Skip to main content

Surviving Single Parenting

For those of you who read this - I know it's not too many - some of you know me personally, so this won't come as a shock to you.  But, for the rest of you, there's a minor, personal detail which I've left out of my previous blog posts.  If you've been following me for any period of time, this may be surprising to you as I've shared the in's and out's of pregnancy, labor, and delivery, as well as many other sordid details of parenting.  But, alas, there is one important item which I've neglected to share.

I am a military spouse.  Now, you may be wondering what this means and what it has to do with the title of this post on being a single parent.  This essentially means that there are times when my husband cannot be around to be the father that I know he wants to be.  There are times when I must make the decisions for my family.  And, there are times when I must struggle through tantrums, milestones, life lessons, and other childhood dramas without support.  Some of you may recognize these struggles as you too are either a milspouse or a single parent. 

When I thought of having a family, there would be so many times when I needed support from someone other than myself.  There are times when I've thought that I was going to go crazy because I couldn't take the crying, screaming, or not being around an adult.  There are times when I thought the world around me was going to fall down because I hadn't gotten a single break between spit ups, pukes, poops, pees, and every other sort of mess that comes with having a child.  There are times when my has teetered on the very edge of sanity because of sleep deprivation and the constant need my Sweet Pea has needed from me.

But, I'm here to say that, while I don't quite consider myself a survivor, I would say that I am surviving.  Every day is a new battle.  Every week brings new challenges.  Every month brings a new development in not only my child's life, but also in my own.  My strength builds.  My hope endures.  My skills at parenting are being sharpened.  I am being developed into a survivor.

So, while I can't give exact pointers on how to survive single parenthood, I can say that it is possible.  Every parent is different.  Every child is different.  But, through it all, know that we are not alone.  Whatever situation has made you a single parent, you too can choose to become a survivor.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm no longer telling my kids to have fun

Today, I've made an important realization that is changing the way that I talk to my children.  I am no longer going to tell them to have fun. Don't get me wrong, I desperately desire that my children find joy, happiness and laughter through numerous experiences and adventures.  But, my children's definition of fun and mine have two VERY different meanings. I'll give you an example. My almost four-year-old son loves to destroy things.  He's like his dad - a man who just wants to learn how things work, as well as cause and effect.  So, he takes apart toys, sister's dolls, kitchen appliances, and more.  He tears books because "the story was in the wrong order."  He pushes buttons - both literally and figuratively.  He colors on walls, floors, computer monitors, furniture, carpet and more because he wants to create maps and "building plans" for his Duplos.  This is his idea of fun . Do you see my dilemma?  His idea of fun is so completel
Post a Comment
Read more

Leadership Mom: SWOT Analysis

In business, leaders often analyze our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats through a SWOT analysis.  So, if we are going to look at our role as moms as being the greatest leadership opportunity to us, let's start with analyzing ourselves and our kids.  Here's the SWOT I developed for my family: Family SWOT Analysis As a doting mother, there are hundreds of strengths that I could put up here for my kids.  Their hugs, kisses, bedtime stories and prayers, the fact that they come to me when they're seeking healing from an injury (physical or emotional), the notes and drawings they make for me, their precious hearts when they try to help me or that they've learned how to use the Keurig to bring me coffee in the morning...I could go on and on. Now, here's the part where we get honest with ourselves.  Yes, we love our kids and we love our family (or, hopefully, most of the time), but we are not perfect.  Nor should we be perfect.  As we analyze oursel
3 comments
Read more

Where has the Golden Rule gone?

You would have to be living in a cave or some extremely remote location with no access to satellite or wireless reception in order to not hear or read about American politics and the upcoming elections.  It's everywhere...and it's an all out war.  Or, at least that's what it seems like to me.  I usually try not to say too much about politics because I was taught that talking about politics in polite conversation was rude and uncivil.  Today's state of social media and 24-hour news has proven to me that this lesson is, sadly, true.  As a parent, I am trying to instill a sense of respect in my children.  Yet, how am I to do this in a world where everyone is out to get anyone who thinks, speaks, looks, or acts differently than they do?  No, this isn't always about politics.  But, let's face it, we've politicized everything.  There has been no subject left untouched in this year's political race.  There's no topic deemed to be out of bounds.  So, where
Post a Comment
Read more