Your Choice!

Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. 

Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice.

Wayne Dyer 

Perception!

True?

Five Great Romantic Dates For Single Parents!

Now that summer appears to popping it's head around the corner, it's time to start thinking about the great outdoors!

When thinking about a date, you don't have to over complicate it - as with many things, the simple ideas are often the best. So here's a couple of ideas for that first or second date.

1. Pack a picnic - a great second date, where you can relax, chill and enjoy the sunny weather!

2. A walk in the country - nice and simple.

3 Or a walk on the beach, if that's nearby! Nothing beats the sound of the sea.

4 Enjoy a drink at a country pub - outside of course!

5 Cook a BBQ? Conversation, food and drink - it's a great winning combination! And keeps you busy if you're a little nervous.

So don't just think about it, go and do it - dating is fun, share your life!

http://www.datingforsingleparentsusa.com

Is Online Dating Killing Romance?

I just ran into my buddy Andy at a restaurant-—the kind of hip place you’d take a first date to impress her. Knowing he’d gone through a difficult divorce—one he didn’t really want—I was pleased when he immediately introduced me to his new girlfriend, Carol. In my zeal to find out as much about Andy’s good fortune as possible I innocently asked: “So, how’d you two meet?” No big deal right? Wrong. Andy and Carol turned to one another and began mumbling something indecipherable for what seemed to be an eternity. Realizing I stepped into something awkward I thought to myself: OMG they met in prison; or on a street corner. After a few seconds passed and all of our skin tones returned to a normal light pinkish color Carol responded: “Well, uh, we met online…that’s right…online…yeah…on the computer.” Okay, so it was a pretty good impression of Annie Hall, but why all the fuss? Isn’t online dating the rave? Why are people embarrassed to admit they use this remarkable invention?

Most people I’ve interviewed prefer online dating to the bar scene because it offers a better chance of getting a first date. Post a reasonably attractive picture, sell your life’s resume, and wait for the solicitations to pour in. A few e-mails and a telephone call or two will allow your personality to work for you—a real plus. In the bar scene it’s all about your looks; you don’t have the luxury of putting your best picture out there because—you’re out there—in the flesh. And if you don’t physically appeal to your target objective, forget about it; it won’t matter if you’ve got Anderson Cooper’s personality.Many claim that online dating also reduces the odds of being humiliated. Makes sense; it’s easier to endure rejection from afar rather than have someone laugh directly in your face. FYI: my female clients claim that it‘s a must for a woman to have a terrific picture to get online attention but it’s not as important for a man to have one. This makes sense in part, because men tend to be more visual. But I do have a friend who refuses to post a picture for professional reasons and he rarely gets any responses. In fact, one woman admonished him for not posting a picture: “If I have to put one up there you should to,” she said. Online dating is also convenient, or I should say as convenient as you’d like it to be. A female friend of mine would only date men who lived a minimum of one hour away—she liked the anonymity. Call me a wimp, but I get exhausted just visualizing a two-hour drive home in the wee hours of the morning following a date. Nevertheless, most people tend to date someone within a few miles of their home. One woman told me that she loves dating a guy who lives close by because she can see him almost any time she wants without a “big production.”Another convenience of online dating is that you don’t have to leave your house to get a date; kinda like Netflix® don’t ya think? No need to drop a pound or two and drag yourself to a Happy Hour or a meet-up group. Nope; just a couple of taps on your keyboard and presto: Janine appears on your screen to tell you that she loves to laugh, isn’t needy, loves her children more than life itself, and can find time to fit you into her mind-boggling schedule.

Online dating is also faster than waiting for your best friend to fix you up with her cousin, or someone from her yoga class. Heck, you don’t even have to grieve a death or divorce; just jump right back in the mix and sort them out as you go along; sounds like take-out doesn’t it?

And therein lies the problem from my perspective. Like anything else in life online dating has its pros and cons, but it’s too damn fast, and when something comes too fast and comparably easy, we don’t trust it—it can’t be a good thing—it can’t be authentic. Relationships should be less predictable and worth waiting for. We have too much control over a romantic process and in turn, we’re killing the romance.

There was a time when you had to send couriers from your castle to your mate’s castle and wait a month or so for a response. In the not too distant past there was a time when you had to mail a letter and wait two or three days to hear something; there was a time when you had to get off your ass and drive somewhere. Now you can order your partner over a machine.

I know online dating is necessary in our crazy fast-paced world; I, too, think it beats the bar scene; and I know your friend the tax attorney may not be able to fix you up until tax season is over; just saying: I knew there was something disturbing about the Jetsons.

Article from
http://howdoidate.com

Top 10 Ways I Was a Perfect Mom Until I Had Kids

Before I had kids, I possessed many ideas about what kind of parent I would be. Below are ten of those assumptions -- and the reality that followed, post-kids.

1. I will not bribe my kids. They will behave because they have such great internal moral compasses, and complying will be what they want to do.

Reality: I will let you eat Hershey's Kisses for breakfast if you stay in your bed tonight. I will take you anywhere you want to go if you will just stay in your bed tonight.

2. I will maintain appropriate boundaries in the bathroom.

Reality: Most days, I use the bathroom with three little faces watching my every move. The upside? There is always someone nearby to run and get a new roll of toilet paper when I'm stranded.

3. My kids will leave the house with their hair combed neatly and wearing clothes that match.

Reality: We hit a low last summer when Annie Rose insisted on wearing one snow boot and one flip-flop to Target, happily limping her way through the aisles. An astonishing number of old ladies asked if I was aware that her shoes didn't match. "Yes, thank you for your concern," I replied.

