Fabulous Day Care

I have the best day care provider in Portland. She is a single mom who decided to stay at home with her baby, who is now 7 months old. She started the day care in September, I believe, just in time for me to have a desperate need to move Tory to a closer, vegetarian-friendly provider. I got really lucky. For 3 months now, it has just been Tory and Alison's baby. Since they are both under 2, she is prohibited from taking any other children under 2, so she is on the lookout for new kids over 2. She is very flexible with schedules, diets, and personal needs. I am hoping she gets some more kids so Tory has more kids to play with and run around with. She misses that after having so many kids at her last day care! I can totally vouch for Alison. She lives and runs her day care from her home in SE Portland, on SE 65th between Flavel and Duke. She has a cute little house that she shares with a roommate (who has been cleared by the state as OK and is really nice!). There are indoor/outdoor cats that are really sweet, and 2 dogs that remain either outside or in the basement when Tory is there. They are nice dogs, but I don't really want Tory to be around dogs when I am not there to supervise, no matter how much I trust the owner! Anyway, I think it would be nice to have some other single moms bring their kids there. Her price is OVERWHELMINGLY REASONABLE!!!!! Like I said, I don't know how I got so lucky to get a great caregiver, so close and so reasonably priced! Please, contact me...leave a comment and I will email you back, if you are interested or want to hear more!!!! Thanks!

I need guidance, and maybe some of you out there have had similar situations as me as single moms. I have found I have lost my enthusiasm for my work, basically because I really want to be home with my baby, even if it's just part time. And of course, since I am the sole bread winner of the family (last night I talked to Tory about getting a part time job, but she looked at me like I had 2 heads!), quiting my job or taking a part time job that doesn't pay a jillion dollars an hour, is not an option. I feel trapped. This is not how I imagined spending my child's first years. I have wracked my brains for options, and have even tried to start a home business, but I just don't have the time or energy after work to pursue it! In the meantime, I know my work is suffering and it shows. I used to really be up for working with my patients. Now it's a struggle. I still love and admire them for their courage, as obviously they didn't plan their life with chronic kidney disease as a focal point, which it now is, but still, I miss every moment of Tory's life that I am not part of. I have tried to see if there is something else out there that interests me and will give me my enthusiasm back, but the job market is just not good for social workers at this time. I would love to work at a yarn shop...what a social group...people sitting around and knitting and talking...I would love that! But I'm sure the pay won't cover the bills...maybe a sugar daddy??? Does anyone know one I could meet? It must be after work, after the home business, after I put Tory to bed and before I collapse into bed myself...I've heard of eharmony, how about esugardaddy??? Please, share your experiences, let me know I am not alone!!!

I will start the ball rolling by introducing us: We are Debby and Tory. I am 38 and Tory is 16 months. Tory was conceived with donor sperm, and her donor is anonymous. We know there are siblings out there, at least 11, and we have met 1. I welcome meeting others. Tory has a lot of grown up friends that we share and lots of relatives. She has a really funny sense of humor, and she is goofy like her mom! We belong to a group called Single Parents By Choice, which is an offshoot of a national group called Single Mothers by Choice (SMC). The local group includes moms who have adopted or used donor sperm and/or eggs to have their children. I have recently been involved in starting a group which also includes moms who chose to capitalize on their unexpected pregnancies and raise their babies without the support of the baby's father. We can all agree that that situation also requires a great deal of choice! I am a social worker by training and occupation right now, and I love to assist people with getting support. I hope that this blog and the group will be helpful in this quest! I have found that support of other single moms has been great for me in the past 2 years. No one is an island. We all need help at times, and no one here is alone! I also have a lot of support from married and partnered parents, but while they have issues with parenting that we can relate to each other on, it's not the same as having a group of moms who can't take a shower for 3 days because the newborn doesn't want to be put down and there is never anyone else there to hold her! (although some of my married mom friends say sometimes the man is more of a hinderance than a help....but I think that is just them trying to relate!!!) Anyway, I am really looking forward to meeting some or all of you in the near future. We will plan another get together sometime soon, but with the holidays, I am doubtful that a lot of you will be available...maybe you could leave some comments about ideas for a get together soon? Include days and times that work best for you, keeping in mind that all the kids tend to have different nap times!

If anyone who is browsing through the blog wants to be a contributing writer, please feel free to contact me and I will add you to the member list. You will then receive an email inviting you to join and instructing you on how to sign up. Then you will be able to post stories, advertise events that might interest single moms, and show the world pictures of your little darling without having to go through a bunch of different channels. I would love to have you post stories of your experiences as a single mom, stories about the cute things your kids have said or done, and even any research or experiences that you have had that will help others in their journeys as single moms. You can also post questions that will be open for comments from the general public. Please limit your posts to subjects that are relevent to the group. You can email me at goodteanicehouse(at)aol.com. I look forward to reading about your lives, and I hope you will find mine interesting as well!

Welcome single mothers by choice or circumstance! It sounds like you came to the right place! We are trying to unite all moms who have done the whole thing alone, most of us since even before we got pregnant, but some shortly after....and for many that is a great thing! We are also welcoming to those of you who adopted as single moms. We all share some common experiences, and that is why we are here, to share! I am hoping that this blog will be a place for us to meet each other, help each other, and entertain each other with our stories of single motherhood! I also hope we post a lot of pictures! We will be planning future get togethers as well, which should be lots of fun. Well, I am hopeful that many people will visit our site, and maybe stick around awhile! Aloha, Shalom, Welcome!