We’ve all experienced a time when emotions got the best of us and completely lost our cool. As single parents, we don’t have a partner to co-regulate with or to cover for us as we fight to stabilize our emotions. Sometimes it feels nearly impossible to manage our responses well when we’re already trying to manage everything else. How can we regulate big emotions on our own so that we can model healthy emotional regulation for our children? Today, we cover three main points: 1) The basics of...

Today we will be talking about the upcoming movie release Unsung Hero with David & Helen Smallbone. “Unsung Hero” follows Helen and David Smallbone after having lost everything when David’s successful music company collapses. In 1991, with nothing more than their seven children, suitcases, and a love of music, the family left everything they knew in Australia and moved to the United States, hoping to rebuild their life into a bigger, brighter future. Based on an incredible true story,...

There is so much uncertainty in our world today: our nation, the presidential election, wars, the stock market and economy, our health, the well-being of our children…the list goes on. When we find ourselves standing in the face of uncertainty, how can we deal with it in a healthy and sustainable way? Today, we cover three main points: 1) The desire for certainty 2) The benefits of uncertainty 3) The antidotes to uncertainty For all the detailed show notes, tips and links click -...

Our kids encounter so many cultural influences and outside voices every day. Everything and everyone is vying for their attention, and information about literally anything is at their fingertips. How can we teach our children to stay true to themselves without micromanaging or sheltering them too much? Today, we cover three main points: 1).Identifying outside sources and influences 2).Establishing a safe home base 3).Helping our kids establish their personal values/identity For all the...

We know our kids have gone through much-unwanted instability already, and we will do anything in our power to instill more stability in their lives. But sometimes, this requires us to make really hard decisions. How can we make good decisions for our family, even if it comes at a cost? Is stability even possible? Today, we cover three main points: 1) Making hard decisions. 2) The costs of stability 3) Stability hacks one bite at time. For all the detailed show notes, tips and links click -...

Parenting is probably the biggest responsibility we’ll ever have, and solo parenting may be one of the biggest challenges we’ll ever face. Having a village of people supporting us on our best days and loving us on our worst days is paramount and the concept sounds great, but how do we go about building a village? Today, we cover three main points:  1) The meaning and purpose of a village 2) How to build a village 3) Roadblocks to villages For all the detailed show notes, tips and links visit...

Every girl deserves a faith-filled adventure click here for the NIV Kingdom Girls Bible Single Parent Day is in just a few days, on March 21st. For this episode, we wanted to do something special for our solos—and it just so happens that a lot of listeners have been asking us to tell the origin story of Solo Parent. This week we talked to Robert, Amber, and Elizabeth about how Solo Parent came into being. For this conversation, we also welcome back Kimberly Mitchell. Kim is a familiar...

Every morning, we wake up and we have to decide: Are we going to get out of bed…or not? There are days when it all feels like too much; the trials and tribulations of this world seem insurmountable and the lure of staying in bed and hiding from everything and everyone looks like the only solution. Every solo parent has experienced this feeling of overwhelm and knows… we still have to do it. Our kids are depending on us. Their world can’t run without us. So, how do we get out of bed when we...

One of the most heart-wrenching parts of parenting is seeing our kids struggle. When our child is dealing with physical pain, we rush to their aid and see what we can do to help. Even if they insist they’re fine, you know a broken bone when you see it. But, mental health is altogether different. While mental illness can and does present itself physically, so much anxiety and depression happens inside the mind. Mental health is a serious topic, that thankfully has become more widely talked...

Falling in love after loss or a failed relationship is not for the faint of heart. Any solo parent knows life is already overwhelming—and to add a romantic element into the mix can feel risky. Love the first time around is often when you’re young, inexperienced with the world, and marked with abandon, and recklessness. Does love feel the same the second time around? Today, we cover three main points:  1. The experience: How love feels and is experienced post-loss or post-growth.  2. The...

If we’re honest, we need to admit we often don’t know what healthy love looks like. Codependency can often feel like love. So, how can we tell the difference between love and codependency? Today, we cover three main points:  1) What is codependency? 2) What is a healthy connection?  3) How to set healthy limits  For all the detailed show notes, tips and links visit soloparent.org/show-notes-blog —> ASK US ANYTHING! We want to answer any Solo Parent questions you may have. Go to...

Fund conversations that matter: donate.accessmore.com  Loving as a single parent requires us to sacrifice in ways we didn’t expect. But sometimes, we get caught up in the pain and it becomes tit for tat—it turns into a burdensome type of love. We know we have to step outside of ourselves and elevate what is best for our kids but how do we sacrificially love in a healthy way? Today, we cover three main points:  1) The meaning of sacrificial love 2) What sacrificial love is NOT 3) When you feel...

