A Single Parent’s Life: The Mind of a Single Mother
Life as a single parent can be rough sometimes. Before having children, most people may picture a family with two parents, but to some, the reality is there is only one. It takes a village to raise a child right?! But, what if that village is one person? Although raising a child as a single parent can be challenging, it can also be rewarding! You may be a single parent, but you’re not alone especially when you have God! A single parent instinct is to feel like they need to do it all, however, that’s not realistic or rational. If only some people knew how hard it gets sometimes as a single mother on a low to no income, they would think twice about how they judge and treat them. Motherhood
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I’m not negating the fact that it still gets tough. Of course, it’s kisses and hugs, laughter, silly pranks, and jokes when she’s not looking. It is loving them so much that you fell constant fear for them and their future like “What if this or What if that?” Or even worse, you’re not good enough for them. As a parent, I feel regrets when I can’t be there for my child like I should or want to. It’s a worry when she’s ill, sorrow when she’s unhappy, and a protective bubble I have around her. Don’t get me wrong, it is hard for all mothers, but it’s especially hard for single mothers with little to no help. It is relentless worrying and emotionally …show more content…
It can be busy especially when I am trying to work, take care of home, and still find time to have a social life, or even better, a “Dating Life” and make time for yourself. I must say, single parents must treat themselves every now and then by having a girls’ night out or something like that, make time for yourself even if its just 15 minutes to gather your thoughts and get yourself together. Children look up to their parents as good role models so that’s why I must watch what I say and do around my daughter. I know how this can be a challenge when a child or shildren are around you 24/7. Parenting is hard and sometimes you get angry and frustrated, but I believe, don’t take feelings and frustrations out on them. Being a single parent comes with a different set of emotional feelings that can, at times, be overwhelming.
The challenges I face as a single parent from self-doubt and anxiety over small issues to having the fear and stress over me and my child’s future and having to deal with those feelings alone, I’ve learned to not care so much about the little things and the things I have no control over and cannot change. Now, I started focusing on how I can change things I can control. Overall, as a single parent, to see the smile on my daughter’s face and my heavenly Father is all I need to know that my job as a parent is well
What is a single parent? Is it one who destroys their child’s life? Is it one who ultimately cannot raise a minor on their own? Or is it one who dedicates their lives to the well being of their kid? Imagine a parent, and for whatever reason they were left alone to raise a child. That parent you imagined has to work long hours just to put a meal on the table. That parent has to play the role of the mother and father. That parent has no financial support. Unfortunately, in our society, this image of a single parent is looked down upon. There are people that don’t realize how much a single parent goes through to give their child a better life.
For this assignment I interviewed my sister, who is a 48 year-old female that has only 1 child. My sister is a prior member of the armed services. She became a single parent at the age of 27, after her military career. As, she adjusted to the role of motherhood she had to endured several traumatic situations within her personal and professional life but most of all within her parental life. In being a single mother, she stated that she had a lot of regrets and alterations that she wished were in place prior to her becoming a parent. The most prevalent of which is that of having a spouse that supports and encourages her. Since, she was without the support of the father of her child, she was forced to make ends meet on her own. This struggle
A single parent many times has so many responsibilities that they just can’t be good at all of it. A job, bills, chores, errands, appointments, activities, it all just becomes too much for a single-parent and something always seems to get the short end of the stick. Usually it is the small things that make a child feel special.
Across family life-cycle literature, the arrival of a first child into the marital structure is considered to be one of the most common and key stages a family will experience during its development. Further, it also possesses the potential to be one of the most stressful examples of change within the marital relationship with the experience of having a baby being ranked at 6th out of 102 stressful life events1.
...nder roles that lack this maternal instinct. Culturally fathers are perceived to be the “bread-winners” and be more involved in playing with children, whereas mothers are often involved in the daily care of children, such as feeding and bathing children. Although women are commonly the head of sole-parent families, the Ministry of Social Development state that there is a growing rate of sole-parent fathers accounting for 14% of all sole-parents with dependent children in 1986 rising to 17% in 2006 (2010). It is evident that single-mother parenting is different to single-father parenting; however the rising rate of single-fathers suggests that the stigma of gender roles in sole-parenting is on the rise towards equality.
