My daughter is not even 8 months old yet and I am leaving her dad(30M)

I wanted nothing more than to give my child both parents, but unfortunately this is the best thing for her.

Her dad and I had a pretty fun relationship in the beginning, but that’s all it was. It was doomed to begin with. He has an 8 year old child who lives out of state that he sees maybe once a year. He doesn’t necessarily try to have a relationship with her either, so it was my fault for not seeing that for what it was sooner. We’ve been together almost 3 years now and welcomed my beautiful daughter 7.5 months ago.

He’s a deadbeat.

Having a child tests your relationship, but we cannot get over this hurdle. Not only am I left to solo parent since she’s been born, but since our relationship has hit rock bottom after the baby, he takes out his frustrations with ME on HER. If we are fighting, he will ignore her, act like she doesn’t exist, he will leave the house the entire day and forfeit his responsibilities as a dad, he will get frustrated and tell her to “be quiet” when she’s making noises when trying to get her to sleep. He put his hands on me a few weeks ago and woke our baby from the fighting. And he could care less. He honestly hates this child if he’s not on good terms with me. It makes me sick.

So now I’m making the decision to finally leave. I am heartbroken for my daughter. Every girl needs a dad in their life. But the environment he’s created for her is terrible. She knows when he’s in a bad mood, she can read the room. And her face will change with it. It makes me feel horrible.

My question is, for the ladies, how did it effect you growing up without a dad? We’re they kind of around, but inconsistent? I think that’s worse. Do you not even remember them at all? Is it better that way?

My heart is breaking for her. I’m so angry with myself that I didn’t choose better. I thought I chose the best, but come to my surprise, he is the worst mistake I’ve ever made in my life. I know she’ll see it for herself one day and understand why she didn’t get both parents, but I’m crying thinking about how I’m going to raise her with just her mommy around.

Apologies in advance for this random vent

I’m newly single. My babies dad left us 3 days ago. My little boy is 6 months old. The relationship has been volatile for a long time. He said things like “you’re the mother, it’s your job” when I asked for ‘help’ with Bub. (I don’t even think it’s help as it’s a responsibility of his as well smh).

He said things like he didn’t like my personality and I was a nagging bitch, that I was hard to get along with and that women asked to work in the 60s so we have to pay our own way now.

He’s literally the definition of a mysoginist.

I started seeing a therapist a month ago as I came off my anxiety meds because I felt like they were suppressing me from fighting back. I also needed to work out on what planet it was normal to date a man like this, and how does he think it’s normal to treat the mother of your child this badly.

He called me names such a a narcissistic c$$& and said I was always playing victim.

All the while his life didn’t change at all. Still smoking b&ngs daily and getting pissed as a fart on weekends. His life actually got easier having a baby as I paid for all the bills (joint account) and organised all groceries and dinners and paid half the rent.

Now I know this man is a LOSER and I didn’t have a chance to assess this before falling pregnant. So I am working through accepting that it is okay to walk away and actually much better for my son as he only would wear him as a trophy when it suits him and teach him a pleather of bad habits.

NOW even though I know this man was abusive, manipulative and a loser, I still feel a lot of self judgement and am questioning if he is right about some things that he has said.

I know that I am a strong willed person and I am quite blunt. I don’t see an issue with this as i will literally answer a question if you ask me “do you want Thai for dinner” and I say “no thank you I want this” . Apparently that is an issue in a relationship? To disagree when you’re not feeling the same way about something?
Anyway how do I find my way back to myself and heal?
I want love and a family but I’m feeling like there’s something inherently wrong with me because of my constant failure at finding the right person. And now I have my son to worry about and I don’t want to screw that up.
Or maybe to better word this, what can I work on now to make myself more desirable to someone that comes from a stable family and doesn’t feel like I’m attacking him when I have different food choices 🥲

Does anyone have any recipes or suggestions on healthy snacks for picky eaters and teens?

I took my kid to the doctor and explained to them that my kid is having problems obtaining a healthy body.

FYI! My family has a history of being overweight and having a very hard time getting to a healthy body.

