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A Day In The Life Of Single Parents
By Jodi L Lucey

The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word EVERYTHING, as “all things”. An all-encompassing ideal that can and does include anything the mind can conjure into existence. All of you reading this who are single parents embrace and understand this concept daily. Those of you who are not will understand more clearly the endless responsibility that single parents face when a child’s second parent steps out of the picture.

Can you image a day that begins at 6am when your alarm rings? You rise to shower, wake the kids to get ready for school, make breakfast for the family and get everyone out the door on time and in several different directions.

Sure you can. Families do this daily. “What’s the big deal?” you might be asking yourself.

No big deal, really, until you consider that the person waking in the morning to get the kids off to school may just be a single parent. Once he/she gets the kids where they need to be the parent hurries off to work a full day, then picks the kids up from day care and brings them home. Once at home the single parent is faced with getting things organized and having all the children doing their homework or chores before dinner. They cook dinner, feed the family and clean up after the meal. They do laundry and try to straighten up the living areas, knowing that if they let it go tonight, they will need to work twice as hard tomorrow night to get it all done.

You’d think the day could end here, but it doesn’t. Single parents are faced with making time for each child, talking about their day, bonding, talking, playing -- parenting. Bath time comes, and then off to bed leaving Mom or Dad to themselves to breathe and relax for a while. Right? Not likely.

It is more likely that the single parent is writing out bills, planning the grocery list for tomorrow, making a to-do list for things they will need to get done in the next couple of days. This list may include soccer practice, doctor’s appointments, trips to the mall with kids and their friends, school meetings to discuss progress or issues.

It might even be their own homework, if they are themselves students who are attempting to get a degree in order to provide a more financially stable life for their kids. When these tasks are accomplished, then they may sit and reflect on her day or relax before bed. If the list is endless on this particular night, they simply fall into bed when done and wake the next morning to do it all over again.

The single parent has so many roles -- the breadwinner, nurturer, disciplinarian, mother, father, therapist, playmate, friend, listener and much more. They wear many different hats throughout the day in order to address the responsibility to his or her family.

All single parents are overlooked as the heroes that they are.

You know who they are. You’ve met them. They are your father, mother, sister, brother, friend, or relative. One is the author of this article – and proud to be a single parent.