Thursday, May 01, 2014

Your Turn

What is your definition of a single parent?

41 comments:

Oopsy_Daisy said...

A parent without help in caring for their child(ren).

Glitter said...

A man or woman with a child that has not been married.

sandybrook said...

A mother or father raising children without the other.

SusanB said...

When only one parent lives in the home with the child(ren).

Kelly said...

A mom or dad raising a kid alone.

FSP said...

Octoboob

TalksTooMuch said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
auntliddy said...

Agree with Reno, mom or dad raising kid or kids without help of other parent.

Merlin D. Bear said...

Primary custody

Susan said...

One parent under a roof taking care of the kid or kids. God bless ya. I lose my mind when The Hubs has to travel for work, although the perks of sleeping in a snore-free zone and watching all of the trash TV I want while drinking in solitude is quite glorious.

MISCH said...

A single parent can be anyone who carries the burden by themselves

TalksTooMuch said...

Too difficult to define?

TV Junkie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

A parent that gets no financial or emotional support from the other. The other parent DOES NOT HELP AT ALL...

discoflux said...

I think of a single parent as someone whose children live with them full time, they have no assistance or visitation from the other parent, and no significant other in the household with them.

discoflux said...

If you are receiving child support, the children visit the other parent on a regular basis, the other parent participates in the child's activities, you can depend on the other parent to take the children in the event of an emergency or scheduling conflict - then you are a co-parent.

TV Junkie said...

I agree, Fancy! I am divorced, get child support & live with my kids & BF. The kids' dad lives about an hour away & gets them every other weekend, even though I have full custody. (I couldn't keep my kids from their dad.) I have never thought of myself as a single parent, even though I am single - even before I started living with BF.

Count Jerkula said...

Single Parent - unwed parent.

I hesitate to qualify it with Primary Custody, because that would mean I am not a parent, since my kid doesn't live with me. That would be false though, because my kid gets more parenting in the 2 days every other week he is with me than in the time he is with his mother.

Anonymous said...

TV junkie, good for u. :^)

Some people don't realize what single parent really means. Any help that the SO gives means that they are taking responsibility. When couples split life goes on. Finding a comfortable balance between moving on and taking care of your children can b difficult. I'd rather have a ex who had little time and money to spare but was invested than a completely absent one...

TV Junkie said...

Count, I hate to hear that. Even though I'm a mom, I get that dads get a really raw deal & it can be really unfair. Even if you fight for custody, then they think you just don't want to pay support.Oh no! Time to get a lawn mower??

TV Junkie said...

Ignore the lawn mower thing. I don't know how that got pasted there! Sheesh!

Cindy said...

Me. I have a 24 year old daughter, she's never met her father as he left before she was born. He never paid a cent in child support. I raised her on my own and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sherry said...

What Fancy said...I was raised with a single mom. No dad and no support from anyone but her. Her parents were poor and couldn't help so she did it on her own and somehow we all turned out to be decent human beings who care about other people. God bless her!

M. Brown said...

An individual raising a child or children without emotional or physical involvement of the other parent in the children's lives. Otherwise it's called co-parenting and no co-parenting is rarely equal. Economic involvement isn't a given either way.

Insomniamama said...

The parent with primary custody and care of the child who is no longer with the other parent of the child and is currently unwed. I consider single parents even when visitation and child support are involved

Insomniamama said...

The parent with primary custody and care of the child who is no longer with the other parent of the child and is currently unwed. I consider single parents even when visitation and child support are involved

Count Jerkula said...

@TVJunkie: I got my tractor running last weekend. I think I have to take the carb apart before I mow again though.

Raw Deal? Yeah, it sucks. I just keep pluggin along, getting my ducks in a row for when he is old enough to flee.

PJ said...

A parent who is not in a romantic relationship with their kid(s) other parent. This could be due to divorce, single parenthood by choice or one being widowed. There really is no other definition. Single parent= parent who is single i.e. not in a relationship.

