Remember Alexis Hutchinson, the single mom in the Army who refused deployment because her child care plans fell through (Army mom forced to choose: kid or country)?  In an interview, Hutchinson’s mom related a scary possibility: Alexis had told her she was  being shipped to Afghanistan for a special court marshal.
There’s a good news-bad news follow up to her story. Hutchinson will not face a court marshal, but will not be given an honorable discharge, thus denying her health and other benefits.
A commenter here at Solomother summed it up: “You can’t just assume that just because you have children …read more

I know I’m a grouch and a Grinch when I say this, but I’m always somehow secretly relieved when it snows on the weekend.  Yes, I know, the kid gets gypped of the pleasure of a snow day…
…but snow days for single mothers aren’t always pleasant.  So tell me, if you’re looking at a snowy forecast tonight (or any weeknight) are you pleased or panicked?
What’s to panic about?  It’s only a little snow… right?
 
RIGHT???

Sometimes, my career is glamorous. Sometimes, I remember where I live and what I am, and who I get to meet. It’s heady. Who did I hang out with tonight?

Found this video on AOL of Army Specialist Alexis Hutchinson’s mother — but because it’s an AP Video, I won’t embed the video from any of the sources I’ve found. Just click here to watch the video.
The Army cook is a single mother of a toddler. Her mother is already taking care of too many others to really be able to take on a baby, but when she heard her grandchild was going to be put in foster care, she got on a plane and went to pick him up. In the video, she says her daughter told her …read more

A single mother in the military says she was forced to choose between her country and her kid. What did she do?

I read resumes in the course of my job. I thought, with the economy being what it is, I’d dispense with some advice about how to write a cover letter and generally apply for a job.

Do your homework. If you see a job announcement that looks like a good fit, find out more about the company. Read their website. Understand their mission.
Be honest with yourself — and your potential employer. While you might have every reason to believe you’d be an amazing candidate for the job, don’t go stretching the truth to get it.
Address the skills listed in the …read more

A reader posted a rather nasty comment demanding to know what I do all day, as if I don’t work and therefore have no right to occasionally complain that my ex does nothing to support his son. I thought I’d answer that question.
On a weekday, I get up at 6AM. I catch up on the world news, take a shower, and make my son lunch. At 7AM, I wake the King of Everything and make sure he gets dressed, makes his bed, showers if he needs to. I make him breakfast, either eggs or pancakes or hot cereal with fruit. …read more

On Tuesday, I watched the whole thing. Did you? Did you cheer when Sotomayor gave her eloquent, moving acceptance speech? Did it make you think that this, this is a nation of which we should be proud?
I sure did. Yet another child of a single mother kicking butt and taking names, with grace, style, aplomb, and proper respect to the love and support that helped that happen.
What I absolutely do not understand is how the right can so severely snub a person who is the epitome of their values, a person who took no charity, who made her own way, …read more

There’s an interesting conversation brewing on this post from months ago: Help me I’m drowning: single mother overload

Folks trying to get it right, do the right thing, carry a certain amount of guilt and self-recrimination around. Believe me, it’s the narcissists and sociopaths who think they are perfect, can do no wrong, and expect the world to bend and warp and change to accomodate them.
And everyone’s breaking point is different. We can each only do so much before we run screaming for the hills. Add a few hours of poopy diapers, Barney, teen aged angst, and a smidge of a …read more

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