Single Mom Project
Kari is currently revamping a manuscript she wrote in 2003 called The Seven Pathways of Single Motherhood in a collaborative project with Barb Scala, co-author of Sanity Savers with Dr. Dale Atkins of the Today Show. Barb is a sought after divorce life coach and founder of Bloom Services, LLC. (www.bloomonline.com).
Currently, there are more households in the USA led by divorced, unmarried or remarried parents than those in ‘traditional’ family units. Sadly, the stigma continues to persist that single mothers are destined to be financially strained, have trouble raising their children and are “worse off” than those in traditional marriages. This book dispels this myth and shares frank and honest stories of women who have taken the journey of single motherhood, and have profoundly different outcomes.
The Seven Pathways of Single Motherhood takes a first hand look at the circumstances women stumble upon this bewildering path, and explores the special needs they share in common. For example, one pathway to single motherhood is via the woman who walks out on her marriage. Her journey is one filled with guilt, struggling to justify putting herself first, and how to manage her ex. This experience is vastly different from the woman who is shocked to hear her husband is leaving her for another woman. Her pathway faces the obstacles of a shattered self esteem, losing trust, and finding new sources of meaning in her life. Other pathways include widowhood, bearing a child without ever marrying or having a father present, inheriting a “legacy” of single motherhood, and “modern” single mothers who decide to adopt a child at a later stage in life, with her own financial security and without the need or desire for a partner.
SEEKING SINGLE MOTHER STORIES!!!!!!
Kari is currently accepting updated interviews with women who have an experience of single motherhood- either upcoming, currently living, or in the past and who is now remarried.
The seven pathways or categories are:
- Scarlet Letter Mother- having a child out of wedlock and without an active partner
- Abandoned Mother- a woman whose husband walks out on the marriage.
- Liberated Mother- one who decides to leave an unhappy marriage herself
- Bereaved Mother- woman who comes into single motherhood by death of spouse
- Legacy Mother- woman who becomes a single mom and was also raised by one
- Modern Mother- woman who adopts a child with security and independence
- Married-Single Mother- woman in a marriage who still leads a “single mom” life
If you are interested in participating, email Kari at: karihenley@comcast.net with a brief summary of your story and she will contact you to potentially set up a 30 minute interview. There is no guarantee the story will appear in print, and all are welcome to remain anonymous or to have their name changed.