M. Brown said...

This is interesting. Some are basing the defenition on how the parent is affected and others how the children are affected. I guess I'm looking at this from the kids' point of view. A set of parents may both be single adults but being raised by a "single parent" infers a lack of something. If a kid is getting everything they need from a 5/2 split or a 4/3 or even every other week then their parents are both raising them.

RobotBabs said...

I consider myself a single parent, although sometimes Pinhead sends a check (although he hasn't in years), he and my son talk on the phone once in a while and my son sees him maybe one weekend a month or so. Here's why I'm a single parent: no co-parenting has ever happened. Ever. In fact the stupid pri*k has lied to me about where my son is when he's with him. Any and all decision-making about everything regarding our son is handled by me. He won't answer his phone, return messages, or show up for anything. That makes me a single parent.

RobotBabs said...

And Count? You're awesome. Keep showing up for your kid. You have delivered some amazing snark - a quality I hope you have shared with your offspring.

Count Jerkula said...

Thanks RobotBabs. One of the hardest things I've had to do it teach him the law of diminishing returns. That lil bugger will beat a joke to death. He is 7, so he has time to figure it out.

BitchieMitchie said...

One parent doing 90% of the heavy lifting. The other skips merrily away. Fuck You Dad.

portlandjewel said...

My sons father never once participated in visitation, never voluntarily paid child support, (semi-regular garnishments the past 5 years or so) and has never sent a birthday or Christmas present. Never paid for his glasses or sat with me while my son was having any of his 7 surgeries... Last week he died of an overdose. Nothing is different except now there are no chances for him to make it right. My son is 15 now. I am a single parent.

auntliddy said...

Wow, I feel for son and wish him good health. He's lucky to have you.

audrey said...

A single parent is one who is no longer with their partner for what ever reason there may be. Child support and visitation with the other parent are cool, and may indeed be co parenting but when I crawl into bed at night I am alone--so therefore, I am a single parent.

Cassiopeia said...

Agree with audrey...I am a single parent. My ex is also single parent. And we co-parent our son.
Fortunately, my ex is an amazing dad. He sees our son twice weekly and every other weekend. Bonus, he voluntarily pays child support, splits preschool tuition and clothing costs.

Melissa of Grand Island said...

My wonderful Amazing Mother was a single parent. I never met my father, he never reached out to me and yet, found the time to get married and start a whole new family. She never dated anyone till I was gown and in college. She said she never wanted me to be confused about her love for me or that I needed to compete with anyone for it. She knew, since she made the bad choice of picking my father she didn't want me to suffer through any other bad choices, very SMART women. I'm happy to say I broke the cycle and married an awesome guy who is a great father and husband. She prayed I would never have to go through what she did. She was never ashamed to share that although she had made some poor choices she didn't want me to continue to pay for them by having a bad mother. She was adopted and my grandparents never were good parents. To this day I believe it was Gods Grace and lots of prayers that got her through it all. I'm proud to call her my "single parent" and happy to say she was an amazing Mother. It proves anyone, no matter their upbringing, can make the choice to put themselves aside, and put their child first. Sorry so long, it just made me so very thankful for the wonderful Mom I got!

Melissa of Grand Island said...

BTW, she married a great guy when I was grown and they have been married for over 20 years! She finally got her happily ever after : )

K's Mom said...

Me. He shows up for graduation and events. I did the rest. On my own without any financial or any other help. In fact, he fought me tooth and nail when one of our children nearly died and treatment to save his life was expensive. Now both are grown, healthy, wonderful adults who make the world a better place. I have a great life, in love with an amazing man who was there as a friend while I raised my children, and get to share their wonderful lives. Dad? Sure, he got to skip the hard parts while they were growing up. But he also missed the wonder of it all, the joy and the love you get when you are just there for your kids, no matter what. That's what it means to be a single parent... The last line of defense that will never give up.

portlandjewel said...

Thanks Liddy! My son is awesome. We hope his father finds the peace in death he couldn't find in life.

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