Media List

[ItsAllGood]

Lets generate a list of books, movies, mags, tv show etc that show kids with single moms! Any ideas?

So far:
Your Mine Ours
Reba
Julia

[Phoenix~Mama]

I like Reba.

Gillmore Girls and Parenthood the same actress plays a single Mom in as well.

[*MamaJen*]

Baby Boom -- smart, successful woman opts out of the corporate world and moves to the country to raise her adopted baby.

[Roxanne600]

I don't know...I wish there were shows that showed a single mother's life more realistically. Most do not live in big, fancy houses, are always put together, and constantly have a slew of family and friends dropping by to help out.

[doubledutch]

kate & allie (i loved that show as a kid)

[ItsAllGood]

Baby Boom - oh yeah I forgot that one!
Kate and Allie?? - remind me again, which that was? I wonder if it is on dvd series?

[Holland73]

Originally Posted by *MamaJen*

Baby Boom -- smart, successful woman opts out of the corporate world and moves to the country to raise her adopted baby.

She actually didn't adopt the baby... it definitely wasn't a single mom by choice situation. She "inherited" the baby from a distant relative.

Other Movies:

The Sixth Sense
Raising Helen
Erin Brockovich
Casper
The Karate Kid
Jerry Maguire
One Fine Day
As Good As It Gets
Air Bud 2
10 Things I Hate About You
Pay It Forward
Where The Heart Is
I Am Sam
About A Boy
Because of Winn-Dixie
Nanny McPhee
Akeelah And The Bee
ET
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Ms. Doubtfire
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Full Monty

[Holland73]

Oh, and some TV shows:

Punky Brewster
Different Strokes
Two And An Half Men
Full House
Judging Amy
One Day At A Time
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
Hawthorne
Full House
Weed
Californication
Blossom
Hannah Montana
iCarly (she lives with her older brother -- now, who is raising who is another story. )
Who's The Boss
Grace Under Fire
My Three Sons

[ItsAllGood]

Thanks Holland! I am going to see if I can get some of these on dvd. I have heard that kids are more interested in the "story" than the individual character relationships, however I still believe that seeing images of this is helpful in someway subconsiously.

[DeerMother]

fried green tomatoes

i'm sure i'll think of others

[doubledutch]

kate & allie was a tv show in the 80s about single moms who were roommates. it's a nice change from the freakishly affluent characters of most shows.

i think that even if you "inherit" a baby when someone dies, you do become their legal parent through the adoption process. i don't know, but it seems like that would still have to happen. remember the couple who were possibly going to adopt the baby & name her fern? so it was a choice.

it's weird because a lot of these (at least the ones i'm familiar with) are single parents because their spouse died. obviously that does happen, but then the show doesn't deal with the dynamic of divorced parents and visitation and splitting holidays and all that.

[doubledutch]

the patridge family!
eta: the royal tennenbaums. etheline is an awesome single mom (and chaz is a over-protective but well-meaning single dad with adorable matching outfits with his kids).
which reminds me of the life aquatic with steve zissou, in which cate blanchet plays an adorably pregnant single mama.
ugh, best movie ever, the squid and the whale. this is about older kids (like tween & teen) dealing with their parents' divorce. fantastic.
oh yeah, and you can count on me.

[LoveOhm]

For my daughter I really like Disney's Enchanted ---- it shows a Single Dad who dates in a somewhat healthy way! It's not the main story line but I really love it.

And when she is a little older The Princess Diaries --- shows both mom and dad but they are not co-parenting. The daughter always lived with mom and visited dad in the summer and holidays. The book by Meg Cabot is a series so lots of reading options and the movies are nice too! I think also by Disney.

For me I like watching:

Brother & Sisters --- Lots of single parent characters there, a mistress who birthed a child, a daughter who went thru a divorce and is a working single mom, a widow, a son who's wife lift when he did some white collar crime to save the famiyl business, etc. I love the complex family dynamics.

The Good Wife - while not quite a single parent we get to see her struggle with the decision to stay or leave. Alot of last season she parented teens alone.

Grey's Anatomy - Miranda Bailey is a single working mama now. And I think the show's creater is also a single mom.

Private Practice - Has a single dad who was parenting a newborn with his new girlfriend and battling the wife in court when she came back. Right now the mom is back but the dad is being careful because she kinda went crazy and he wants to ensure she can handle parenting.

[LoveOhm]

Oh and the the movie Must Love Dog's

[LoveOhm]

Disney Movies have alot of single parents some of the movies I like others I actively avoid so I would prescreen if you are not familiar with them. Here are the ones I can think of:

Finding Nemo - single dad but they get separated which some kids find stressful
Enchanted - single Dad who dates loves this movie!
The Princess Diaries - single mom mostly, dad visits but lives in another country
Mulan - single dad I don't remeber much of it
Cinderella -An evil step mom! I like the version with Brandy and Whitney Houston the step mom is more endearing in it to me! And it's very diverse.
Beauty and the Beast - Single Dad I think


others to consider are:
The Parent Trap - super cute I loved the origional as a kid and I am sure the one with Lindsay Lohan is cute too
The Game Plan - with the Rock about a single dad who did not know he had a child.