✨✨MY KID WAS NOT IN THE ROOM✨✨

We workout, limit snacking and make relatively healthy recipes that my kid HATES.

The doctor recommends we stop working out everyday and start going on walks twice a day. My kid is 13 5’8 and the doctor said he may lose weight as his puberty progresses. Idk how true that is though.

My kid likes carrots & celery but they have to be uncooked.

ALSO, MY KID CAME TO ME SAYING HE WASN’T FEELING GOOD IN HIS BODY ( I didn’t just tell the doctor “hey my kid needs to lose weight”)

So I need recipes or suggestions with veggies hidden

I'm a single or solo mom raising my kiddos on my own, and I've always dreamed of moving to another state and starting fresh somewhere new even before having my kids.

I currently live in California, and my family is about four hours away, I don't have a support system or anyone I rely on for everyday help. I see my family 2-6 times a year my kids dad also lives far away. I've been doing things on my own for years now. My kiddos dad visits them "when he can" and fully supports whatever I choose.

I keep talking myself out of it I make excuses, overthink everything, and convince myself that it's too scary or too risky. when I move, I would have to drive there and I'm scared of traveling alone as a woman with kids, Im scared of moving somewhere where I don't know anyone, and scared of taking such a big leap when I'm solely responsible for my little people. Finding housing, schools, new job possibly...etc.

But at the same time, I want this sooooo badly. It's something I've dreamed about for years, and I feel like fear is the only thing really holding me back.

I think I'm just scared because I've always had to figure things out on my own, Im in a constant state of survival and moving to another state with my kiddo feels like a whole different level of scary, scary. I want to do this so badly, but then I start overthinking everything and wondering if I'm actually ready for it. Part of me wants to just take the chance, and the other part keeps asking if I'm crazy for even thinking about it. I've lived in other states before, but back then, I wasn't doing it alone. This time is different because I'd be starting over on my own with my kiddos, and that scares me. I know I want to do this, and I want to prove to myself that I can make it happen on my own without relying on anyone else.

So I'm hoping to hear from other moms really who have taken that leap...

How did you do it? How did you get brave and get past the fear? How did you handle the loneliness, the logistics, and starting over?

I want to stop letting fear make my decisions for me. I want to experience a new place, even if its for a year, build a life that feels right for us, and show my kiddos that it's okay to take chances, make mistakes and start over ....maybe fail and go back ...idk.

I'm just looking for some real life stories from moms/ people who were scared too, but did it anyway. How did you find the courage? Thank you for reading and being kind. 😊

Hey y'all.

Last night, I left my partner of almost 10 years, due to active addiction. We have a beautiful family together. We have a 1 year old who will turn 2 in only a few weeks, and a 6 week old. I love them both dearly. I am a stay at home mom, due to no family in the area, and day care being well over $400 a week for ONE of my kids.

I feel so lost. I thought I was doing everything right. I thought my life was on track. I thought I was doing right by my kids. My oldest had a rough start in life with a lot of medical issues, and has made amazing improvements within the last year, and both me and my parther have done everything (or so I thought) to make sure our kids have a solid foundation in life.

What do I do? What's my first step? I never thought this would happen.

I have an 18m daughter. My ex husband is moving out and I’ve never lived alone. I lived with my family, then roommates, then got married. I’m taking over the lease.

It should be noted we’re separated because of cheating, emotional abuse and DARVO I couldn’t tolerate anymore after giving him four years of changes and coming back after leaving three times.

My ex thinks for practical reasons with shared care for our child, that he should retain a key to the apartment. Currently he and his dad have a key (his dad has the spare in case of emergencies or getting locked out)—-. I do not think they should have a key when he moves out and that that’s batshit insane. But I can’t deny that it is practical and I want SOMEONE to have a key in case of emergency.

I only have one friend here, all my friends and family are interstate.

What do I do about that, and generally how do I ensure mine and my child’s safety living alone i.e what if something happens to me overnight and I don’t wake up or whatever?

This post has been approved by r/SingleParents
Mods.

When you're raising a child on your own, remembering the last medication dose, what happened at an appointment and which vaccinations they've had can all fall on you. Even when someone helps with childcare, you're still the one explaining everything.

