Single parenting: It's Impact and challenges

Single parenting is not a thing any parent desires for themselves or their children. But sometimes, circumstances bring people to a point in life where they find themselves single handedly raising a child. These could be as a result of divorce, death, pregnancy outside of wedlock, and distance. I'm a product of single parenting as a result of divorce, I was still very young to know what's happening, but I was told the story when I was old enough to know and against the popular belief about children raised by a single mother, I was morally brought up in the fear of God.

It took my mum several years to get back on her feet, probably because of her dreams that were shattered and that she needed to raise us(myself and two siblings) all alone. She took up odd jobs and did multiple jobs working late hours just to raise us and she almost had a blood pressure from thinking. My mum told us she had always dreamt big for her children, the thought of giving us less was what bothered her the most and she needed to take in the place of a mother and a father which seemed like a hard task for her in the beginning, but after waiting for some years without his return, she knew all task was left for her to do.

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It's Impact On the woman and Children

Single parenting is mostly heavier on the woman or man involved compared to the children who are being raised. My life and the life of Ben Carson(from the book "Think Big") is a good example of how well a parent can raise her children single handedly, all that's needed is to be firm in their discipline even though it still leaves a void that a father or mother would have filled in. For the woman, she misses the companionship, she starts to fill in a space that was not officially hers, trying to be the man and at the same time the mother. She tried to fulfill a dream that was planned by both parties, the depression, financial challenges, the bully. If she fails in fulfilling any of these duties, then it leaves a great impact on the child, who becomes wayward and it's as a result of this failed single parenting that makes it seem as if single parents do not raise their children sufficiently.

Maintaining Balance

Keeping balance between raising a child and maintaining a healthy working lifestyle is a difficult task for single parents. I've seen a woman leave her children for other people while she goes to work, it only means the children learn what their caregivers believe in and sometimes the ideologies they hold onto may not be healthy for the child. To maintain a balance, I feel one needs to do his/her own business where they're at liberty to attend to other matters outside their job. Especially when the children are still young or take up jobs that give them time to attend to matters that pertain to their family. My mum started her own business but did not fail in creating time where she teaches us daily on the word of God and on moral principles. One will have a balance once they take up jobs that give them free time for other matters.

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