Due to recent events with Metiria Turei, we have been hearing about the struggles that single parents experienced in the 1980s and 1990s. Those of us who lived those times as children are now adults; a lot of us will now be raising families of our own. I am the child of a solo mother, […]
You might remember wedding celebrant, community worker and all-round high-quality human being Laura Giddey from this cool post about buying locally-made Christmas presents. We’re lucky to have her back with some reflections on being single. Please make her welcome in the comments below! I’m 26 and single and this has many great perks. I’ve learnt […]
An anonymous reflection from a regular reader. Being in a minority is tough. It can be very painful trying to fit into a dominant culture when you are different in some significant way, in a way that sets you apart. Our culture often tells us that being single is bad, that happy people are in […]
In Steve Biddulph‘s new book, Raising Girls, he apparently calls for an army of aunts to take their place in helping parents to raise resilient young women in a difficult era. The Guardian reports: It is a view about to be revived by bestselling author and psychologist Steve Biddulph, who is calling for an “aunties […]
Sure, most adults eventually marry or enter long-term partnerships, but even more adults in the West spend a considerable period of life as a single person. Actually, I’m just guessing about that, but it’s probably right. I read that nine out of ten American women will be widowed, given statistical life expectancy. Even among Christians, […]
Almost all of us will spend some of our adult lives single, but when we do we’ll be in a sometimes uncomfortable minority. There are some brilliant things about the single life and some challenges we need to help each other in to build deep and strong community for all of us. Following on from this […]
I was single before I was married. That’s less obvious than it sounds, given the number of people who marry their high school sweethearts or have a number of relationships throughout their twenties and maybe thirties. I did neither. After a flurry of boyfriends in my teens (the internet won’t tell me the real […]
I’m a veteran of Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen, and every frilly-frock drama produced by the BBC since 1992. I know the lineage of the British monarchy better than I know my own family tree. I just got back in the land of Netflix after a week’s holiday where I didn’t open my laptop (!). I’m […]
One of my few areas of willpower is that I can avoid starting to watch a show that comes out weekly, so I can binge it when it’s all out. I know. It’s a superpower. So I just watched all six episodes of HBO’s The Undoing (on Neon in New Zealand). It’s gripping and well […]
Just in case you are under the impression that I, the Self-Appointed Patron Saint of Lent Resources for Kids, am currently utterly absorbed in meaningful, transformative Lenten practices with my small children… think again. I’ve managed a few things, but good golly, not a very large percentage of all my wonderful ideas for households. As […]