Carla Howatt

Carla Howatt is the mother of three adult children, two cats, and a husband. As a former politician, a 20-year communications professional, and a serial entrepreneur. She now runs a blog called Once a Parent, which focuses on being the parent of an adult child.

How to Show Your Adult Children You Love Them

How to Show Your Adult Children You Love Them

By / Motherhood

When you held that tiny baby in your arms and your heart overflowed with unconditional love, you probably never thought you would read an article like this. It can be pretty surreal to discover you are the parent of adult children. Your roles have changed for good. They no longer come running to you when they skin their knees, or someone calls them a name at school. They are adults. Full grown, mature adults. With the dynamics in your relationship changing, it can sometimes be hard to know what the rules are. If you can’t phone their work to give their boss heck for being so mean to them, how will they ever know you love them? It actually isn’t complicated, but […]

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This Is What I Learned About People Who Ghost You

By / Relationships

Remember in high school when your life revolved around your friends? Oh, the drama! Who was talking to whom, who was crushing on which guy, who was talking behind someone else’s back? After all, we had nothing else to keep us occupied; no jobs, no kids, no husbands. In a lot of ways, it was a relief when we moved past that part of our life. When you become an adult, your relationships change. They become deeper, richer, and often more authentic. As adults, we can support each other through the dark valleys of life and celebrate the times we are at the top of the mountain. Over the years and throughout the stages of a woman’s life, friendships bring an intense

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Is There Any Good from 2020? If You Say “Yes,” Don’t Feel Guilty

By / Life & Culture

When my son died by suicide back in 2015, I was halfway through a four-year term as a municipally elected official. For the two years remaining in my term, I felt overwhelmed and stressed. Life was not a good place for me. My son’s death had left me questioning my faith and I felt like I had no solid place to plant my feet. The next couple of years were spent hustling for work, dealing with a husband who had just undergone his second brain surgery and, well, trying to survive. I remember wanting the world to stop and let me off. There were days I didn’t want to be alive. Not that I wanted to die, but I was just so

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This is How My Son's Suicide Rocked My Faith

My Faith Was Rocked by My Son’s Suicide

By / HerStory, Life & Culture

The world as I knew it ended on July 19, 2015. It was a day that shook my faith and my sanity. I walked into the basement suite in my home. My son was renting the suite from us and I needed to talk to him. I found him lying on his side, in the fetal position. He had a rifle between his legs. He was lying in a puddle. The puddle was black, and it took me a split second for it to sink in that it was blood. I turned on my heels and ran back upstairs, screaming and sobbing for my husband to call 911. The next few hours were a blur of police, emergency personnel, and the coroner’s

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