One month after filing to divorce Tom Cruise June 28, Katie Holmes is doing just fine in her new life as a single mom in New York City.
"She's doing really great. She's so strong, she's an independent girl with her own ideas. She is fine," a source close to Holmes, 33, tells Us Weekly.
Holmes was expected to attend Saturday's Dizzy Feet Foundation Gala — she co-chairs the organization with So You Think You Can Dance's Nigel Lythgoe — in Los Angeles but instead opted to spend the weekend in NYC with her daughter, Suri, 6, after a Friday dinner with her lawyer and his wife. On their mommy-and-me agenda? An outing to the Bronx Zoo on Saturday and lunch at trendy Meatpacking District eatery Pastis on Sunday.
Though she's enjoyed quite a bit of fun with Suri in the weeks since settling her divorce with Cruise, Holmes (who was awarded primary physical custody of her daughter) intends to be more than just her daughter's best friend.
"She wants to really become a parent and start teaching her strong discipline," a second source explains of Holmes, who realized how "very demanding and bratty" the 6-year-old was becoming under the discipline-free guidelines of Scientology.
But after years of living rules-free, Suri is bristling a bit at being told what to do. "There has been some resistance," admits the second insider. "But Suri adores her mom. So, little by little, she's starting to listen. Katie is taking everything very slowly."
