How do you vacation when you’re a single mom?

Recently, a regular reader, “Greg Peck Fan,” wrote to ask:

“How do single moms handle vacations? Disney by myself, with two kids? Uh…I can’t even figure out how the line logistics would work. Plus my two kids are 5 years apart. So, I’m just in trouble.”

This is how I’ve pulled off a fun, relaxing vacation: [...]

Squeezing in a date before the birthday gala

Thanks to all of you for the birthday wishes!
While my little sister and Mae baked the 8th birthday ice skating cake (above) — which turned into a frosting party that yours truly got to clean up — I went on a date with the Biologist. We went downtown to a little swank bar, where [...]

My baby is eight today…

Mae shares her birthday with: Author Maya Angelou who turns 80 today and is partying with Oprah Winfrey. Maya Angelou was a single mother at age 17.
What I’m baking at this very moment to wake Mae up with, singing: blueberry muffins.
What she read last night: Ivy and Bean.
A poem that Mae wrote for me recently: [...]

Did you hear the news?

If you haven’t yet, check out my announcement at BabyCenter!
Photo courtesy of Fotologia

What my dad says this morning, by email

“I would love to get Mae a bike for her birthday. Is that her dream?
Love,
DAD
P.S. Re-read your book last night.”
Note to self: I’d better get my dad a new book to read.
Any suggestions? He loves to read memoirs.
Photo: Mae feeding her Grandpa some birthday cake.

Help. The ex-boyfriend wants to come to my kid’s birthday party…

It all started last week, when we were passing through the Israeli’s neighborhood and Mae piped up: “I wanna see him!”
I called, and he said, “Sure, come on over.”
I gently told Mae in the car that we were just stopping in to say “hello,” and then going home. Making boundaries is not my best trait, [...]

What happens if you step off the beaten path

I wasn’t going to write about Him in my blog because I’d already promised him that I wouldn’t.
But I can’t hold it in anymore.
I’ve never gone this long without blogging. Granted, I was in New York City last week, riding the subway up and down Manhattan with Mae, as well as meeting my go-getting’ new [...]

Overheard during Winter Break

Confession: Mae slept in my bed, her leg draped over mine, every night during the winter break. (Yes, this is self-defeating when it comes to my dating life.)
On Saturday morning, we were off to IKEA to check out the sales for my New Year’s home-organizing obsession. In line, Mae held up a bag of Swedish [...]

“Dating bitter single mom”

Who me? No!
I’m in full wind-up mode over here with the start of the New Year. Are you? It’s the first time in days that I’ve had a few hours to get my mind wrapped around work again. (My animal-loving daughter is off at the zoo. The Oakland zoo, not the San Francisco one where [...]

I gave to myself this Christmas

Go ahead and call me selfish.
I do my best give to my kid all-year round. My friends and family will tell you. Ask them, really.
As we approached December 25, I was spent. I’m not the kind of person who forgets things or wants to sleep in. But that’s what was happening. Last weekend, after Mae [...]