Absent dads are a hugely sensitive topic. Absent usually means the non-existence, however, absent dads can be more complicated than that. We often don’t know if dad is gone for good, or if/ when he may return. Infrequent or sporadic contact can be equally, if not more, challenging to deal with. Seventeen percent of fathers…
Single Motherhood
Raising Two Kids Solo: The Reality
My path to raising two children solo is slightly unique; we are what is termed a ‘mixed family’. After divorcing my first child’s father, I decided to go it alone and have a second via donor conception. So you could say – more than most – that I chose to parent two as a solo…
Recovering From A Breakdown
Trigger warning, talks about mental ill-health, baby loss, separation and the struggles of motherhood. Recently I saw an incredible piece of performance art by Bryony Kimmings; I’m a Phoenix, Bitch. It had me in tears almost from the first second I walked through the door (which admittedly was about fifteen minutes after the show had…
Why Single Mums Are So Stressed
The working title for this started off as why single mums shout so much, but then I realised other single mums have it more together than me and don’t necessarily shout like someone possessed. Perhaps not all of us are more stressed than the average mum either, and apologies if you’re sitting there thinking, I’m…
Living Without Love: Single Motherhood
I’ve lived without love for 1,629 days now. In the early days, hope for a more *real* love sprung forth from the release of “it’s” grip. A love which caused so much pain can’t be true love, can it? Now I could dream big. Four and a half years later, and the mirage of hope…
Online Dating: Mind The (Age) Gap
Or as I prefer to call it, fucking online dating. I’m back in the hell hole that is swiping, profiles and dickpics. Actually, to be fair I’ve never received an unsolicited dickpic. (I’ve also never received a solicited one, mainly because I’ve never solicited one). Anyway, back to reality. These are the issues I have…
My Writing In Review: 2018
2018 hasn’t been quite as busy writing wise as 2017 was; thirty posts, not including this one. I did make a baby though, so it’s not too bad going. The year started with a post about new years resolutions – a promise to myself to be a little more selfish when it came to who…
A Family of Three: Six Months On
Somehow, my baby is six months already. Six months. Six months of parenting two and I’m not sure what to say. I read other posts about such milestones. They focus on the ups and downs of the baby and child bonding, of the conflicts of loving two littles, and of the exhaustion of doing it…
Adjusting to life with two children
Adjusting to two children as a one parent family is like fighting to reach the end of one of those bungee jump runs; with the tension running both ways. I could analyse the whys and wherefores of my struggle to bond with the baby. How thinking my baby was taken at birth placed a barrier between…
Birth – the untold story
Content warning. This post talks openly about a traumatic birth and some readers may find this triggering. There are some support links at the end of the post. I want to talk about birth. Not the airbrushed, publicised, perfect birth. The un-sanitised, unspoken, unseen. I want to unleash the truth of my son’s birth; expel it…