Dear friend,

Hello, and welcome to the September issue of the Single Parent Family newsletter.

We continue our series on strong emotions, and this time we’re looking at anger. Anger is something we all have to deal with, either occasionally or as something we battle with almost every day. Take a look at the article What you need to know about anger – it explains what anger is, how it affects us, the different types, and gives tips on how to deal with it.

I was delighted with the response to the last issue and, in particular, your views on life as a single parent. Karen and Nicola were among many to write in with their experiences – you can read their stories below.

I love hearing from you, so please do continue to write to me.

Best wishes

Liz Gardner
Single Parent Family Manager

PS I'd love to know how you manage childcare when you have secondary school aged children. Email me and I'll include some of your comments in the next newsletter.

Anger is a normal, healthy, human yet powerful emotion. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when it isn't managed in the right way, it can lead to many problems – at work, in your personal relationships, and the overall quality of your life. Understanding what it is and where it comes from, and what happens to us and how we deal with it, can be the start of our journey to manage our anger.

What is anger?

Neil Clark Warren defines anger like this: "Anger is a physical arousal. It's a state of readiness; in other words, when we're angry, we're prepared to act."

In the last newsletter, I wrote about how other people don't really understand what it's like to be a single parent, even though they may experience some time alone with their children. By your responses, it seems that many of you have had similar experiences.

Nicola emailed in and said:

I just got your new e-newsletter and your opening paragraph hit a chord with me. I am a single parent with two children aged 9 and 11. I frequently get frustrated when friends say, "I'm going to be a single parent for the weekend." They haven't got a clue what it is really like. While they may be on their own for a short time, they always have...

For the very first time in your Single Parent Family email newsletter, you can hear an audio clip – it’s called Family Matters and you’ll hear more from the series in the future...

Have you noticed how, when our children are young, we are always right? And as they get older we seem to lose the ability to get anything right? I think it was Mark Twain who said, when he was 16, that he realised his father knew nothing, but when he reached 21 he was amazed at how much his father had learnt!

Listen to the audio clip here.

Do remember to let us know about your local support group for single parents. We want to tell others in your area about your meetings. I'm thrilled to welcome our first group in Scotland.

See details of local groups.

We'd like to offer you a free ticket to Care for the Family's 'Teenagers! What Every Parent Has to Know' event, which is coming to Hinckley, Reading, Derby, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Carlisle, Ballymena, Stoke-on-Trent, Northampton and Brighton this autumn.

Whether your children are teenagers or haven't quite got there yet, join Rob Parsons as he gives practical ways to help you get your child through the turbulent teenage years.

This offer is exclusive to single parents – simply call (029) 2081 0800 to claim your free ticket. You can find out more about Teenagers! What Every Parent Has to Know here.