Father's Day for the Divorced Mom

By: Kristen Neighbarger Published on: 14/06/2023

Last year for Mother’s Day, my daughter, Kate found these adorable and cheeky Avocado-themed dish towels for me and a giant coffee mug declaring I’m the World’s Greatest Mom. This year, she cross-stiched a kitchen towel for me (she’s an old soul in a teenage body) and bought me some Lily’s chocolate bars (because Keto!). These gifts stick in my mind because she picked them out, she bought them, and she was so proud of them. They were special because her biological father and I have not been together for five years, and that meant there was no dad helping her pick out gifts or paying for those gifts for several years. I learned during those first couple of years that Mother’s Day can feel very different when you’re a divorced/single mom. Father’s Day is almost here, and I want to take a few minutes to have a heart-to-heart with my divorced friends with kids. I see you. When you’re divorced with children (of any age), holidays can absolutely bring about scheduling nightmares–even when you have a clearly written parenting agreement, a myriad of emotions, and tremendous unrest. While I wish I could fix all those things for you, I know I can’t. However, after living that life for a few years and attempting to be healthy and healed, I’m going to attempt today to help you approach these holidays differently and maybe give you some peace.