by Nancy | May 2, 2018
I’ve reinvented myself several times. After the death of my parents and my husband in a 20-month time span, I reinvented myself on a massive scale. No longer a daughter or a wife, for the first time ever I was just ME. I floundered for awhile before arriving at...
by Nancy | Apr 25, 2018
One of you likes to pick fights. It’s the stimulation, the mental ping-pong match, the surge of adrenaline when you win. The other of you avoids conflict like it’s your close-talking, garlic-breathing uncle. Why? What makes us so black and white (or red...
by Nancy | Apr 18, 2018
Whether you’re negotiating a real estate deal or which movie to see, occasionally you’re going to encounter an immovable force. You want to get your way but it’s not looking good. Do you cave? Will you seem weak? Do you push? Will your actions be...
by Nancy | Apr 11, 2018
Despite all the news about cyber-bullying, shaming is not only a social media phenomenon. I can trace it back to my childhood, when my kindergarten teacher, Miss Vandezandee, shamed me in front of the whole class. I told her that I’d squashed a worm on my way to...
by Nancy | Apr 4, 2018
We all know someone who insists on showing us what, where, how, and why to do something. They will insist that they’re not trying to assert control, and rationalize that it’s just common sense. Their way is simply better. In the realm of picking your...
by Nancy | Mar 28, 2018
If you haven’t read last week’s blog about how to prepare for divorce, please take an extra few minutes to read it now. Thank you. Okay, you’re ready to move forward. Now what? Are you thinking about mediation? Are you and your soon-to-be ex able...
by Nancy | Mar 19, 2018
You’ve decided to end your relationship and I’m sure it took a great deal of soul-searching, endless talks with your support system and, finally, the most difficult conversation of all — telling your partner. Now what? Obviously, there are many...
by Nancy | Mar 14, 2018
I’m no expert on parenting (other than to say I had two good ones). This topic is timely for me, however, because it seems to be a common thread in my mediation practice. Co-parenting after divorce can be a slippery slope. It requires two people who are no...
by Nancy | Mar 7, 2018
As a divorce Mediator, I listen to couples whose complaints about each other run the gamut from infidelity to hoarding to gambling to laziness. It’s a good thing I’m trained to be neutral and non-judgmental, because a lot of this stuff can be pretty...
by Nancy | Feb 28, 2018
In the past few weeks, I’ve repeated that statement enough times that I consider it to be a sign for me to write about it. Caring for an aging family member is becoming more and more common. We’re living longer but not necessarily better. In a perfect...
by Nancy | Feb 21, 2018
As if the 50% failure rate for first marriages isn’t horrible enough, the failure rate of second marriages rises to a staggering 67%. You’d think after one divorce, we’d be better equipped to make a success of the second marriage. So, what’s...
by Nancy | Feb 14, 2018
I recently had a conversation with my happily-married niece. It kind of went like this: Me: What are you doing to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Her: Nothing. It’s a stupid holiday. Me: Why do you think it’s stupid? Her: Because we don’t need a...
