This series is a personal outlet created to share real experiences, honest reflections, and supportive insights —from a father and divorce coach navigating family transitions.
At a difficult point in my life, I turned to writing to process everything I was going through — becoming a stepparent, having a child of my own, experiencing the end of a long-term relationship, and learning to co-parent with compassion across multiple homes. What began as a private journal slowly became something more.
The stories and thoughts shared here are not legal advice, nor are they a step-by-step guide. They are based on lived experience — the emotional toll of separation, the stigma single parents often face, and the day-to-day challenges of showing up for your children in the midst of uncertainty. They speak to the moments when you feel like you’ve failed, when guilt is overwhelming, and when you’re trying your best to cook, clean, parent, and keep going — often without being seen.
As a DCA® Certified ADR Divorce Coach, I share these reflections to offer support, perspective, and solidarity to other parents navigating similar roads. I hope that mothers, fathers, co-parents, and extended families might find insights here that lead to greater understanding and stronger co-parenting relationships. After all, the more supported and emotionally healthy we are as parents, the better equipped we are to raise resilient, thriving children.
This blog is about honesty, growth, and connection — and above all, reminding parents they’re not alone.
— Martin Kendall, DCA® Certified ADR Divorce Coach
Miscellaneous Musings: The Bits That Don’t Fit, but Matter Anyway Not everything in life comes with a neat label — and neither does every thought worth sharing. This space is for the in-between moments. The reflections that bubble up while doing the dishes. The random realizations during a late-night scroll. The small victories and quiet…
Continue reading ›There’s something deeply satisfying about rolling up your sleeves and fixing, building, or creating something with your own two hands. Whether it’s patching a wall, building a planter box, repurposing furniture, or figuring out how to hang a curtain rod just right, DIY projects offer more than just a finished product — they can bring…
Continue reading ›Real life. Real mess. Real love. Life in the home — especially in a blended, co-parenting, or single-parent household — is rarely picture-perfect. It’s real, it’s loud, it’s full, and sometimes it’s falling apart just a little bit. But in the middle of all that, there’s meaning. There’s the bittersweet rhythm of sharing time with…
Continue reading ›Getting your hands dirty might just clear your mind. If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be writing a blog post about gardening, I would’ve laughed. Gardening, in my mind, was for retired folks with plenty of time on their hands—definitely not for someone like me. I’ve got pollen allergies, for a…
Continue reading ›Money is a deeply emotional topic — especially when life throws you curveballs like divorce, career changes, parenting challenges, or starting over. The numbers on a spreadsheet don’t tell the whole story: they don’t show the nights spent worrying over bills, the guilt around spending, or the stress of trying to make the best decisions…
Continue reading ›Parenting is never one-size-fits-all — and when you’re raising a neurodivergent child, the “standard” parenting advice can feel like it was written for someone else entirely. You’re not just learning how to be a parent — you’re learning a whole new language of connection, regulation, advocacy, and grace. This category was born out of that…
Continue reading ›Step-Parenting: A Series on Showing Up in the In-Between Step-parenting is one of the most complex and under-discussed roles in family life. You’re part of the team, but often without a clear rulebook. You love deeply but sometimes from the sidelines. You give your energy, your time, and your heart — knowing that recognition might…
Continue reading ›Co-parenting isn’t easy. Even in the most amicable situations, sharing parenting responsibilities across two homes comes with challenges — differences in routines, communication styles, values, and emotions. And when the path to co-parenting has been shaped by conflict or heartache, it’s no surprise that navigating it with grace takes work. In future Posts, I’ll be…
Continue reading ›What If Life Goes Wrong? From an early age, we’re fed a clear script: find love, buy a house, start a family, stay together. That’s the dream, right? The path to happiness. But what happens when it doesn’t work out the way we thought it would? You feel like you’re doing all the right things.…
Continue reading ›Cooking and nutrition are always near the top of the parenting agenda: What do we eat? When do we eat? How should we eat? The world is flooded with fad diets, conflicting advice, and a constant stream of “new research.” At the core, we all want the same thing — to feed our families as…
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