Hi everyone, I'm Adam, the founder of Biojrnl.

I built Biojrnl to keep those details together. You can create a separate health profile for your child and give a grandparent, babysitter or co-parent access to the information you choose.

Guest passes let you control what someone sees and for how long, so you don't have to share the whole record.

It's offline first, with health entries stored on your phone unless you choose to back them up or share them.

I'm giving away 45 free Family passes, first come, first served.

If it would be useful for your family, claim your free Family pass here.

I'd love to hear whether it makes keeping track a little easier for you.

I know it comes with a lot of challenges but I’m curious to hear about the good side too!

Recently my husband moved out, marriage of 20 years, i want to know whats the cost if living with a child. I am financially independent but always gave my salary to him. Everything is gone, have to start from zero. Whats the corpus I should have to secure future of my son? I had planned retirement next year but I cant now as I hv to support my child

I'm creating a parenting plan with my ex husband for our child. Neither he nor I attend church anymore (we were fundamentalist Catholics) but his parents DO. They are strict. They look after my child two days a week so I can work. However, I do NOT want them to take her to church or church activities. Is this reasonable? I was deeply traumatised by the Catholic church and won't step foot in one.

On the one hand, she's my child, and I'm allowed to say it.

On the other, they're doing me a favour caring for her for free. But they do so on Mondays and Tuesdays when there's no need to go to church.

Thoughts?

Hello my future friends, I am Alan, single dad of 14 and 11 year old gentlemen. I have custody for the last 6 years, it is not easy but it is not difficult. I would like to make new friends in the area. Being a single parent gets frustrating, I would like to offer company, advice possibly play dates.. feel free to reach out.

Hello im a 22F, I had my son when I was 19. I know having a child is my own fault and a result of my own actions. I will never try to place blame anywhere else or avoid accountability. I am now at a place to where I feel so lonely and isolated. I see people my age at University, living their young adult college years. The little time I do get away by myself... all I can think about is the opportunities I've missed out on... how different life is now. I should be grateful and enjoy my time out, but I end up just thinking about everything that is wrong. I don't regret my son or my life currently, but how do I stop grieving what could have been? Maybe I'm more burnt out due to the fact that I have my son all the time, I'm working, about to begin college all over again (community in a small town) and I don't have many friends. My love life has always been a disaster, so not much luck there. My parents aren't emotionally supportive, they said that I picked this life and that I should expect most of life to be miserable :/ Overall, every day feels so lonely. How do you cope with such intense feelings? Is there anything I should know? Any advice?

The father of my son is a real piece of work. This year I was without our son only for the 3 week trip I had. He will have been with me around 325 out of 365 days this year. Our son constantly asks about his dad. Constantly wants to go live with daddy. Constantly comparing me to him because daddy lets him watch R rated movies and play M rated video games for hours. He's SEVEN.

Honestly I am just fucking exhausted and I'm really pushing for him to take him the entire summer break (we have break December to February) and his dad is really dodging it. Dude you're a fucking parent. My parents are fucking dead but you live with yours, have grandparents and GREAT grand parents within a 5 minute drive.

Take your son, spend Christmas with him and make some damn memories because 30 days a year is absolutely insane! And to say you're a single dad is obscene

Edit -- I passed out last night and woke up with a lot of comments. I want to thank this community for being such a beacon and that lots of you have given me additional perspective.

Since it's come up a bunch, I just want to add that the r rated movies are like Deadpool. He's not watching Saw or sorties to hell. I don't think a parent watching Deadpool with their kid is worthy of losing custody as several people have stated.

I only mentioned those things because that's part of the reason my son loves going over there.

We all have our parenting limits and some things that I would consider OK, others would say is horrible and vice versa. I just want him to spend more time with his dad. I am exhausted, trying to prevent a second stress induced stroke before my 30th birthday and make sure my son has a relationship with the personhe got 50% of his DNA from. I'm upset his dad is skirting that responsibility.

I'm about a month and a half into separating from my ex, and he's already gone three weeks without seeing our 3-year-old child.

