loader from loading.io

SOLO PARENT CRISIS RESPONSE - CoronaVirus (COVID-19)

Solo Parent

Release Date: 03/17/2020

How Much Change Can My Kids Take? with Kyle Cruze show art How Much Change Can My Kids Take? with Kyle Cruze

Solo Parent

This week we are discussing ‘How Much Change Can My Kids Take?’ with Kyle Cruze.   Our kids have experienced so much change already, and we know stability is important. How much change can they endure before there are lasting consequences?    Kyle is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of Tennessee. Since graduate school, Kyle has dedicated almost all his professional time to working with adolescent/teenage boys and their families. Recognizing the huge need that boys have for clarity and guidance, Kyle has sat with hundreds of kids and their parents with...

info_outline
What Is Stability? show art What Is Stability?

Solo Parent

This week we are discussing ‘What is Stability?’ as a single parent.   If you define the life of a single parent, you might say that instability is the word. The challenges and chaos of work-life balance, finances, emotional stress, and more are simply a given when you’re a solo parent, and because of that, we may often feel like our situation is not stable. But what does stability actually mean? Are we actually creating a stable environment but we just don’t realize it?    Today, we cover three main points:  1) How to tell the difference between uncertainty and...

info_outline
When Your Child Triggers You show art When Your Child Triggers You

Solo Parent

This week we are discussing “When Your Child Triggers You”   Everyone who has been through trauma has triggers. Our children can often push those buttons and trigger a strong response from us—and single parents don’t have a backup person to help out when this happens. If we’re overwhelmed, we react to triggers instead of responding—and it doesn’t go well. What do we do when our child triggers us, and how can we use them to our benefit?    Today, we cover three main points:  Defining Triggers Navigating Triggers The Healing Power of Triggers   LINK...

info_outline
Parenting a Child Who's Mad at You show art Parenting a Child Who's Mad at You

Solo Parent

This week we are discussing “Parenting a Child Who’s Mad at You”    It’s inevitable that our kids will be mad at us, whether they’re five years old or twenty-five. Their anger can feel like a heavy weight loaded onto our already-exhausting life! How do we effectively and lovingly parent a child who’s mad at us?   3 MAIN POINTS Today, we cover three main points:  Reasons Our Kids Get Angry Our Response (What We Can Do) Keeping Our Side of the Street Clean   LINK TO SHOWNOTES For all the detailed show notes, tips and links click -   ASK US...

info_outline
The Three Phases of Solo Parenting show art The Three Phases of Solo Parenting

Solo Parent

In this week’s episode - “The Three Phases of Solo Parenting” - we are honoring single parents as we lead up to National Single Parent Day.   In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed Proclamation 516, designating March 21st as National Single Parent Day. The proclamation recognized the courage and dedication of single parents. Only those who have been on this often-lonely and overwhelming path know just how challenging it is to be a single parent.    We are all at different stages in our solo parent journey—some of us are just beginning, and some of us are decades past...

info_outline
Getting Out From Under Single Parent Guilt show art Getting Out From Under Single Parent Guilt

Solo Parent

This week we are discussing “Getting Out From Under the Single Parent Guilt”   As a single parent, we are second-guessing and undermining ourselves. We want what’s best for our kids but don’t feel like we’re able to deliver it, so we overcompensate or feel like giving up. How can we parent from a place of balance rather than swinging from a pendulum of too hands-off or too involved?   Today, we cover three main points:  The Guilt Present, Not Perfect Good-Enough Parenting   LINK TO SHOWNOTES For all the detailed show notes, tips and links click -  ...

info_outline
Helping Our Kids Grieve Loss w/ Annie F. Downs and Tatum Green show art Helping Our Kids Grieve Loss w/ Annie F. Downs and Tatum Green

Solo Parent

This week we are discussing “Helping Our Kids Grieve Loss” with Annie F. Downs and Tatum Green - authors of Where Did TJ Go?   None of us are exempt from loss. We have all lost someone we love in some way or another. This is a painful subject that we often don’t know how to talk to our kids about—but it’s also incredibly crucial that we do. How do we talk to our kids about grief and loss in a healthy, honest, and appropriate way? Our guests this week, New York Times bestselling author, Annie F. Downs and her sister, Tatum Green are Co-Authors on a new book - Where Did TJ Go?...

