Ep. 12 - Should I get divorced?

Tinder, eHarmony, Plenty of Fish, even the playground at (ahem) pick-up time – wherever and however you're meeting your matches, you won't be prepared unless you've first heard Ewa Baran's dating stories. We're making sense of what makes dating as a single mom so sweet, so spicy and sometimes, so sour.  Warning: Contains cussing and many references to dating site profiles with bad leather couches and dollar bill-collecting dancers in the background. 

Welcome to Single Mom Love Stories! "I've always found more beauty in the grit," photographer, activist and (former) single mamas Ashlee Dean Wells explained of how revealing scars has helped her share her own stories and the testimony of other mothers, build community and make her way through life with kids, loss and now, what she calls "a big love." Ashlee reveals her Single Mom Love Story with partner Froilan, dubbed Flowers by her young daughter, and how they're building a beautiful, unexpected life and family together.  What we mentioned in the show Find Ashlee Dean Wells on her site here. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Check out the photo galleries, book and upcoming tour schedule for the 4th Trimester Bodies Project and follow 4th Tri on Instagram.  Her amazing boudoir and timeless pin-up photography and services are at Windy City Pin Up.  Oh, hey. Here's another show you'd love Here's our first Single Mom Love Stories *VIDEO* (gasp), featuring the sweet story of a single mom's cross-country love, with Wendy Fontaine.  How about a love story to yourself? You will be captivated by the delightful and insightful Casey Brown discussing how divorce made them get really real about their gender identity.  

Have you ever wished your ex would fall off the planet? What if they did? In this episode, we dive into the deep waters of grief, panic, compassion and anger that bubble up when a child's other parent dies. Author Amy Sue Nathan shares the complicated story of her ex-husband's death, her children's profound loss and the surprising ways her family and friends responded. She also offers advice on the practicalities and tenderness on swimming back to the surface with children, as only another single mom who has been through it can. Connect with Amy here and read the novel inspired by her experiences here.

We asked listeners, friends and readers at Single Mom Nation to share what they lost in divorce. A hundred comments piled up in an hour, creating a profound list of Christmas ornaments to childhood photos, cars and homes to friends, dignity and mental wellness. That inventory was eerily similar to the overwhelming mountain of possessions outside the home of Karen Walrond, author, speaker, photographer and Hurricane Harvey survivor. Karen joins Jessica talk about why the little stuff matters so much to us, and to connect the great losses and even greater lessons of evacuating and recovering from a natural disaster – and divorce. Karen's incredible, inspirational work is at home on Chookooloonks, her Make Light podcast is here and her books are here. You will definitely want to watch the Facebook Live video that shored up this conversation right here.

Of course, the storage locker of wedding china and anniversary mementos is packed full of sentiment and emotion, not just stuff. And clearly, divorce paperwork and visitation calendars cause their own crazy mental (and desk) mayhem. Enter Rachel Rosenthal, professional organizer (who even has...shhh...Real Housewives clients) and newly married single mom to twin girls, to give us her very best tips on clearing the clutter, quick remedies for piles and stacks, reducing stress in your space and making a new home you love to live in. Cleanse your home, office and spirit clutter with Rachel by visiting her site. Get to the ahhh place while reading her feature in Real Simple magazine right here.

Jessica asked writer and single parent Casey Brown to be a guest on the podcast repeatedly. And then the lightbulb blazed: OH. Casey doesn't identify as a single mom. After being one of the first same-sex spouses in the country and then one of the first of their friends to get divorced, Casey found the freedom to confront their gender identity and embrace being a nonbinary trans person. Join Jessica and Casey's spirited conversation about making your way to your true self, having gender conversations with kids, millennials' new language, recovering from pronoun flubs (#jessicafail), being an advocate in your own home and school and (critically) why good snacks make all the difference. Read about Casey's beautiful, funny, always honest adventures in parenting and activism with their seven-year old dancer, singer, artist, American Doll lover and gender warrior at Life With Roozle.

When Stefania Pomponi and I met, we were both married moms, blogging about our lives with small children. Today, she's a single mom, one of the founders and boss ladies of the award-winning agency Clever, and a woman dedicated to standing in her power more and more every year.  Stefania shows us how we can use our single mom experience to excel as entrepreneurs, why you should collaborate with your competitors, what to ask when we're interviewing or being interviewed for a new job, why her own company has thrived by rebelling against corporate standards, and how she sees women as building the industries we work in. We also dig into sharing about divorce on social media and that finely honed radar that a friend might be in the middle of a split. Read Stefania's full rockstar bio here. Watch her stand in her power on IG here.  Learn more about Clever here.  Follow Clever here, here and here. 

Welcome to Season 2 of Single Mom Nation podcast! Jessica ignites this new season with a big announcement about how she's working to transform the agony of divorce. And she's joined by kickass single mom, digital marketing strategist, podcaster, artist and truth-teller Lucrecer Braxton for a very real, super honest, fire-lighting conversation about what they wish they'd done differently to make a happier, healthier divorce. Listen into the lessons Jessica and Lu have learned, and how they've each found their power on the other side of divorce. Follow Lucrecer here, here and here. Purchase one of her sass-pirational watercolor prints here. Rewind to Season 1, when Lucrecer and Jessica discussed the raw truth of single mom selfies and being your fierce self, no matter what turns your life takes.