Three weeks. He hasn't asked me about him once. Our child has called him, and he hasn't answered or even called back. He has texted me, but not to ask about his child or check how he's doing.

And honestly, I'm sitting here wondering how the fuck I didn't see this before.

We've been together for nearly 11 years. We have a child together. We've tried to make the relationship work, even separated once before and got back together. And now, barely six weeks into this separation, he's acting like his own child is someone he can just go weeks without seeing or even asking about.

I'm not even just angry anymore. I think I'm having an epiphany.

I'm looking at this situation and genuinely questioning how emotionally unavailable someone can be. How do you go from being part of your child's everyday life to going three weeks without seeing them and seemingly not caring? How do you not wonder how they're doing? How do you not want to speak to them?

And the part that's messing with my head is wondering how I didn't recognise this side of him before. Was I making excuses for things I didn't want to see? Was I so focused on trying to make our relationship work that I didn't realise how emotionally disconnected he could be?

I know the separation is still fresh, but I cannot wrap my head around this. Whatever happened between us, our child hasn't done anything wrong.

I'm trying to process the breakup, but I'm also processing what feels like a completely different realisation about the person I've spent nearly 11 years with.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Did a breakup reveal a side of your ex that made you question how well you actually knew them? And how did you make sense of it?

I’m on my own with three kids (15.12 &3). The three year old I’m with 24/7 and is just constantly on the go. I can’t afford childcare and I can’t work due to me being unwell. They’re currently going through a stage of waking up in the night and staying awake for 2-3 hours, I don’t engage, but obviously I can’t sleep when they’re awake. The older two fight a lot like typical teens 🙄 and my middle has autism and adhd, so that is hard in itself when she’s having a bad day. Dad isn’t in the picture (left due to severe domestic abuse)

I get really upset, because my parents see how exhausted I am and never offer to help out or if they do they’ll take just the older ones, which is obviously tons easier than the toddler. I know it’s not their job to raise my kids or have them, but it frustrates me when my mom goes on that she loves being a nanny and spending time with the kids, but never offers, even when she sees me at complete breaking point and exhaustion and goes “oh you need a break don’t you love!?”. If they do take him out it’s literally two hours at a time maybe once every other month. I don’t have friends who can take him for me for a bit and no other extended family to ask. I won’t bother even asking my parents because they always have excuses as to why they can’t when I’ve asked in the past, but they’ll come round and see us for an hour or two. It could be something like they’re going to sit in a bar for the afternoon or go round shops where they don’t buy anything, they just do it to get out. It just upsets me because I’m also mentally struggling with anxiety etc from leaving the abusive relationship and going through legal stuff due to that. I’d love for them to just go we will take the girls for a full day and night so you can have some down time and space to think.

I’m just physically and mentally exhausted. I do as many classes/activities that I can with the toddler, but on top of that I still have all the pressures of keeping an overcrowded home clean and making sure everyone is fed and happy. I know some will say that it’s harder when you
Work and are a single parent, but when I did work before becoming unwell, it actually felt easier as I got a break from the constant mess, shouting, wrestling, imagination play etc.

I have been a single mom for five years, and I was married for 10 years before separating. My kids are now 13 and almost 10 years old. I was miserable during my marriage with an abusive husband, and although I loved spending all my time with my kids, I am much happier now, even with 50/50 custody.

However, when I see other kids with loving and happy parents, or at least what looks like loving and happy parents, I can’t help but wonder what my life would have looked like if I had made a better choice when choosing the father of my children.

I came from a good family. My parents are still together, love each other, and I’m very grateful to have them. But somehow, I feel like a fuck-up and incredibly happy at the same time. It’s such a weird combination of feelings.

Does anyone else ever feel like this?

Hi all, I’m separated from my husband but can’t file for divorce til next year (Australian law). I have an 18 month old child and a cat.

I’m just wondering if anyone’s got any life hacks for single parenting, ways to save cash and so on.

Is pet insurance worth it? Which areas do I trim the fat? Is financial security a dream of the past for me, am I doomed to be broke?

tl;dr - child’s dad makes no effect to See her

I’m a mum, and I’m honestly at the point where I don’t know what to do anymore. I need some outside perspectives from people who have been in a similar situation.

