Nervous Breakdown? When You're a Single Parent, That's Just Not an Option

My husband was killed in a car accident when I was pregnant with my daughter, but I don't run around telling everyone that as soon as I meet them. Why? Because it's none of you business. The reasons for her being a single parent don't really matter at this point. Maybe the father was a jerk. Maybe he passed away. Maybe he is an international spy. Its none of your business, and if you have a problem with single parenting then maybe you shouldn't read the article.

To the author and other single parents out there, I know it's hard. There are no days off, no other parent to take over when you just need to take a walk, no one else to get up in the middle of the night so you can sleep. When you're falling apart GET HELP. Find a book club, church, writer's group, or aerobics class so you can make a few friends to turn to when you're overwhelmed. There have been times, especially when my daughter was little, when having that one friend I could ask to watch her for a couple of hours TRULY saved my sanity.

If the father's out of the picture, he's no longer important. Why would she mention him in a story about being an isolated single mother? She's isolated. She's a single mother. That is what matters and that is what she talks about. And I've never seen a single mother happy to be a single mother. It's not easy and WIC doesn't necessarily make life easy. I was raised by a single mother. My dad could have chosen to be in the picture but instead decided to act like a drunken teenager. My mom doesn't talk about him with strangers, especially when she's discussing how she raised me because he wasn't there, so why would she talk about him?

YOU, CLEARLY, ARE AN IGNORANT HICK- typing in all caps, your small-minded chauvanistic comments typed with 2nd grade level grammar are evidence of that.
'Chose' to be a single mother? With the exception of the very few people who make such a choice for their own reasons (and usually do so prior to becoming pregnant, & typically have financial & other resources in place already), almost no one CHOOSES to raise a child alone. Parenting is not designed to be a one-person job.
It astonishes me that you would assume that unless the father is dead, than she is choosing single parenthood.
My ex-husband abandoned our marriage when I was barely a month pregnant. He was 100% absent from my life & my child's life until she was over 1 year old, & even then he saw her rarely & didn't pay court-ordered support for at least a year after that. I did not CHOOSE that.

Joe, The article clearly states that she is employed, so I do not really see where your all cap explosion even applies. Here's a thought, why don't you direct your misplaced anger at the million of dead beat fathers who walk out on their families with out paying child support. Take a look at the stats, at least the women are raising their children, Your question was correct though "where is the father?"

Joe--Dude, you need to vent on a Fox News blog or something. You know nothing about the circumstances of this woman's single status--why would you assume that she's on welfare? And where's all that anger coming from? Don't you realize that laws have changed and people can't use welfare as a career anymore? If you took the time to learn the truth--instead of assuming the worst about people--you would realize that you sound like an idiot. No one "boasts" about having 3 different baby daddies. You must be getting your "info" from old Geraldo Rivera reruns.

I am the single parent of a teenager, and while I would never recommend single parenthood as a lifestyle choice, it was just a matter of my kid's father walking away from us and leaving me holding the bag. His decision was absolutely not my choice. I put myself through college while raising my kid alone (which is incredibly difficult) and am now working hard in the middle class. It's still a struggle, and you should be grateful that there are women out there who are willing to take responsibility for their children when the father opts out. As long as there is a parent willing to do the hard work, that child may grow up to be a contributing member of society. Women don't abandon their children nearly as much as men do.

When you have walked a mile in her shoes--which you can never do, since you don't have the ability to birth and nourish a human being with your body--then you will have earned the right to criticize--except at that point you would actually "get it." Until then, STFU.

Please keep in mind when you comment like you do, that just because a child's father is not in the picture does not mean that your tax dollars are going to some woman who chose a hard life so she could whine and live off the state.
My daughter's father had a job for 2 months in the 2 years we were together. He went to jail 2 - 3 times. I constantly encouraged him to straighten up for his daughter!! Once he got pissed at me because I didn't buy him a video game he wanted, because I bought BABY FORMULA for our child!! So, yes. I left him. And now i'm a single parent. I get help from the state for food and healthcare. I work FULL-TIME, take care of our daughter FULL-TIME, and take FULL-TIME credits at a college to better myself. Right now, we're barely scraping by - but i'm working to get off the assistance and make the best life possible for my kid.
That's what this author was talking about - that it doesn't matter what emergency comes up, when your a single parent, you have to make do with what you have and work through it. You can't just hand the responsibility off to the other parent.

right. on!!!

What the hell kind of messed up mental gymnastics did you do to come to that conclusion?

ummm....I KNOW some people addle minded enough to stop and throw the old tire out. They wouldn't realize that it was illegal. Not being mechanically minded they wouldn't realize that they needed that old tire mount in order to mount the new one. One overdriving thought would be there, getting rid of that old dirty nasty, wet chewed up tire defiling their otherwise nice clean trunk (where they put their groceries).
So, while it isn't bright, I know some otherwise smart individuals who would do it. And one, in particular, is a man. A chemical engineer but totally inept at anything doing with cars.
I agree that this lady should take a basic auto maintenance course. I took one at the local trade school. There I learned to change a tire, basic maintenance and oil changes. Invaluable.

@ veronica hayes, 'mental gymnastics.' I love that phase!! I'm sure I will be using it soon LOL!!!