Divorce: A Bad Word

I will never forget when my children were younger and a neighbor child rang my doorbell to inform me that my son (who was about 7 years old at the time) had said a “bad” word.  “Really?” I responded.  “What did he say?” You could tell this kid was proud of himself, sure that after he told me, my son would be getting into some really big trouble.  Loudly he declared, “He said,” but then he barely whispered, “hell.”  I had to bend over to hear the word. Well as it turned out my son was apparently relaying a message … Continue reading

Handling Your Child’s Questions About Your Divorce

It’s bound to happen; sooner or later your kids are going to start asking questions about your divorce. It’s only natural. Even if they were very young when the event took place, they are going to have questions about why their family is different than their friend’s. As a parent, this can be scary. Their questions likely don’t have easy answers and it can be hard to decide how to approach such a sensitive topic with them. Remember to keep your answers appropriate for your child’s age and maturity. When they are younger a simple answer such as, “Mommy and … Continue reading

Why Did You Get A Divorce?

Kids ask hard questions, there’s no denying that. When I got divorced I was surprised by some of the questions Hailey asked, it seemed that she was aware of more than I thought she was. I tried really hard to give her good answers without pointing any fingers. Since some of the issues leading to my divorce were too adult for her to understand, I sidestepped them. After all, it really isn’t my child’s business that her father was unfaithful. I didn’t want to paint that picture of him for Hailey. I chose instead to tell her that we just … Continue reading

State Farm Has Tips About Life Insurance After Divorce

Most of the time, when a person gets a life insurance policy, the person makes his or her spouse the beneficiary. In general, that is a very smart idea. However, if the marriage ends in divorce, things can get a bit tricky when it comes to life insurance. State Farm Insurance has some advice for people who are about to divorce. Read it over before you sign “the papers”. It is always stressful when a marriage ends in a divorce, even for those who have an “amicable divorce”. Getting a divorce means that there are a plethora of things that … Continue reading

A Ban on Divorce?

I don’t usually get involved in politics, but recently Wisconsin representative, Don Pridemore, addressed something that I just cannot ignore. He firmly believes that divorce should not ever be an option, even if you are being abused. He claims that if you think about the reason you got married in the first place, essentially that should solve all of your marital problems. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am very pro-marriage. Divorce is never something to take lightly, it certainly isn’t for everyone, but for many of us, it was the right thing. People have their agency. They make choices … Continue reading

Do You See Your Marriage as a Commitment or a Contract?

This past weekend I attended a two day seminar at my church. It was a program called “Marriage on the Rock.” No, not marriage on the “rocks”…on the ROCK, as in strength and long-lasting. It was a great time of learning more about each other and ending it with a chance to renew your marriage vows. Since we just celebrated 20 years in September, it was quite fitting. One of the lessons that really stuck out to me was the whole idea of commitment. Too often instead of looking at marriage as a commitment, people tend to see it as … Continue reading

Saving a Marriage

It seems like everywhere I turn lately, there are marriage problems…serious ones. Couples that you would never imagine considering divorce seem to be on that path. I recently met with a woman who had filed for divorce but then stopped it. She is willing, although very reluctantly, to give her husband a chance to work on his issues. They are serious, difficult issues. My heart feels for her. It is painful to see her pain. It would be easy for me to say, “Get out while you can.” But I tend to be of the mindset that you should first … Continue reading

Divorced Men and Women on Dating

Recently a study of 2000 people was done as part of a promo for the movie” Crazy, Stupid Love” and it was discovered that divorced men are more eager to remarry than divorced women. 47% of divorced men were ready to remarry compared with only 20% of divorced women. Men also seem to jump back into the dating world faster than women with more of them using on line dating services and willing to hire a professional matchmaker to help them find a woman. They didn’t ask any follow up questions so I don’t know why the participants answered the … Continue reading

Should You Plan For A Divorce

When your child was born did you ever imagine you would be a single parent? In a country with a divorce rate like ours it almost seems silly that we didn’t plan for this possibility. We plan for everything else, even who would take care of our children in the event of our death but not how we would take care of them if our marriage fell apart. It seems like the opposite of wishful thinking to plan for being a single parent, no one wants to think that their marriage won’t make it. All of us at one time, … Continue reading

Sinead O’Connor Ends Marriage

What do you do if you are Kim Kardashian and people are making fun of you for ending your marriage after only 72 days? You wait for another celeb to take the pressure off you. That person, in this particular case, is Sinead O’Connor. O’Connor hit the big time in 1990 with the Prince pinned hit “Nothing Compares 2 U.” But, her U.S fame was short lived. Later that year, O’Connor threatened to boycott her own concert if the U.S. national anthem was played before the concert. Frank Sinatra threatened her with physical violence and off she was on her … Continue reading