A Cup of Friendship
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just Us Girls
By Allison Potter

It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.
~Epicurus

The morning started with a bustle of lunches, shoe searches, backpack stuffing, and a swift run to two different bus stops. It was the first time both kids were in school every day, although the younger one only until 12:17 p.m. It was also the first school year of my pseudo single motherhood.

How does a person become a “pseudo” single parent? My husband had taken a job in a different state, two and a half hours from our home, in June of that year. It was unclear if this was going to be a long-term or short-term assignment. We decided as a couple that until it became more clear where this job was going, he would live away during the workweek and return on the weekends. Thus far, it had been a very long summer of entertaining and transporting our ten-year-old daughter and five-year-old son. The kids missed their dad during the week. They became annoyed with their nagging mother. It was not easy for my husband being away, but being the only parent five days a week was not exactly a walk in the park for me either. It was a challenging time for all of us. (Keep reading)