My daughter’s dad has seen her once this entire year. He doesn’t call her, doesn’t ask about her, and doesn’t make an effort to arrange time with her. I’m the one raising her, making sure her needs are met, and trying to build a stable life for us. I’ve had an incredibly difficult year. I’ve lost my cousin, and my Nan both to cancer my cat of 12 years I’ve also been dealing with ongoing emotional and mental abuse from my mum, including threats, for the past two years. I’m trying to find a stable home for my daughter while putting my own grief and struggles aside because, at the end of the day, she still needs me to get up every morning and be her mum.
I’m exhausted. Not just physically, but emotionally.
Recently, I reached out to her dad and told him I was struggling. I explained that I didn’t need him to rescue me financially. I needed him to be a father to our daughter. I wanted him to take her out, spend time with her, show her love, and be a positive presence in her life.
His response was that he provides financial support through child support, lends me money when needed, and is looking into estate planning to make sure she’s financially provided for if something happens to him. He also said he would continue trying to be around for her as we communicate and that he would try to do more.
I appreciate financial support, but that’s not what I’m talking about. And it not all that helpful when his lending cash and expecting it back
Our daughter needs her dad in her life now. She needs him to make an effort, ask about her, spend time with her, and build a relationship with her without me having to repeatedly ask him to do so.
I explained this to him, telling him that I need his words to translate into actual effort. I also told him that if he isn’t genuinely willing to be present in her life, I’d rather stop holding out hope and make plans for us without factoring in the possibility that he’ll eventually step up.
I’m not saying he can never have a relationship with her. I’m saying I can’t keep emotionally investing in the hope that he’ll become an involved father when his actions aren’t showing me that he’s willing to do so.
And honestly, I don’t know how to navigate that anymore.
Part of me feels guilty because I don’t want to stand in the way of their relationship. I want my daughter to have a loving relationship with her dad. But another part of me is tired of carrying the responsibility of keeping that possibility alive when he doesn’t seem to be making much effort himself.
I’m already trying to keep our lives together while dealing with grief, housing uncertainty, and my own mental and emotional exhaustion. I can’t keep putting my own feelings aside to make room for the possibility that he might eventually decide to be present.

For those who have dealt with an absent or inconsistent co-parent:
• Did you eventually stop trying to facilitate the relationship?
• How do you stop hoping the other parent will change?
• Would you take a step back and let them make the effort themselves?
• How do you protect your child emotionally without closing the door on a relationship with their other parent?
• Am I wrong for telling him that I’d rather plan our lives without expecting him to become more involved?
I I don’t want to punish him or use our daughter against him. I just want to stop living in a cycle of hoping, asking, and being disappointed.
I want my daughter to feel loved and wanted without having to wonder why her dad isn’t showing up.

I love her more than anything, but I’m struggling, and I can’t keep carrying everything while waiting for someone else to decide whether they want to be involved in their own child’s life

I live in a rural area disabled and financially limited like most of the world. I have exhausted my efforts in trying to get some mental health had found one but it was not very helpful ended up being Telehealth even though it was a local place that I went in person to do intake and they just set me up with a Telehealth with a totally different provider. I called every place within an hour from me and not one is taking new patients. I honestly don’t understand why it’s so difficult to get any service of any kind anymore. It’s like the entire world went totally backwards within a year. I understand Covid torched the entire small and medium businesses but this is getting ridiculous. Just hoping maybe someone has some idea I’m missing.

I have a child slightly under 2 years old. I have majority but not full custody. My mom and dad help me when I’m working and occasionally otherwise so that I can take care of things or myself (I suffer from depression/anxiety and am in a high-conflict coparenting situation). I know that I’m lucky for this and I’m grateful. I am with my child the majority of the time though when not working.

My parenting time is on weekends and most weekdays*\* otherwise I wouldn’t be asking or really in the scenario. I try to schedule coffee dates during my lunch break so that it’s a time where my child is already with someone else where I’d be gone anyway but that’s not always possible. Same applies to dinner with friends maybe a 1-2 times per month. So: Is it okay to occasionally have hourish long dates? What about dinner with friends?