People are judged for being single parents, struggling to help their kids, but in reality being a single parent can be a good thing. Children that have both parents that work most of the time feel neglected and lonely which could lead to depression or acting out and rebellion later on in life. One of my family’s long times friends had this same exact problem. The family was in excellent financial shape because both parents worked. They had high level jobs working as doctors at the same hospital, but they never really made time for their children. The parents worked constantly away from home, and now the family is very dysfunctional. The children who are now adults never visit or talk to their parents. It shows that money is not everything, and that a stay at home mom is not just a suppressing stereotype it’s a beneficial tool to your children’s happiness and
...ou will be as equally as surprised to find out that some of these kids in the classroom were never able to graduate due to imminent problems in the household and psychological development leading to mental trauma. A census study shows that most single parent kids will start working at 15 to aid the parent in paying for essentials. Although the odds are tough for single parents and children, you must never forget the strong parents who do undergo the challenge with effectiveness and stability. And of course, you must not forget the child who stood by their single parent and developed strength and character to help the family overcome any obstacle. Single parenthood is a fascinating concept which breeds heroes and well-built people who were able to conquer the impediment thrown at them. But, remember that some of these people weren't able to make it past as well.
When couples become parents, the first thing on their minds should be on how they will work as a team. Most parents will never choose to parent alone unless it was necessary. According to Zartler (2014), single-parenting has been a strongly pronounced trend in family behavior. Many families are single-parenting households. There are a lot of reasons that can cause a household to become a single-parenting household, and the most common reason is divorce. Most marriages just do not work out and this can cause a lot of stress within the family. There is a lot of hardships that can come with divorce including financial risks. Also, how the children will react can be hard as well. Most parents who are single parents can have a harder time dealing with the financial costs then parents that are married. There can definitely be negative impacts on single-parenting
The Family structure has changed significantly in the last fifty years. With higher percentages of marriage ending in divorce, and higher rates of childbearing out of wedlock, single parent families are increasing rapidly. “Seventy percent of all the children will spend all or part of their lives in a single-parent household.” (Dowd) Studies have shown that the children of these families are affected dramatically, both negatively and positively. Women head the majority of single- parent families and as a result, children experience many social problems from growing up without a father. Some of these problems include lack of financial support, and various emotional problems by not having a father around, which may contribute to problems later in life. At the same time, children of single-parent homes become more independent because they learn to take care of themselves, and rely on others to do things for them.
In today’s society many grow up in a single parent household and it may effect some different than other’s. For instance you can look at the percentage of race and how it affects each. For one can look at a black family and see the effects it has on them. Black families are in the high percentage range of growing up in a single parent home. The outcome has little effect on than that of a white family. Not all black families are single parent homes, but the ones that are may be due to parent killed, in prison, or just do not know who their father’s. To compare to a white family growing up in a single parent house can have a higher effect. White families may experience being in a single parent household due to parents getting divorced or death.
Single parenthood culture seems appealing to many married people. However, married individuals are forced to battle with elements like faithfulness and life-long commitment to one individual, which may be boring in some cases. However, single parents, especially single mothers encounter serious challenges related to parenting. Single parenting is a succession of constant mental torture because of ineptness, self-scrutiny, and remorse. At some point, single parents will often encounter serious psychological problems some graduating to stress and eventual depression. Again, there are far-reaching problems that force single mothers to a set of economic or social hardships. Social hardships are evident as address in this research.
A single parent household is a house with only one parent and one or multiple children. Single parent households are becoming very common in all racial and ethnic groups because it is no longer required for people to be married before they have children. Most households only have one parent because of divorce, never being married, separated, widowed, or because of business. The most common are, separation, divorce and just simply never being married. In these cases it is usually the mother who is the single parent. It is not too often that you see a father taking care of their child by themselves. This is usually because they do not know how, or they simply do not want to take care of their child. Statistics show that family structure has a big impact on certain characteristics of a child such as their attitude and level of respect. Children tend to be less respectful to people because they do not respect the parent who is not around. In many cases a child may become depressed living with only one parent causing them to get out of control and do things that they shouldn’t. Sometimes the child may feel like they are incomplete leaving them to do crazy things to find what they feel like they are missing. often times the child feels that they are the reason their parents are not together.
One of the hardest issues to survive in, as a single parent, is an overwhelming emotion that you should complete the role of both mother and father. This feeling evolves and will be more intense if the other single parent is not portraying a role that is active with the children.
As a child of a single parent household. I have first hand experience on the affects of having only one parent to not only take care of me but also show me and teach me about life and the correct choices that I should make in my life to better myself. Parenting is hard enough but parenting by yourself as a single parent is nearly impossible. You want to do everything for your kid to have a flawless life but the unfortunate news is that you can’t give them everything. Along the lines of helping your child in life as a single parent you are
Single Parent Struggle For many years, children growing up in a single parent family have been viewed as different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over the decades it has become more prevalent. In today’s society many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a mother and a father.