ParentMap, October 2010 issue

Get in the game! Single parents: thinking about dating, but not sure where to start? Or are you a Match veteran in need of fresh ideas? Our October feature is for you! And, it happens to the best of us: Snap! Learn ways to stay cool during tantrums and other hot-button parenting moments. Also this month, banish that Halloween bogeyman - candy! with candy projects, experiments, and more. Two words: Corn. Mazes. Happy Halloween! Read the entire issue online, or scroll down for links and cool online only content.

About this issue

Take my sister, please!

They say bad luck comes in threes. Often I think the divorce stats are overblown, until a year like this past one that saw three friends’ marriages break up, rough kid negotiations and a final divorce. Sadly, my identical twin sister and her family were tremendously affected (as all families are) by the break up of their family unit, as we had all known it for 20+ years.

Divorce has to be one of the roughest-riding wide-range emotional roller coasters that a family can experience, and never will the support of community be more essential. The large number of people connected to my sister’s family that showed ‘round the clock love and support was nothing short of uplifting; a vivid testimony to who she and her now ex-husband are. It is clear and essential that family, friends, therapists, teachers and coaches be available with support in order to help rebuild families back to function — and fun!

But please, let the fun begin!

When my sister previewed our feature, “The dating game: local parents looking for love”, one truth resonated first and foremost: “the minute I realized I can live by myself for the rest of my life . . . I could not stop getting dates!”

Of course, the hurdle you have to bridge between that epiphany and getting any dates these days . . . is the blessed Internet! There are myriad dating sites that offer a possible match and then some, like Events & Adventures. (Midnight sailboating on Lake Union? Night tubing at Snoqualmie? Who couldn’t stand a bit of that, single or happily married?)

Lastly, whether you are single or married, Dr. Kastner’s “deal killers” for women (or men?) is worth close review! These points can put a quick stop to a bad idea in early-stage dating, or, for us old marrieds, require us to ask for more of ourselves and our spouses!

You may want read this ParentMap cover-to-cover this month! This issue is filled with exceptional resources, including our annual education guide, LearningMap, with a parent’s guide to public schools and a PNAIS booklet.

Happy Halloween—go get lost in a corn maze!

—Alayne Sulkin, Publisher/Editor

P.S. Drs. Gottman and Keltner: Could they add deeper meaning to your life (page 35)?