Conversations About Divorce

Sooner or later most people try dating after divorce: some people dive right in with little hesitation, other people are more cautious, and some of us even need a push!

While there is a danger in waiting too long, being ready is important. Being ready means approaching dating as an adventure with more self-confidence and less intimidation. You’ll be the chooser and less likely to take “no” as rejection. In short, being ready means opening yourself up to lots of fun.

So what goes into being ready? Joining Mandy again today is dating expert and founder of LastFirstDate.com Sandy Weiner. Listen to learn:
what being emotionally ready looks likethe essential physical preparations you don’t want to ignorethe difference between dating for fun and dating for keepsthe importance of open, direct communication, andhow many people are picky about the wrong things
Visit Sandy’s website for her free download, The Top Three Dating Mistakes Midllife Daters Make.

If you and your spouse own your home, then whether one of you is going to keep it or it’s being sold, you’ll need a Realtor to work with. It seems like everyone has a friend who’s a Realtor so that should be easy, yes? Turns out it’s not so easy because not all Realtors have the expert knowledge about divorce you need.

In this episode Mandy is joined by Peggy Spiro who is a Realtor and a Real Estate Divorce Specialist in Colorado. Peggy was one of the first real estate agents in the nation to specialize in divorce.

Join Mandy and Peggy to discover:
what special expertise to look forwhy some agents don’t want to work with divorcing coupleshow an agent needs to communicate with youwhy you shouldn’t wait till your divorce is final to find an agentwhy you might not want to work with your friend
Are you trying to decide what to do with your home? You might find this post on Should You Stay Or Go helpful.

Your child’s school is a major part of their life and teachers are key players in your child’s well-being. This makes it critically important that you work with your child’s school through your divorce. There’s a fine balance though between providing essential details and too much information.

Joining Mandy is single-parenting expert Dr. Leah Klungess. Listen in as Mandy and Dr Leah discuss:
when to let your child’s teachers know you’re getting divorcedwho needs to know and what do they need to knowthe difference between classroom communications and school communicationswhy your child’s school isn’t responsible for knowing your parenting schedule
Leah Klungness more widely known as Dr. Leah is the co-author of The Complete Single Mother — the best selling self-help book ever written for single parents. Visit her site DrLeah.com and follow her on Twitter @Dr_Leah.

Sooner or later, most people are interested in dating again after their divorce and as exciting as that is, it typically comes with some anxiety, nerves and hesitation. That’s not surprising. For many of us, it’s been a while since we dated and maybe we didn’t really enjoy it the first time around. We have questions!
how long should you wait before you start dating?how do you know you’re emotionally ready?do you have to wait until you have your divorce decree in hand?what if you never meet that special person?is everyone capable of falling in love?
Join Mandy and dating expert Sandy Weiner as they talk about all these and more.

Sandy Weiner is the founder of LastFirstDate.com. Visit her website to download your free copy of Sandy’s report, The Top Three Mistakes Midlife Daters Make.

It’s the start of a new year, the Holidays are over and many people will move ahead with filing for divorce. People who decided to end their marriage in the fall often hold off taking any action because they don’t want to spoil the Holidays.

But now, one of you may be moving out, you might be getting your house ready for sale, and you may have stopped going to social events together. That means it’s hard to keep the truth about your marriage secret any longer. Other people are going to start noticing the changes that are happening in your life. You’re going to be forced to tell friends and family what’s really going on.

So how do you do that? When is the time right? Are there some people you should tell before others? And how much detail do you share?

Joining Mandy is New York based divorce coach, Karen McMahon. Karen McMahon offers a free webinar, Stepping Out of Chaos: Transforming Pain to Possibility.

For thousands of years, humans have been making New Year’s resolutions. Today, those resolutions are usually focused on some act of self-improvement. While that sounds positive and helpful, it’s estimated that 88 percent of people who set resolutions fail to keep them.

