Great idea, T.

I have been a single mom to my two girls for most of their lives, and they are (almost) 16 and 12 now. I have had no support what-so-ever from my family, but my ex is good with them (generally only when it suits him though ). It's not easy, Sheena, but definitely can be done . . .

Some ideas to add to the list:

1. Have play dates with other kids when you are able to, so that you can have breaks sometimes when you need them. (I take several kids to their sports so that I can lean on others when things are bad...).

2. Give an allowance for chores, and plan to take your daughter out to spend it on a certain day. It is incentive for her to keep up the good work.

3. Find church camps that might help pay for her to go away a few weeks during the summer.

4. Do the grunt-cleaning 10 - 20 minutes each day instead of doing it all at once. For instance, my toilet is never scrubbed the same time as the counters or tub, because I do only one job in there each day. (I clean the tub when I am showering actually).

5. I found that my kids were way easier to manage when they had a friend over to play with . . . otherwise they got too bored.

6. Teach her to be quiet when you need to rest, then plan to spend a bit of quality time with her when you have the energy. She'll get used to the routine.

Cherie