As a single parent, life can get quite overwhelming. When there’s only one of you to handle your kids, it can be difficult to juggle all your responsibilities in your personal and professional world. The good news is that there are steps you can take to make things easier. Here are some of the options we recommend for overcoming common single-parent challenges.
Traveling
You may find yourself needing to get to places not accessible by walking, there could also be no direct route on public transport. This means you will have to ask a friend or family member a favor and request a lift to and from. This could be anything from a trip to the grocery store or a doctor’s appointment.
Work
As a single mom, you might find it difficult to get a job around school or nursery hours. If you have a full-time job that doesn’t allow for a change of hours, you can either look for a new job or rely on childcare to help with wraparound care. Wraparound care is the hours before and after school or nursery and a lot of places offer this including childminders.
You can also look into hiring a nanny if your finances allow for it, this is a great help and saves you worrying about leaving work early for any reason. Of course, there’s always the option of the grandparents helping with childcare if they are around and local to you. Don’t be afraid to shop around and find the childcare option that works best for you.
The other option is to get a job within a school, this ensures you will work the same hours your child is at school and have school holidays to spend quality time with your child. A lot of moms opt for this as it saves them the hassle of wasting money on childcare.
Mom Guilt
As a single parent, you may find yourself wanting to go out with friends or wanting to meet a new man. Of course, this is allowed and is much needed in your hectic life. Unfortunately, you may not have babysitters on hand to look after your little darling so you will have to ask someone to watch them while you are out and about.
Mom guilt is a real thing that you can find yourself suffering from if you are out without your child. You find yourself spending so much time with your child that when you are on your own without them you peel a pang of guilt and worry if they are okay or stressed because you aren’t around. Trust me they are absolutely fine and probably having a great time with the babysitter whoever that may be.
Go out, have a great time and get back to being the great mom you are tomorrow.
Time Alone
Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. As a single mom, you possibly feel like you should be doing it all yourself, this is not the case at all and it is okay to need or want a break every so often.
If people offer to help or babysit, take them up on that offer. Go out, meet some friends and have a great time. If you have no friends or family to help with childcare then look into hiring a babysitter just for a couple of hours so you can be yourself again and recharge those mom batteries.
Financial Difficulties
Being a single parent often means a lot of financial difficulties as you are trying to juggle all bills on your own. If you are eligible for child maintenance, apply for it, any extra money will help put food on the table. It isn’t just bills you have to find the money for, birthdays and Christmas can be a huge worry for single moms.
You might find it difficult to find a place to live as there is often a stigma attached to single moms and a lot of landlords worry about individuals not paying rent on time. You may also be thinking into the future and don’t want to rent your whole life.
It is completely possible for you to buy a house, you just have to save wherever possible. When buying a home as a single mom you should look into any financial help available for you, there are places out there that accept low down payments as long as you have a relatively healthy credit score.
It is important you take control of your finances as soon as possible and budget sensibly. Make a list of all incomings and outgoings so you know where you are financially every month.
Discipline
As a single parent it is understandable that you want to be your child’s best friend, but being a mom comes first and foremost. This means that you can’t let your child run wild, rule the roost or take over your life. A little discipline goes a long way and your child will more often than not respect you more if you punish them when they display unwanted behaviours.
Children will push the boundaries and break the rules not because they want to but because they like to know that their caregivers can keep them safe. Believe it or not, the child or children don’t want to be in charge. Disciplining your child will create a strong character and your child will then grow up being able to self-discipline which is a good skill to have especially when it comes to them getting a job and living their own life successfully.
The occasional time out or having their consoles taken off them will not harm them or scar them in any way shape or form. It will give them a gentle reminder that you as their mom is in charge and make them think about their behavior and how to change it.
We hope this helps you understand some of the obstacles that can stand in your way as a single mom and how to overcome them and live a happy, relatively stress-free life.