info_outline
Teaching Our Kids Healthy Love show art Teaching Our Kids Healthy Love

Solo Parent

This week we are discussing Teaching Our Kids Healthy Love   We want to teach our kids what healthy love or a healthy marriage looks like, but without two parents in the household, often what they’ve seen is broken or simply non-existent. How do we teach our kids about building healthy relationships when we aren’t able to model it for them?    Today, we cover three main points:  Relationships are Relationships Setting the Tone  When our kids are in unhealthy relationships    LINK TO SHOWNOTES For all the detailed show notes, tips and links click -...

info_outline
Navigating Single Parent Dating: FAQs show art Navigating Single Parent Dating: FAQs

Solo Parent

This week we are discussing Navigating Single Parent Dating: FAQs    Dating is hard, period. There’s no manual, no “right way” of doing things. But when you’re a single parent, it gets even trickier; you have kids now and dating has changed significantly in this digital age. How can single parents navigate dating and all its complexities?    LINK TO SHOWNOTES For all the detailed show notes, tips and links click -   ASK US ANYTHING! We want to answer any Solo Parent questions you may have.  Go to and ask us anything…it can be related to a topic we...

info_outline
Is It Love or Loneliness? show art Is It Love or Loneliness?

Solo Parent

  This week we are discussing Is it Love or Loneliness?   Sometimes loneliness cuts so deep that we’ll accept less than what we want or deserve; we’re willing to take love from anyone we can get—both in romantic and non-romantic relationships. Sometimes it’s really love, but other times it’s simply a solution for our loneliness. How can we tell the difference in our relationships?    Today, we cover three main points:  How loneliness and love are intertwined Why we don’t want to be lonely Questions to ask ourselves    LINK TO SHOWNOTES For...

info_outline
 
More Episodes
Today is Tuesday, March 17. We are entering uncharted territory here in the US and certainly around the world. The President has declared a State of Emergency in our country, and we all know the complications that has and is presenting. When you are already struggling to get by as a single parent and the country is thrust into emergency, we know it can be scary, and an advanced sense of isolation can set in. So we wanted to gather some insights and tips to help you and your kids cope in this time of unknowns. How do we help our kids? (DETAILS HERE) 1. Do your homework - be the source 2. Let them lead - they are getting lots of info, so ask, "tell me what you have been hearing" through social media, friends. Let them establish what they are ready to hear. 3. Tell age-appropriate truthful answers - be the trusted voice in their life. ie. "I will always tell you the truth." 4. Find the helpers in the situations. Every crisis has them. This helps shape a positive way to look at things. (first responders, doctors, and nurses, our government) 5. Talk about / make things that they can control ( let them dress weirder or choose foods that usually you don't let them eat) 6. Give them places to process emotionally (journaling - talking) 7. Limit exposure to the news 8. MOST IMPORTANT - Manage your own anxiety because they pick up on it. How do we deal with it emotionally? 1. Focus on the Spiritual realm. Spend twice as much time focusing on the truth than on the news. Pick a verse and hold on to (Put it everywhere. Write it out -  make it your screen saver) (33 Great Verses) 2. Remember the faithfulness of God. Single parents are incredibly resilient. Focus on how He has been there for you and continue to rely; He will continue to sustain. There is nothing to fear. 3. Find a sounding board but not your children 4. Exercise * Dealing with anxiety - Deep breathing exercises gets us back to the correct thinking and redistributes blood flow to correct part of the brain - Grounding techniques. Focus on something specific, try this with your kids, say "pick as many things as you can the color red." How do we deal practically? 1. Create a Preparative list - the exercise forces the perspective - It provides direction in the off chance we need it, if we don't have time to think. - List the core things we need (if we can't leave the house for 2-4 weeks) Meds Non-perishable food Water List contacts and numbers in case Let it become a project with our kids 2. Let our kids know the plan Wash hands whenever we come into the house. Hang a sign at the door to remind kids. If we eliminate what comes in, we are better prepared Leave shoes outside 3. Find humor / be silly. Funny movies, games, stories 4. Be the kindness that someone needs 5. Make it quality time (Check out our podcast on this) Join our FB Community for updates and live broadcasts - HERE