Featured | Divorced, Not Broken

Child Support Review – Good or Bad

As many of you who have read my other posts know, I moved to Oregon from California about six years ago. My original Child Support Order was drafted in California which is where I got married to and divorced from my son's mother, who I affectionately refer to as "The Plaintiff". That is how she was described on our divorce papers and somehow, it just seems to fit her. What many people don't know, The Plaintiff included, is that even though you move to another state and have the enforcement of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dealing with the X, Featured Tagged With: Child support, Divorce, Family, karma, single-dad

Summer Camp for Life

School is out. Summer is here. And with that comes Summer Camp for the boy. Only this year, it's a little different. I will never forget the first time I dropped the boy off for summer camp. It wasn't even a sleep over camp. It was just a YMCA day camp for skateboarding. I remember driving him up to the gate and letting him out of the car. They wouldn't let parents inside due to the fear of pedophiles and not knowing who's kid was whose and what not. You had to just drop them off at the gate … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Home Life

Child support does not mean Life Support

I had a bit of a knock-down drag-out argument with my son's mom last night. I try to avoid them at all costs, but this one was looming on the horizon for about 17 years. Child support ends next year and she doesn't think that's fair. She thinks it should just go on and on, indefinitely. We were divorced in California and although we moved to Oregon six years ago and our child support is enforced by Oregon's child support enforcement department, it still abides by the original California … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dealing with the X, Featured Tagged With: Child support, college, Divorce, divorced, Family, finances, sacrifice, single-dad

How to Stop a School Bully

A few years ago my son was having an issue with a school bully. He's never been, what you would call, big for his age. He's always been a bit wiry but quite strong for his size. He is a very gentle soul who is more into music and art than sports. He'd feel horrible for days if he ever hurt your feelings, so taking a swing at you would be the very last thing he would ever consider doing. But sometimes... a kids gotta do what a kids gotta do. I have always been very protective of the boy. I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Anger, bully, bullying, fighting, Parenting, single father, single-dad

Karma + Irony = Karmony (It’s better than Irma)

I'm kind of a movie snob. A cinephile if you will. I don't mean that I only watch obscure foreign films sub-titled in French at stuffy Art-House theaters. What I mean is that I like to watch the movie. I sit quietly, focused on the film without disturbing anyone around me. I expect anyone within a hundred feet of me to do the same. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Home Life, Tech Tagged With: disabilities, Family, hearing impaired, karma, movies, Parenting, technology

FREE Boogey-Man Prevention System

Did you know you're not allowed to give away a pet snake on Craigslist? Yeah... me neither. I got my son a pet snake, that he named "Slithery", about ten years ago as a compromise. He wanted a pet rat. I wanted him to have a yo-yo. I figured a yo-yo would eat less, crap less and provide roughly the same amount of entertainment value. He didn't see it that way. He wanted to get something that he could enjoy every once in a great while that dad would buy food for, clean up after and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Home Life

Turns out… I hate parents.

Before I had a child of my own, I remember thinking that I didn't like children. Hate them in fact. I thought they were exactly as my parents had told me they were... rug-rats, pests, cry-babies... just misbehaving, screaming, crying little noise machines with seemingly limitless energy for mayhem. As it turns out, I don't hate children... I hate parents. Not all parents mind you, but a vast number of them it seems. This was never more indelibly etched in my head than one day at the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured

How to make Pizza – Home Made

My son likes pizza. Well... that's an understatement actually. My son LOVES pizza. What kid doesn't? For that matter, who in their right mind doesn't like pizza? I know I do. For as long as I can remember my son has been eating pizza in some form or another. When he was really young, I remember, it was little frozen pizzas that you threw in the toaster oven for a few minutes. It was the only lunch he would eat. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Home Life, Life Style Tagged With: Cooking, divorced, Dough, Family, Home, Pizza, single father, single-dad, Tomato sauce

Of Love and Money

Silver linings are everywhere. you just have to know where to look for them. After my divorce it became quickly apparent that I needed to find ways to save a few bucks here and there. Expenses that I had never really looked at before, suddenly came under intense scrutiny. When you start to look at where nickels and dimes wander off to, you start to realize that what you once looked at as just the cost of raising a child, is really the cost of laziness. And laziness has a whole other set of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Life Style Tagged With: Angel food cake, Brussels sprout, divorced, Family, Home, Lunch, Monster Energy, School meal, Shopping, single-dad, SpongeBob SquarePants

The Lost Passport Incident

My son recently took SCUBA diving lessons. His mother and I had taken them together back before we were married and enjoyed diving together many times. Our honeymoon, in fact, was in the Cayman Islands where we dove three times a day. Fast forward 16 years and now she has decided to take our son to Cozumel Mexico for spring break and a little SCUBA diving. I am really excited for him and can't wait to see pictures and hear all of their stories when they get back. Of course I would kill to be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dealing with the X, Featured Tagged With: divorced, Mexico, Passport, Recreation, sacrifice, Scuba diving, Spring break, Student, Travel

They spread their wings much earlier than you’d think

My son turned 16 not long ago. He's been the number one priority in my life since the day he was born. I don't say that as puffery in an attempt to pat myself on the back for being, what I think, is a rock-star dad. I really mean it. As an example, at one point I quit my great job, sold my beautiful house and moved 1000 miles away to a city where I had nothing and knew no one, just to stay in his life when his mother suddenly decided to move out of state with him. No... I can honestly and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Home Life Tagged With: divorced, single father, single-dad

Moving after divorce. What about the kids?

When faced with tough decisions about your own life after a divorce, putting the child's needs above your own often makes those decisions much easier. About 6 years ago I had been divorced from my son's mother for about 10 years. We had both been re-married and her second marriage had also recently ended in divorce. She called me up one morning and said she needed to talk. I had no idea what was coming. She was always rather unpredictable in that regard. I took it in stride and agreed to meet … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dealing with the X, Featured Tagged With: Child support, Divorce, Family, sacrifice, saingle parent