By a mum still healing, still learning, and still choosing herself.

Two months ago, my husband left.
He told me he wasn’t coming back.
And just like that, I went from a wife with a family to a single mother overnight.

I didn’t get time to process it.
I didn’t get a gentle transition.
I didn’t get answers.

But what I did get was a two-year-old little girl who still needed both her parents…
which meant I had to see him almost every single day.

And that is a different kind of heartbreak — the kind where you have to stay strong on the outside while your insides are still splitting open.

If you’re going through something similar, this blog is for you.

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❤️ 1. You’re Allowed to Grieve — Even If You Have to Function Daily

I used to think grief needed silence, time, and space.
But single mums don’t get that luxury.

We grieve while cooking dinner.
We grieve in the shower before pick-up time.
We grieve after kissing our child goodnight and seeing the empty side of the bed.

Seeing him every day didn’t make my pain weaker — it made it sharper.

So I stopped telling myself:
“I should be over this.”
“I need to be strong 24/7.”
“Crying means I’m failing.”

You can grieve and function.
You can love your child and feel broken.
You can be strong and still fall apart sometimes.

That is not weakness.
That is survival.

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🌱 2. Separate Your Healing From Your Co-Parenting

This changed everything for me.

I realised I was mixing two different parts of my life:

Co-parenting:

A schedule. A routine. A responsibility.

Healing:

A slow, emotional, personal journey.

If you blur both, you end up:

Reopening wounds every handover

Expecting emotional closure from someone who won’t give it

Reliving the breakup instead of learning from it

So I made a rule:

When I’m co-parenting, I’m not trying to fix the relationship.
When I’m healing, I’m not thinking about co-parenting.

It won’t be perfect, but the separation saves your sanity.

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🧘♀️ 3. Create Emotional Boundaries — Even If You Still Have to See Him

You can’t avoid the interactions, but you can protect your emotional space.

Here are boundaries that helped me:

Keep conversations brief and only about the child.
No emotional topics. No relationship post-mortems. No “what-ifs.”

Decide how pickups/drop-offs will happen.
At the door? At the car? A set time? Structure removes emotional chaos.

Don’t read into his tone, words, or expressions.
Healing happens when you stop looking for clues.

Don’t chase closure.
If he wanted to give answers, he already would have.

You deserve peace — even if he stands right in front of you every day.

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💪 4. Redefine Yourself Without the Relationship

This was the hardest part for me.

I wasn’t just losing a partner…
I was losing my identity as a family unit, a wife, someone with a shared future.

But slowly, I asked myself:

Who am I when I’m not trying to save a relationship?

What do I want as a woman, not just a mum?

What makes me feel alive again?

Healing didn’t come from him.
It came from me returning to myself.

Start small:

a new morning routine

a quiet walk with your toddler

journaling

drinking your tea warm for once

saying “no” when things exhaust you

choosing peace over explanation

Piece by piece, you rebuild the woman you were before the heartbreak.

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🌿 5. Take Care of Your Mental & Emotional Health (Your Daughter Feels Your Energy)

This part is important:

Our children read our emotions before they understand our words.

When I’m anxious, my daughter becomes clingier.
When I’m hurt, she becomes more sensitive.
When I’m calm, she relaxes instantly.

Healing yourself is not selfish —
it’s something you do for both of you.

I started doing simple things:

grounding breaths while she plays

journaling my feelings instead of holding them in

writing down triggers so I don’t explode later

calming activities for both of us

letting myself rest without guilt

The more I took care of me, the more stable our home felt.

 

📘 6. The Tool That Helped Me Feel Grounded Again as a Single Parent

Introducing: My Safe Place Daily Mindful Journal

In the middle of the emotional chaos — the heartbreak, the daily co-parenting interactions, and the pressure to stay strong for my daughter — I realised something:

I was supporting everyone but myself.

I needed a space where I could slow down.
Where I could empty my thoughts without breaking.
Where I could breathe.
Where I could find myself again.

That’s when I started using the My Safe Place Daily Mindful Journal — not for children, but for me, as a single mum learning to heal while still facing my ex every day.

✨ This journal became my quiet moment of sanity each night.
A soft place for:

releasing heavy emotions safely

understanding my triggers

calming my anxiety before and after handovers

reflecting without spiraling

feeling in control when everything felt unpredictable

What surprised me most wasn’t how it helped my mind…
but how it helped my heart.

It helped me reconnect with the version of myself I thought I lost.

When I journaled consistently, I noticed I:

handled conversations with my ex more calmly

reacted less emotionally

cried less often

slept better

felt more present with my daughter

rebuilt confidence slowly, piece by piece

It wasn’t just writing.
It was healing.
It was learning to breathe again.
It was choosing myself again.

If you’re a single parent feeling overwhelmed, stretched thin, or emotionally fried,
this mindful journal gives you the grounding moment you desperately need.

👉 You can view it here:
My Safe Place Daily Mindful Journal.

My Safe Place — Daily Mindful Journal

 

🌅 7. Moving On Doesn’t Happen Overnight — But It DOES Happen

You are not weak for struggling.
You are not behind for hurting.
You are not a failure because the relationship ended.
And you are not alone.

Every day you choose peace.
Every day you show up for your child.
Every day you survive something that broke you.

That IS moving on.

Healing while still seeing your ex daily is one of the hardest paths a woman can walk —
but you are walking it with strength you don’t even recognise yet.

One day you’ll look back and say:
“I did that. I survived that. I rebuilt myself.”

And your daughter will be proud of the woman you became.