Reply to What does "single parent" mean?

Forum Index » Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers

Reply to "What does "single parent" mean? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Similarly, poor parents, single or not, relate to similar issues. Unemployed parents relate to similar issues. Parents dealing with a seriously ill spouse/SO, relate to similar issues. Get it?[/quote]

Yes, of course single parents can relate to other parents.  Of course there are experiences that are universal to all parents, and experiences that are shared between some parents and not others.

But it's a little weird to say that you should therefore call a parent something that they aren't, because they share some experiences.

I'm an atheist parent.  In some ways, as a parent of a kid who is a religious minority, I share experiences with Hindu parents.  But I don't go around saying, I'm a Hindu parent, because that would be weird.  I also share some experiences with people whose spouses are deployed.  Of course, I do, but I don't go around saying I'm the spouse of someone who is deployed, because that would be offensive.

I'm also a single parent.  There are single parents out there who have radically different experiences than I do.  I have a friend who is a single parent with a giant trust fund.  She is a "SAHM" but her kid goes to boarding school (I am not joking).  She and I do not share all that many parenting experiences, but that doesn't change the fact that she's a single mom and I'm a single mom.  Because neither of us is married or partnered.  That is what makes us single moms.

I also think, as someone who provides almost everything for my child (I'll give the government credit for the public education), that the part of parenting that involves earning money, and putting a roof over someone's head, and food on the table, is an incredibly important part of parenting.  I know that the work that I do at home, whether it's driving to soccer practice, or going over fractions, or making a meal, is very important to my kid, but it's not more or less important than the work I do at my job to make sure he's provided for.  When someone says "I do it all for my kids", and they aren't the one doing that incredibly important second job, or they aren't the only person doing that incredibly important second job, it's a little demeaning to that other spouse.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics