My kids ARE different.

Today while hanging out with some friends, I was talking about how my older daughter strives to be a little different while my youngest daughter can't stand being different in any way.  She is only seven and already she worries about what others think of her and she wants to fit in so bad.  One of my sweet friends pointed out that she probably wants to feel the same because she must often feel different because her parents are divorced.  Wow... that hit me like a ton of bricks.  She is so right!

I remember last year watching my youngest tell a friend that her parents are divorced.  She looked at me with a slanted smile.  UGH my heart just broke into little pieces!  That is not what I wanted for my children.

Ok, but here is the deal... rather than sit and wallow in the fact that this is true and this isn't what I wanted, And trust me I so could, I want to think about a way I can help the situation.  How can I make it better for my little sweet girl right now.  I'm not one to say "Well, this is my life so I guess we are just going to have to deal with it" type of person.  If I want something bad enough, I try to figure out a way to make it work.

Here are a couple of things I thought of today that could help in my situation:
1.  Make time to have lunch with her at school and volunteer too.
2.  Be more active with other families - both single parents and married. (Some times I am so exhausted we just stay home and I know she feels like she is missing out on fun things.)
3.  Try to bring more of her dad into her life.  (This does not mean visits because I have tried to get him to see her more and he just can't for some reason, but by talking about him or drawing pictures for him, I can make him a bigger part of her life so she doesn't have to feel like he is hardly in it.)

Any other ideas?
I am determined to make a better life for my children.  I don't want them to feel like they are in a struggling single mom home.  Granted we are....especially sometimes... but being a parent isn't about money or things.  It is about enjoying life together and there is plenty we can do to make life good for our kids.