Fund conversations that matter: donate.accessmore.com  Solo parents have experienced an enormous amount of hurt and loss. Some of it is extremely painful—and understandably so. But in order to love our children well, we need to love our story and all the parts of ourselves that participated in it. How can we love ourselves and embrace our inherent value after so much pain?  Today, we cover three main points:  1) Losing our value and why it’s so important to have 2) Loving your whole story and...

Fund conversations that matter: donate.accessmore.com  All single parents are grieving at some level. We know we need to step into the grief and not bypass it, but we aren’t always equipped for the process, and we end up coping with grief in an unhelpful manner. How do we practice grief healthily and intentionally?  Today, we cover three main points:  1) Defining grief and our understanding of it  2) Personal stories of grief  3) Four tasks of mourning  For all the detailed show notes, tips...

We’re in a brand new year, but for single parents, it might feel like Groundhog Day, where daily life continually feels crazy and out of control. Are there daily intentions we can implement so that we—along with our kids—find a new and better daily rhythm? Today, we cover three main points:  1) When you’re a busy single parent, daily life can feel like Groundhog Day—with no end in sight. 
 2) A daily schedule/routine, structure, and order can provide a place for your values and intentions to...

We get so caught up in the everyday tasks of day-to-day living that we don’t feel like we have the bandwidth to live intentionally into a future we want.  Today, we cover three main points:  1) Starting with the end in mind—what to begin, what to end 
 2) The importance of making mistakes in front of our children 3) Keeping our eyes on the end goal  For all the detailed show notes, tips and links visit soloparent.org/show-notes-blog —> ASK US ANYTHING! We want to answer any Solo Parent...

Every January, we make resolutions that we’ll break. We resolve to exercise more, eat better, lose weight, and save money. However, researchers suggest that only nine percent of Americans complete their resolutions. So often, our goals or resolutions are surface-oriented and do not get at the root of the issue. We need focus and direction—we need intention. Instead of setting New Year’s resolutions, what are ways we can set intentions?  Today, we cover three main points:  1) Focus on the...

To grow in life, we need to let go of toxic people, situations, patterns, and habits. But it’s challenging to let go of the old so the new can be ushered in. How can we welcome necessary endings into our lives? Today, we cover three main points:  1) Defining, naming, and normalizing necessary endings 2) Why it’s so hard to let go, why endings can feel uncomfortable  3) The upside of failing: what happens when we let go and move forward For all the detailed show notes, tips and links visit...

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, many Christians around the world join in the celebration of Advent. Advent is the anticipation of the arrival of Christ and a time of preparation to celebrate His birth. Today, our focus will be on the joy we find in Advent and the hope we find in Jesus. A couple of years ago, just before Christmas, we had a beautiful conversation with Pastor Curtis Zackery and the origin of the classic Christmas song “O Holy Night.” You will never look at it the same way...

Most solo parents worry about how they are going to make ends meet during the challenges of living as a one-income family. Any kind of significant life transition or crisis can lead to unsettling circumstances, especially financially. Because single parents often find themselves dealing with unexpected financial changes related to budget and practical needs, we wanted to reintroduce this conversation we had with Ron Rauch on steps to financial stability. It can also provide motivation for a...

Trying to navigate the exhausting demands of raising our kids as solo parents can leave us at a loss of who we are, completely depleted of our identity. Maybe we don’t recognize who we were—or who we’re supposed to become. Even that concept can seem elusive and out of reach—we’re so often just struggling to get by. We wanted to reintroduce our conversation with Dr. Dan Allender on how to reclaim our identity and discover confidence in who we are and how we fit into our new reality.  Dan is...

Welcome to the Solo Parent podcast, My name is Robert Beeson - and I'm here with Elizabeth and Amber (HELLO) we are so glad you have joined us. All this month we are doing something a little different. We’re playing clips from some of our (and your) favorite episodes over the last several years. Each week, a different member of our podcast team has chosen an episode to look back on and talk about why it was their favorite.  Today we discuss why Amber chose this episode as her favorite.  For...

Tis the season to feel a lot of pressure. The list of supposed to’s is never-ending. There are expectations from family, work, our kids, our friends, and even ourselves. It’s not just a to-do list, but how we’re supposed to be, what everything is supposed to look like and be what it’s supposed to be like. All of this is so overwhelming and if you let it, it will pull you down. How do we survive this and can we actually enjoy the season?  Today we’re going to cover three main points:  1)...

As single parents the daily grind gives us tunnel vision that keeps us in survival mode. In turn, survival mode squelches out opportunities for adventure, creativity, and wonder. With so much on our plates and so many problems to solve, we think things like adventure, creativity, awe, and wonder are luxuries, and that it’s wise to give up on them. Is this true? Should we reconsider this idea? Today we’re joined by our resident counselor and friend, Dr. Chip Dodd. For all the detailed show...