4. I will control my potty mouth in front of the kids.

Reality: Oh shit, the fire alarm is going off again! Damnit, the dinner is burning. Shit! Shit! Shit! My girls reply, "At least it's better than Christmas Eve, when Daddy caught on fire." (True story.)

5. I will spend time taking care of myself even after I have kids.

Reality: I take a shower every three or four days, if I'm lucky. A brown Crayola marker is a lot faster and cheaper than getting my roots colored (but try to explain to a 4-year-old why Mommy is allowed to scribble with markers in her hair). And my health club might as well apply for 501c3 status, since I give them a monthly donation.

6. I will model healthy conflict resolution skills, and I will be gracious when I am right.

Reality: I have been known to chant "I was right! You were wrong!" to my husband as I sing and march around the kitchen, doing a victory dance.

7. I will share, and thus my kids will be good sharers, too.

Reality: Get out of my makeup, girls! It's mine! Get out of my toiletries!

8. My kids will only eat wholesome, balanced meals with one reasonable dessert after dinner.

Reality: Fine, you may have a bowl of ice cream for "breakfast dessert." It's got calcium, right? And all the good milk fat that your growing brain needs! Here, have a second helping.

9. We will be on time for school, appointments, classes and playdates.

Reality: How is it that everyone is up three hours before school starts and we are the last ones to arrive?

10. My kids will see me as an empowered woman and a role model of how women can achieve success outside of the house.

Reality: If I got hit by a bus tomorrow, my tombstone would say, "Here lies Carrie. Now who will do the laundry?"

Follow the craziness at Portrait of an Adoption

Check out Carrie's book about bullying and follow Carrie on Twitter

 

Follow Carrie Goldman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CarrieMGoldman

Article from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carrie-goldman

5 Reasons It's Better To Be A Single Parent

Although the gold standard in child rearing has traditionally been a dual family unit, being a single parent has a myriad of benefits. Rather than navigating the treacherous territory of constant parental compromise, you can independently make choices for your children that you feel is best. Eleven years ago, when my former husband and I split, I saw my divorce as a glorious opportunity to parent solo. No more discussing the finer points of gymnastics vs. volleyball. I didn't have to debate dessert after dinner vs. never ever letting sugar touch lips. And there was no longer a lengthy discussion over the reason my daughters needed braces.

While the state of rock-steady marital bliss in this country continues to falter, more and more adults are joining the ranks of contented uncoupled family units. In fact, based on the latest Census Bureau statistics, there are over 14 million single parent households with children under the age of 18. That is a lot of people and a good reason to celebrate. Which is why, March 21 has been designated as National Single Parent's Day. A time to honor all those tenacious individuals who do what they do, day in and day out, to support, nurture and care for their kids.

As a single mom advisor and author of It Takes All 5, I would like to honor the day and offer you five solid reasons why it's better to be a single mom or dad then half of a parenting pair.

Read the rest of the article HERE!

Don't Forget About YOU!

Sometimes as a single parent, you have so many things to think about that you can easily forget about YOU! Remember that you have feelings and needs too, and these need taking care of just as much as your children's!

http://www.datingforsingleparentsusa.com

Dating For Single Parents?

Single Parent? Join for free and create your own profile

When you join Dating For Single Parents USA, you will be able to create your own profile - letting people know who you are, what you like and who you would like to meet. You'll have the ability to search for people who interest you, browse through your matches and even receive messages from other users. When you're ready to contact someone you can subscribe to access Dating For Single Parents USA messaging.

Take the next step towards finding your perfect partner. Join now

Inspirational Quotes for Single Working Moms

As Golda Meir said, "At work, you think of the children you have left at home. At home, you think of the work you've left unfinished. Such a struggle is unleashed within yourself. Your heart is rent."

Don't swim against the current. Just know that you are doing what you have to do, and you're doing it as well as you are able. You're not Superwoman and no one expects you to be.

Single working moms are teaching their kids a solid work ethic; you're teaching them that we don't just have things handed to us, and have to work for the things we want. If they are properly cared for while you're out earning the money you need to get by, why should you feel guilty? James Baldwin is famously quoted as saying, "Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them."Make the most of the time you do get to spend with them, and know that while you're working, you're taking care of their physical needs AND teaching them an important life lesson.

And finally... "Working mothers are guinea pigs in a scientific experiment to show that sleep is not necessary to human life." - Anonymous

http://www.datingforsingleparentsusa.com

Top 10 Online Dating Tips

Just having a browse this morning and came across this interesting blog. Says all the things I would want to say about online dating!

Click here for Kate's Top 10 Online Dating Tips

http://www.datingforsingleparentsusa.com

Being A Parent Isn't Always Easy - Agree?

If you agree come and join us on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/DatingForSingleParents

Or Twitter!

http://www.twitter.com/ParentsDatingUS

What Can You See?

I can’t tell anyone to be kinder to their parents (except for our own children, when they’re jumping on our heads). But I can invite everyone to cut all parents some slack. 

Whether you have children or not, whether your parents are still around or not, stop thinking about what you can see – a frazzled mum or dad, snapping at their child; a parent, letting you down – and imagine for a moment what you can’t see: a lone adult trying to do everything on their own, with no back up; someone trying to keep a tiny human from running into the road, when they've only had two hours’ sleep in the last three days; a loving carer who had to drive across a continent while their ‘other half’ is nowhere to be seen, and certainly not when their joint children are behaving like Tasmanian Satans on horse burgers.

Just take a moment, and give them a smile, or a hand, or just restrain yourself from judging them because they can totally see it on your face.