Why being a Single Mom is a Stressful Mom
Being a parent can be stressful, and being a single mom can be even more of a stressful. Why is single parenting such a stressful job? The following are reasons that being a single mom is so challenging.
Financial worries
One of the biggest problems with being a single mom is not having enoughmoney. Unlike married mothers, the single mother does not have that second income to help her pay the bills or provide for her children. She must juggle both working and caring for her children. Often she is forced to work longer hours to make up for the short fall of money in her household. If she has small children, she has the added expense of child care.
Feelings of guilt
A single mom often has to deal with feeling of guilt. A single mother may feel guilty about being a single parent. She might feel like she has failed her children because she couldn’t keep her marriage or relationship together. She may blame herself for the failings of her children’s father. The single mom may also feel guilty about needing time to herself.
Emotional drain
Being a single mom can be emotionally draining. There are just so many things that need to be done. She has to be both mother and father to her children. She may have to work two jobs or longer hours in order to provide for all of the financial needs of her family. After a long day at work, she must rush home to prepare dinner, to help with homework, to clean the house, and to get the kids ready for bed. And, if the children are involved in sports or other extracurricular activities, she has to take them to practice and to games. The pressure of trying to do it all can cause the single mom to suffer fromstressand anxiety.
The only disciplinarian
Although the children’s father may still be involved in their lives, the single mom is now the main disciplinarian in the house. She has to make and enforce the rules. And, as the children get older this can become more and more difficult. At times, the children may even try to pit the two parents against each other in order to get their way.
Dealing with the other parent
Dealing with her former partner is another challenge the single mother faces. She has to learn to compromise with her former partner on issues like visitation, custody, and child support issues. If he has remarried or is involved in another relationship, the single mom must then deal with her former spouse’s new partner.
Being a single mom is not easy. However, with support and encouragement, it is a job that can be quiterewarding.
