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Distanceparent.org – By and for Long Distance parents
Good parenting involves loving, supporting, caring for, and being available for a child. However, for long distance parents, circumstances put distance between a parent and their child, which makes this more difficult. So general parenting sites, while helpful, don’t offer the support that long distance parents and their kids need. Enter distanceparent.org.
Resources geared towards the specific challenges that long distance parents face can be few and far between. Although long distance parenting has become more commonly accepted over the years, that hasn’t ended the need for support and resources. Long distance parents still face a stigma in general parenting circles. The support of a community of long distance parents is critical.
Distanceparent.org is a supportive, resource-rich website for long distance parents. Â First and foremost, a place that long distance parents can always find helpful advice and information by and for long distance parents.
How Distanceparent.org was born
Distanceparent.org began one dreary day on February 10, 2004. I (Carrie) was contemplating my upcoming internet visitation with my son and commiserating over how much I miss him. I remember wishing there was someone I could talk to about it. No one seemed to understand – not even my closest friends. Similarly, online, I was met with a sea of dead links, old email addresses and the taunting echos of 404 errors.
And so, I decided to do it myself – and distanceparent.org was born. Meanwhile, I met some other long distance parenting heroes along the way. Guys, who like me, were making in-roads where there were none. My place in all of that was building community and giving practical advice, based upon my own experience.
It’s been over 15 years now. The old email lists have come and gone (although they are still ‘alive’ to some extent) and we’ve moved on to social media. We have a thriving facebook group with over 700 members as of this update (Dec 2020).
About Carrie
Hi! I’m Carrie. I live in The PNW, near Portland, OR. I’m a project manager in tech. I have one son who doesn’t live with me and an adorable dog who does.
My son has grown up since I started distanceparent.org but I’m a long distance parent again, by virtue of him being in college. I have actively promoted and maintained long distance parenting community for over 15 years now – ever since I had a need for it myself. I am honored to continue to provide resources and a sense of community for other long distance parents.
Here’s the stuff I’ve written on the site.
Other regular distanceparent.org Contributors
Aside from myself, the following people have posted stories and advice to the site, contributing a great deal to what the site has to offer :
- Holly – Holly was our very first guest contributor and has continued to be a cornerstone of the long distance parenting community, helping to manage the community in it’s various forms over the years. She is a moderator of the distanceparent.org facebook group.
- Matthew – Matthew began his long distance parenting arrangement with his four year old daughter after relocating to the Los Angeles area. He is learning to navigate the emotional difficulties and challenges in trying to maintain a relationship and stay involved with such a young daughter, while embarking upon a whole new life out West.
- FrequentFather – Frequent Father is a a long-distance parent of a 7 year-old son and 4 year-old daughter. After divorcing he had to leave the small town where his children’s mother lives, as he was unable to earn a living there. He has remarried and now lives in the Atlanta, Georgia area with his second wife and 6 year-old stepdaughter. He chooses to remain anonymous due to ongoing custody issues, but blogs here
And last but certainly not least, several distanceparent.org readers have guest posted about their experience. You can find these posts scattered throughout the site.