Reading this section made me think about how my life is. I was born into a nuclear family with a mom, a dad then my mom had two brothers. Then in 2009 my dad passed away, my mom ended up become a widowed single mother who had to raise three kids all on her own. She rocks at it. My brother was 10 when my dad passed away so he was in his middle childhood. I can see now how losing a parent can impact your life majorly. He looks up to my other brother that is older than him. They talk about life, girls, anything that helps my brother grow up. That one moment when my dad passed away it changed my families life forever. My mom gave us all the material things that we needed, she supported us and encouraged us, she helped us become a lot more socially aware, we developed friendships with others and she protected us and gave us the best stability she could and it worked. I have been very proud of my mom.
I am a single mother and I have never been married. I have physical custody of my son. He does see his dad but we don't co-parent. He makes my life harder. I have been a mom since I was 16 years old. My mom has helped me so my son has an extended type of family which means three or more generations live under the same household. I learned a lot on how to be a single mom from my mom and I am still learning everyday and my mom is a wonderful teacher. It is hard being a single young mom with not much co-parenting help from my son's dad. I fill multiple roles to take care of my son. It is not an easy job especially when I am working and attending Millersville. He goes to school and I am involved with his school. We are going on a field trip together tomorrow and he is super excited to spend time with his mommy. Like it states on page 362 in our textbook, averages are just numbers many nuclear families are destructive, many single-parent families are great and many stepparents provide wonderful care. The structural problems of family structure are overcome and parents do what they have to do to support and provide for their children.
Hi Smamantha,
ReplyDeleteThis is really impressive that you are able to work, take classes and care for your son. That is allot, but it sounds like your doing a really incredible job. I think being a single parent can be done fantastically well, especially when there are other generations involved to love and support your child and of course help you too. I enjoyed reading this post, thanks!
I am able to relate to this post greatly. My mother passed away when I was nine years old too. I had two sisters. My dad was the single widowed parent also raising three girls. He does everything he can for us. He provides everything and has made it a point to not change the things we do or make life any different. (of course it's different but he provides as much as he possibly can) My dad is the most selfless person I know. The second part of your blog I relate to as well! My sister became a mom at 18. The father barely helps out. They are together but doesn't support them at all. He makes her life harder as well. It is like caring for an extra child. Anyway, I agree with you. It doesn't matter what kind of family structure you have. There are great single parent families and messed up nuclear families. My family functions like a normal nuclear family even though it isn't. Parents need to care for their children and do whatever it takes to do so. I really enjoyed your post. This is the most I can relate to so far this year.
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