Parenting is tough enough even if you have a husband to share the burden with. When you suddenly lose that other leg to stand on, your world is overturned – inside out, upside down. Getting through each day is like running an obstacle course in boot camp carrying a fully loaded backpack.
For mothers who are newly single or for those who have been struggling for years as a solo parent, here are some survival secrets that have helped keep my sanity over the years.

• Third of a series

Would you believe I had coffee with Vicki Belo? (Well, she had coffee and I had tea.) Yes, THE Vicki Belo, the one who can turn flabby stars curvy. And flat ones into buxomly sirens. And make aging celebrities look like they’ve been photo-shopped. The one you read about in the celebrity or showbiz section of the newspaper.