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Recipe For Successful Single Parenting
from: Karlie BestlerMost people don't plan on being single parents. There are a small percentage of women who are making it a choice to be a single mother, but that is not the typical scenario. The truth is that if you are single parent, you most likely got there through either divorce or the death of a spouse. The shock of these situations may make it difficult to get a foothold on successful single parenting, but not impossible.
Ingredients For Successful Single Parenting
*A dependable income
*Multi-tasking skills
*Patience
*Community and family support
*Faith in yourself
A Dependable Income
Raising a family takes money. Many women struggle to make ends meet when they are single mothers, even when they work. Whether the income comes from child support payments, a steady job, a business, renting a room in your house, or even family support doesn't matter. Children take an enormous amount of financial resources to nurture and raise. From the minute they are using diapers to the day they are asking for money for school trips and special outfits, children are expensive. The best way to meet that challenge is to have a dependable income.
Multi-Tasking Skills
There is no doubt about it. If you are a single parent, whether you have an infant or a teen-ager in the home, multi-tasking is a must. You might be called upon to chauffer the kids to and from daycare or school, arrange their lunches and medicines, set up backup pickups in case school lets out early or the child gets sick, and then go to your job.
Patience
It takes a lot of patience to raise children. It's amazing how little appreciation a single parent gets. Single parenting is a full-time job with no pay and the benefits show only after years of service. The children may sometimes also become exasperated with the difficulty of the situation at times. Have patience with them and with yourself. Successful single parenting calls for you to set an example that at times may not seem possible, but you will have to do it anyway.
Community And Family Support
When the single mother is not physically present with her children, they are on her mind. This can become emotionally challenging. In a situation where the single mother needs help because something happened and the children need picked up before the mother is able to reach them, how does she get the children home? This is where the support of family and community is very important. Family support can also offer the caregiver a much needed break so she can have some time for herself. For successful single parenting, the old saying is true - it takes a village to raise a child.
Faith In Yourself
There comes a time in every single parent's life where they feel like they've failed as a single parent. Single parenting is tough! Have faith in yourself. As you learn to overcome obstacles and stop comparing your situation to that of other traditional families, you may find that your own lifestyle is just fine.
Single Parenting In The News
Black Americans Are One of the Fastest-Growing Segments in Online Dating ... - MarketWatch (press release)
Black Americans Are One of the Fastest-Growing Segments in Online Dating ... MarketWatch (press release) WHO: The product of a single-parent household, Ron Worthy values the family support that guided him to an engineering degree from Stanford and an MBA from ... |
You go, girl! Celebrating women - Lompoc Record
You go, girl! Celebrating women Lompoc Record The 2nd District honors the Single Parents Arriving Ready for College Program (SPARC) at Santa Barbara City College. This six-week summer bridge program ... |
Five new human genomes decoded, marking a transition to more personalized medicine - Los Angeles Times (blog)
 Reuters | Five new human genomes decoded, marking a transition to more personalized medicine Los Angeles Times (blog) Before Lupski left the East Coast, where he was raised, he banked blood samples from his grandparents, his parents and his siblings for use in future ... Decoding Patient's Genome Found Gene For Inherited Neurological Disorder CMT |