Blkirish’s Weblog

Southwest: The Official Airline of Our Relationship Techboo and I get asked all the time, “How do you do it?”–”it” being maintain a long-distance relationship which will soon become a long-distance marriage.* Here’s one answer to that question: Tip #287: Making Long-Distance Love Work – Text Game Proper Text your lad […]

Presents…a reading by local writers Deesha Philyaw, Christina Springer, Melissa Sokulski, Kelli Stevens Kane, and Robin Monroe, along with Amanda Gilby, short fiction contest winner, reading from her piece featured in Issue 44: The Creativity Issue This latest issue honors and celebrates musicians, writers, and artists who can nurture their kids and th […]

Suffice it to say that for Techboo and me, our dance card is full between now and the new year. After Thanksgiving (which we are hosting), we’ve already RSVPed for 2 holiday parties and a Chanukah party. I’m doing a Kwanzaa presentation in BabyGirl’s kindergarten class, complete with cornbread baking activity (Jiffy!). Plus, there’s [ […]

Find out what I (Deesha) am thankful for (plus a challenge to all you co-parents!) in a guest-post I wrote for SingleDad.com. Shout-out to SingleDad founder, RJ Jaramillo, for the opportunity. Here’s an excerpt: At this time of year, even folks with the hardest of hearts and the biggest axes to grind might pause [...]

The bad news is: 1.5 hours of sleep. The good news is: http://bit.ly/36yldy

Below is a comment I left for Inkognegro in response to the follow up post to his guest-post at Single Sisters Speak (corrected for typos): All of your words on the “deadbeat dad” subject hit home, because I had one, but this: “Whether absent in the physical, or in the mental and emotional…your children become suspended in [...]

In the current Art/See issue of Bitch magazine (I got mine in the mail today), check out my review of the wonderful anthology “Who’s Your Mama?” edited by Yvonne Bynoe, and…my interview with the fabulous Farai Chideya. We chatted about her debut novel, “Kiss the Sky” and much more.

So one of the unexpected perks of teaching was revealed this week. One of the students in my writing class (the face-to-face non-credit class, not the online grad class) is a Notre Dame alum and a die-hard fan of ND football. Her whole family is, apparently. My Techboo is a die-hard Notre Dame fan. Notre [...]

Over at CoParenting101. org, we preach the Gospel of Getting Along With Ex and how loving your kid demands it, all the time. But there’s nothing like hearing the Truth straight from the horse’s–or rather, the kid’s–mouth: “Weren’t They BOTH my parents, All of the Time?” This interview, with Carolyn Grona, is th […]

This post over at CoParenting1o1.org reminded me of the following post from 2007 from the LiteraryMama “The Girl is Mine” column archives.. Musical Beds by Deesha Philyaw It’s Friday night which means reading an extra chapter or two of our bedtime story, Redwall, the riveting tale of Martin, an ancient warrior mouse, and the young upstart m […]

Well, I (Deesha) am in the airport TGIFriday’s sipping blackberry mojitos waiting to board a flight to spend Thanksgiving and a long weekend with my fiance JB, my future bonus daughters, and extended family.  JB’s done most of the shopping and is cooking the turkey, one bonus daughter has baked a cake,  and I’m happily [...]

Photo courtesy of CG2_Soul Artist On last night’s “Co-Parenting Matters” talk show, we covered a lot of ground on the topic of step-dating. We had such a great conversation, we’re looking forward to having our kids’ stepmom and Mike’s wife, Sherry; and Yvonne Kelly, co-founder of the Step and Blended Family Institute; join […]

Find out what I (Deesha) am thankful for (plus a challenge to all you co-parents!) in a guest-post I wrote for SingleDad.com.  Shout-out to SingleDad founder, RJ Jaramillo, for the opportunity.  Here’s an excerpt: At this time of year, even folks with the hardest of hearts and the biggest axes to grind might pause to reflect [...]

This week’s “Co-Parenting Matters” show was very particular special because our kids’ stepmom and Mike’s wife, Sherry, joined us for our discussion about step-dating.  Our other guest, Yvonne Kelly, a wonderful certified step-parenting and relationship coach and co-founder of the Step and Blended Family Institute, defines the st […]

This was a dad-heavy week here on CoParenting101.org, so I (Deesha) thought I’d throw some mamas into the mix and mention two books I’m reading. I’m wrapping up Divorce Sucks: What to do When Irreconcilable Differences, Lawyers Fees, and Your Ex Husband’s Hollywood Wife Makes You Miserable by Mary Jo Eustace.  The “Hollywood Wife […]

That’s the question posed by Suzanne Reisman, one in a number of folks in the blogosphere providing commentary on a recent Working Moms article about the rising number of divorce cases in which dads (particularly stay-at-home dads) are being granted primary custody.  Here’s an excerpt from Reisman’s post at BlogHer: Since I don’t want […]

It’s ME (Deesha)! I am, this very moment, officially launching my co-parenting column at The Faster Times. Aside from a few archived posts from my predecessor, Mary Pols, you’ll find brand-new posts from me–Adventures in How NOT to Co-Parent starring Jon & Kate, H1N1 (what if you and your ex don’t agree about the [...]

Meet Dr. Michael T. McRae, WeParent.com’s newest Fatherhood Freestyle columnist! Dr. Mike is a clinical psychologist and single father of a nine-year-old daughter. Mike has done extensive research on the impact of family processes on youth socio-emotional development. Clinically, he has worked extensively with children, adolescent, and families. His cu […]

Check out this piece from the NYT Motherlode blog on the growing number of dads getting primary custody, and the article it references, “Custody Lost”, in Working Mother magazine. I (Deesha) am penning my reaction to these articles as one of the debut posts in my new capacity the co-parenting columnist for TheFasterTimes.com, coming soon… I […]

Do you have legal questions about co-parenting, custody, child support, or related issues? Join us this Sunday on for “Navigating the Legal Process” on “Co-Parenting Matters”, our live, weekly talk show on BlogTalkRadio, co-hosted by Talibah Mbonisi of WeParent.com. Learn about the family court system and strategies for minimizing neg […]