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CREATING QUALITY TIME WITH OUR KIDS

Solo Parent

Release Date: 03/11/2020

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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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 -  ...

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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?...

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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 -...

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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...

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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...

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Quality time with our kids is important! But how do we manage it, especially as single parents whose time is already so limited? And, sometimes we feel added pressure to make the time together a big deal. It helps to consider that kids remember the time you spend with them much more than the things you do. A recent study in the Journal of Marriage and Family says the quality of time is much more important than the amount of time parents spend with their children. It isn't about endless hours spent together—it's about how you choose to spend the time that truly matters. So, how do we, as single parents, create quality time moments with our kids when time is one of our rarest commodities? We considered four ways to create quality time with our kids: Rituals: Build quality time into the normal rituals of daily life. Instead of trying to add in more activities, make the ordinary moments count. Routines:  Establish routines that become meaningful ways to show up for your kids while you're in the car, during meals, and at bedtime. Random: Look for opportunities that pop up unexpectedly and make the most of them. Fun memories can come from quality time "on the fly". Responsive: Be aware of the times your kids need you to respond in the moment. Some things can't wait. Stop what you are doing and make your response to them a priority. Here are some suggestions single parents came up with to establish quality time in these areas: Start seeing times with our kids not as a chore but as a privilege Be deliberate about being 'present' in moments Remember your kids don't need "big" moments. Sometimes just being in the same room together for homework, bedtime or watching TV is enough. Do chores together. Make projects a family event. Even loading the dishwasher together can be quality time. Go to where they are and join them in what they are doing. Don't expect them to come to you. Be present in ordinary moments like picking them up and during car time. Stay off your phone when in their presence. Connect face to face with your kids whenever possible. Schedule it and let this be a non-negotiable on your calendar. Find something that can be done every day. Examples: read together at bedtime, make bedtime prayer a routine time together. Eat together with no technology. Create a list of easy activities or experiences you can choose from when the opportunity arises. Examples: Waiting for a sibling to finish an activity, google knock-knock jokes or play "Would You Rather?". Stop by the pet store or humane society to pet the dogs and cats, stop by the playground and play tag or swing for 20 minutes. Throughout your day and week, look for random moments where you can just enjoy being with your children. Have FUN! Be silly. Whether in the rituals and routines of your daily lives or in the random moments that pop up here and there, take every opportunity you can to be responsive to your kids.  If they had a hard day or seem out of sorts, put what you can aside and give them your undivided attention. Even 5-10 minutes can pay off. If they have a question, put your phone down and make eye contact. Demonstrate you are there when they need you. With quality time, especially as single parents, it comes down to being deliberate with what we have and intentionally carving out simple moments to be special. Remember, it's not about quantity, and it doesn't have to be big, it just needs to be authentic and real. Join our community - facebook.com/SoloParentSociety