I was filling a child’s admission form in a certain school and I was disturbed by a certain question that appeared on the form. I was required to specific whether the child is being raised by two parents in marriage or by a single parent. Gone are the days when single parenthood was a far fetched philosophy. Today it is a rapidly growing concept all over the world.
A single parent is a person who raises a child or children without a partner. Being a single parent is not the same as co-parenting which is when both parents agree to have an equal share in the child-rearing even though they are no longer together.
One may find themselves in a single parent situation for a number of reasons including divorce, break-up, death of a parent, abandonment by one parent, single-parent adoption, artificial insemination, or perhaps the paternity of the child/children is unknown.
In comparison to two parent households, children and adults in single parent households are, on average, confronted with special challenges.
While not all single parents and children in a single parent household face these issues, they exist for many single parent households and only a few of such families have been able to beat the odds. Usually, as a single parent, there is nothing more challenging as a single parent than raising the necessary finances to take care of the family.
Many single parents you work long hours to earn enough to pay for all the expenses of running a home and raising children alone, child development experts with the Kids Health advice.
Even if you are lucky enough to have some financial support from your children’s other parent, chances are you feel like you are constantly juggling your financial obligations. You might even have to deny your children some of the things they want or need, according to the website of The Future of Children.
You might work extra hours to pay for tutoring for your daughter, but your son might not be able to take drum lessons he always dreamed of because of your financial limitations.
Whatever the reason for separation, the child deserves to stay in a relationship with both parents. Experts say that although economic circumstances have changed since the 50’s, the “Father Knows Best” family — two parents with only the husband working – is still exerting a powerful pull on our family values and emotions. Large majorities in opinion polls consistently say they are still committed to conservative views of the family setting.
Single parenthood can as well be fun for some people. You can do what you want especially if you are a solo parent. You don’t have to be in negotiation about most of the decisions. You can date and sex is better after motherhood.
You can have a great perception of life that you will model for your child. You have gone through it. You know that all those ‘perfect’ families are secretly quirky at best, probably disintegrating, and your friends all confide in you their messed-up marriages, dysfunctional sex lives and all the other perfectly normally messy human foibles.
Single parenthood can as well be fun for some people. You can do what you want especially if you are a solo parent. You don’t have to be in negotiation about most of the decisions. You can date and sex is better after motherhood.
You can have a great perception of life that you will model for your child. You have gone through it. You know that all those ‘perfect’ families are secretly quirky at best, probably disintegrating, and your friends all confide in you their messed-up marriages, dysfunctional sex lives and all the other perfectly normally messy human foibles.