So if resolutions are such a good idea why are we so bad at keeping them. How should we set them and do we set ourselves up for success rather than failure.

Join Mandy and her guest, divorce coach and mediator, Tara Eisenhard as they reveal the secrets to making New Year’s resolutions that work.

Tara Eisenhard is the author of The D-Word: Divorce Through a Child’s Eyes and the blog Relative Evolutions. Tara is a daughter of cooperatively divorced parents as well as an ex-wife and former partner of a divorced dad.  From these life experiences came her beliefs that a marriage shouldn’t survive at the expense of its participants, and families should evolve, not dissolve, through the separation process.

Feeling guilty about the decision to end your marriage is pretty typical. Few people find it easy to break their marriage vows, cause pain and hurt to the person they once loved or bring turmoil and distress to the lives of their children. Even if the decision to divorce wasn’t yours, you may still feel guilt about the things you did or wish you’d done differently.

Listen in to Mandy and her guest, divorce advisor Karen Covy as they discuss:
what feeling guilty meanswhere guilt comes fromwhat you can learn from your guilthow we compensate for guilthow to handle guilt in a healthy way
Karen is a popular speaker and has been featured on the Channel 7 News, WCIU You and Me This Morning, as well as numerous radio shows. She is the author of the popular book, When Happily Ever After Ends: How to Survive Your Divorce Emotionally, Financially and Legally.  You can download her divorce toolkit for free from her website KarenCovy.com.

If someone asks you why your marriage ended, you might respond that you and your spouse were constantly arguing about money or the kids or sex. What this really points to is an inability to resolve conflict and the most common reason for this is the parent-child dynamic. Where you the parent or child in your marriage?

While many couples are able to endure this type of relationship, it often leads to resentment and bitterness and can cause one spouse to detach and disengage, resulting in divorce.

Joining Mandy to discuss the parent-child dynamic is psychologist, Dr. Tony Ferretti. Listen in to discover:
How to recognize the parent and how to spot the childWhere we learn these behaviorsWhy these behaviors cause marriages to endHow to start responding as an adultWhy responding as an adult is the best way to avoid making the same mistakes
Dr. Tony Ferretti, is a licensed psychologist specializing in helping professionally successful clients achieve work-life balance and manage interpersonal problems and conflicts. He is author of The Love Fight: How Achievers & Connectors Can Build A Marriage that Lasts available at Amazon.com. You read more about Dr. Ferretti’s work at his blog.

With Thanksgiving and Black Friday looming large, it’s time to figure out how to manage your Holiday spending so you can enjoy the Holidays without guilt over what you did or did not buy, and without going into debt.

That’s not easy – our household incomes don’t magically increase and we have increased expenses from gift-giving, entertainment and travel. But no wants to be a scrooge. So what’s the answer?

Join Mandy Walker and blogger, author and single-mom budgeting queen, April McCaffrey as they discuss:
Why it’s not too late to budget for your Holiday spendingWhere you can find extra $$$Ways you can be creative about gift-givingWhy not incurring debt is more important than Christmas morning oohs and aahsWhy you might want to team up with your ex
April McCaffery is the single parent of two teenage daughters, a paralegal, blogger at It’s All About Balance, and author of Balancing the Single Mom Budget, available on Amazon.

Even though you may not feel much like celebrating the Holidays, experts say it’s not a good idea to just skip them.

Traditions are what helps to bind families together and they are a part of what makes each family unique. They help us grow and thrive. So rethinking and recreating the traditions that are meaningful to you is an key step in healing from your divorce.

Join Mandy Walker and divorce coach, Micki McWade for the expert tips you need to know about the Holidays so can still enjoy them.

Micki McWade is the author of two books: Getting Up, Getting Over, Getting On: A Twelve Step Guide to Divorce Recovery and Daily Meditations For Surviving A Breakup, Separation or Divorce – both available on Amazon.com.

Mandy has some more tips for managing family stress during the Holidays on her blog.