Infidelity: coming out about cheating

I was surprised the question came so bluntly, particularly since it was a stranger asking.

Did infidelity play a part in your marriage?

I was even more surprised by my quick, definitive response, but maybe that was easier because it was a stranger asking.

Yes. 

I’ve written extensively about my marriage in its happy days. And then I wrote about the slow avalanche of problems that finally gave way, the mountain of my marriage collapsingaround me while I carried a toddler and laundry basket full of clothes and books and toys and fled to my parents’ house. I’ve written much, much more about the divorce that took 16 agonizing months and the years of dating and finding love and being a stressed but blissful single mom since then. I’ve told the story in many ways, many times, and to many people.

I have been asked some very intimate details. And I have been asked this question, the one about cheating, by people close to me, by men on a first date, by readers and by people I don’t know at all. I am not a stranger to responding to the accusation of infidelity. It’s just that I have not publicly written about it. Until now.

Read the rest in "Why I said no to a divorce reality show" on Sassafrass Says So at Babble Voices. 

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Happy day, 'Merica!

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The best thing to do on Independence Day

Independence Day seems like the right time to launch a blog about single parenting, doesn’t it?

A thousand years ago (at least in internet time), I was a writer for Strollerderby on Babble. I’d been blogging professionally for some time, but it was the first place that really pushed me. I was working with writers who were quick, whip-smart and hilarious and I felt on fire, even while I was typing furiously to keep up, to maybe out-earn the babysitter.

When I traded in my many freelance gigs for full-time editing, I was sad to say goodbye. Many of the other writers had moved on as well, but I wanted to carry that summer camp feeling with me, like a half-unraveled God’s Eye hanging over my laptop. I had the very good fortune of working with other great writers, people with huge ideas and bigger personalities. Life was moving forward, but I was  still pen pals with those Babble folk, sharing a few inside jokes and campfire songs no one else could possibly know the words to.

And then, in a lovely turn of events, I got the opportunity to return to Babble, once again in magnificent company.

I'm thrilled to launch a blog on Babble Voices where we can talk about even more single parent things, gulp down bug juice and fire off a few rounds in archery clinic. It's called Sassafrass Says So, and I will be writing there as well as here (and also sometimes here and here and here). 

Click here to read more about what I will be up to there.

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