and error and error and error and "UGH! Why do you have to work!?"
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Deciding what we share about our kids has some complications now that we're single parents. Deciding what to share in the social space (blogs, social media, PODCASTS) can be a big decision. When you have kids, that decision grows. When you get divorced or separated, it grows again. We've crossed our share of hurdles - and, ahem, mediators - to get to our current sharing state, but it still isn't necessarily easy.
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