One of the blogs I follow is notSupermom and you can find her
here.
Her post today was 6 things you should never say to a single parent, and I felt the need to chime in.
Run over and read it. Go ahead, I'll wait...
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Done? No? Keep reading.
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Ok, great! Two of them bother me more than the others.
#4 Help from the Government??? Excuse me? This one makes me want to cuss. B!#(H please! I get squat. I have a Master's Degree. Granted, my chosen career field is a low paying one and is really struggling. I'm a professional. I work hard. I kick butt at my job. I teach Kindergarten. I have a BA in Elementary Education and a MA in Reading Education. Do I struggle? Absolutely! Don't assume every single parent is receiving help from the government.
#6 I know just how you feel because my husband/wife works... BLAH BLAH BLAH. It is not the same. You don't know how I feel. I can't even tell you how other single parents feel. Sometimes, I can't even tell you how I feel about being a single parent. Single parenting is not an emotion, it is a fact of life.
I do not regret the decisions I made that led me to being a single parent. I knew it would be difficult but you never know just how difficult things will be. I did everything I could to prepare for it. I'm fortunate that I have a wonderful support group. My son and I have many people in our lives who love us, care for us and help us. Without those people, our family and friends, we would struggle more than we do. I would like to add another one.
Unless you are one of my nearest and dearest (which actually, my nearest and dearest are free to say anything to me, but they are different)...
#7 Are you going to get married/have another baby? Don't ask because I don't know. I would LOVE to have another baby. However, I will not bring another one, purposefully, into this world as a single parent. I don't know if I'll ever get married again. Part of me hopes so. The other half isn't so sure. The bottom line is, I don't know all the details about my future. That isn't singular to being a single parent. I don't go around asking married friends when they are going to get divorced. Things happened and I made my choices.