What does "single Mom" mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are moms who happen to be single but they co parent with ex. I wouldn't call them single moms. Single moms don't get any help with the parenting. There are no regular days off. They also are responsible for running the household, all aspects of it. It's a joke when someone calls herself a single mom be ue her husband travels.

It makes me sad that because my ex has my kids four nights a month and writes a check, some people think I don't "qualify" as a single mom.

I am a single mom because tonight, just as one example, I had to be in two places at once - one child with an unexpected late pick up from an after school activity, another child who needs to go to the dr. Ex husband has better things to do than keep an eye and ear on the phone to be sure kids don't need him tonight. Truth is we did need him, and as usual, he is MIA.

I handled it. Kid with swollen ankle will just have to wait to see the dr. in the morning.

shoot his ass.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, to me single mom means you have no support of any kind from father. If you have an engaged co-parent who spends time with the kids and pays child support you are not a single parent. You are a divorced (or never married) co-parent.

[Anonymous]

I'm a single mom by pretty much every definition here, except for the "threat to your marriage" one since I'm fat, unattractive, and not interested in men.

But, what I can't figure out is why someone would be threatened by someone calling themselves a single mom. Can someone who is bothered by people calling themselves single moms tell me why?

[Anonymous]

To me: a woman who is 100% responsible for her child(ren) without any help from the father whether that be he left on his own or died.

[Anonymous]

Loneliness and a lot of pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are moms who happen to be single but they co parent with ex. I wouldn't call them single moms. Single moms don't get any help with the parenting. There are no regular days off. They also are responsible for running the household, all aspects of it. It's a joke when someone calls herself a single mom be ue her husband travels.

It makes me sad that because my ex has my kids four nights a month and writes a check, some people think I don't "qualify" as a single mom.

I am a single mom because tonight, just as one example, I had to be in two places at once - one child with an unexpected late pick up from an after school activity, another child who needs to go to the dr. Ex husband has better things to do than keep an eye and ear on the phone to be sure kids don't need him tonight. Truth is we did need him, and as usual, he is MIA.

I handled it. Kid with swollen ankle will just have to wait to see the dr. in the morning.

PP, can you find other moms who are in a similar position? By all definitions on here, I'm a single mom. I choose to have my kids via donor sperm and AI. I'm responsible for them emotionally, financially, and legally. Somehow, I've managed to find 2 other female friends who are not single moms but might as well be. Their husbands/fathers are not involved even though they live in the house with the kids. What the 3 of us have found is that we really can help each other out. All of our kids think of the other 2 as additional moms. We've been functioning like this for about 10 years. None of the kids blinks if another mom picks up from soccer practice, shows up at the dance recital, takes someone to the dr. We all work and we all travel for work. We've build a support network that allows us to raise our kids without the help of a husband/father.

[Anonymous]

Any woman not married to a man and raising kids is a single mom in my opinion. She could have had the kid through IVF, through adoption, through circumstances, raising someone else's child (family members kids or siblings).... Does not matter if she has alimony or shared custody or doing everything on her own. She could be a widowed grandma raising her grandchildren. She could be a woman living with her boyfriend, her parents, her family.


A married woman (even if her husband is deployed outside the country) raising her kids is not a single mom. It could be harder for her, but not a single mom