You’re damn right you’ll catch flak for it and well you should.
I’ve been a single mother for almost 17 years. Shortly after my divorce, my ex-husband passed away, so when I say single, I mean single. And – gasp – we were even on welfare for 3 months during my singlehood because it was that or let my kids go hungry. I’m not ashamed to admit we were at the bottom of the barrel financially and digging myself out was hard.
But once I got my feet on the ground, I made sure that my kids did not go without anything that would have been provided for them had their father lived.
…I put both girls through college debt-free. I saved and worked my ass off to do it.
…I disciplined them and they are some of the kindest and most courteous young women you could ever meet.
…I made sure they had positive male role models around them in the form of grandpas, uncles, and my coworkers when I ran an automotive shop.
…I kept them well-fed, well-clothed, healthy, and happy.
…They took piano lessons, gymnastics lessons, and French lessons, just like the well-rounded children of families with both a mom and a dad.
They have gone on to be happy, well-adjusted, and successful adults. We are as close-knit as it’s possible for a family to be.
It’s the most insulting thing in the world for people who have no idea of what my marriage was like to act as though I’m a crappy mother JUST for being a single one. I know many other excellent single mothers, too. We work HARD. We do it ALL. And at the same time, I also know both married and single parents who are doing a piss-poor job raising their children.
To demean and vilify all single parents as the cause of some fall of humanity…well, that’s a mindblowing generalization.
And generalization is a sign of lazy thinking. That’s something else this single mama taught her kids.