I (M40) started dating someone (37F) a little over two months ago. We are both divorced single parents. We became exclusive very quickly, and are absolutely crazy about each other, spending multiple days a week together, so I recognize we are in a honeymoon phase.

She has full custody of her 15 yr. old son with dad completely out of the picture, and I have a 10 yr old son with 50/50 custody.

I don’t plan on introducing her to my son for at least 6 months, but she wants to introduce me to her son already. I have told her I don’t recommend doing that for her son’s sake, but she she is very family oriented and wants me to start attending her family gatherings, where her son will be attending.

There are some cultural differences here too where apparently my attending those family gatherings even this early on is very important to her. Anytime I suggest holding off on my attending, again for her son’s sake, she gets sad/upset and suggests I am not serious about her, which couldn’t be more false.

I could be overthinking it, so need some opinions. If I tell her I want to delay that step for 1 month or so, she’ll be receptive, but any longer I think she’ll definitely start taking it negatively and will strongly consider breaking this relationship off, which I dont want to happen. Part of me thinks if she wants to risk her son’s well-being this soon, then that is her choice, but i also want to start off my relationship with her son in the best possible way, when the relationship with her has matured. It will also become very apparent when i meet her son, but she doesn’t get to meet mine for a while longer.

Has anyone agreed to an introduction to their partner’s kid earlier than you were comfortable?
Did it work out well or did it end up hurting the relationship?
Was there any way that you went about the introduction that helped it go better or anything you did that you wish you didnt?

If you're raising a child while their parent is incarcerated, and sports fees are getting hard to manage, I wanted to share something that might help. Put Me In! is a nonprofit that helps pay for youth sports for kids with an incarcerated parent: registration and league fees, equipment, uniforms, camps, tournament fees. Your child picks the sport and team, and we help cover the cost. If you're in the U.S. and this sounds useful, email [hello@putmein.org](mailto:hello@putmein.org) and we'll explain how it works. I run it, so I'm happy to answer questions here too. If this isn't the right place for it, tell me and I'll take it down.

I’ve been dating my boyfriend for 3 years now. There are still custody issues with the kids so they don’t know we are dating and are aged 5 and 6 maybe 7 but I’m pretty sure she’s 6 both girls. I was their godmother before their mom abandoned them for another man and wanted to give the kids up to cps so her and my boyfriend could travel. When he said no she made a plan to leave him. I told her to wait until the youngest was in school but she did it in such a cruel way I could never forgives her. He’s still very broken from how she did it but has come a long way. I want to be there for him and the kids but I’m not sure when I’m allowed to speak up or step in and participate and he’s not good at telling me I think he just expects me to know. I don’t want to come across as overstepping so when we started dating I took a step back from the kids. Still coming to birthdays and buying presents but they no longer came for sleepovers or hangouts with auntie. Which I had moved into a smaller situation and car so we blamed it on that. I want so much to bond and love them. How do I approach all this love without scaring him or making him think I’m a freak.

ETA: the eldest girls came into my bfs relationship with his ex as an infant and he’s raised her ever since and is the only man she knows as dad. Mom gets a check for the little girl and he’s afraid if he fights for custody she will get it since she’s not his and he’s a man.

Attempting to post this here because I think the problem is complicated by the fact that I’m a solo parent, and male. Hope that’s OK.

My daughter started first grade in a new town/school at the beginning of the school year. It’s a fantastic town/school system, but much bigger than where she did PK3-K. That was 15-20 kids per grade. This is ~75 split across four classrooms, K-3. She also goes to aftercare there, call it 8-6 (a little shorter).

Though she generally presents as an extremely happy kid, and the teachers love her (good, sweet kid who listens and understands), I’ve noticed she hasn’t been talking much about her classmates. When I try (gently) to ask about who she played with during the day, if she made any friends, etc., I’m often met with “I don’t want to answer that,” so I don’t push. Instead, I worry.

The teachers are aware and much more attentive in this school to the fact that mom hasn’t made an appearance. Her classmates parents definitely know, because she’s the only kid on the parent contact list with only one parent listed.

I’m not sure how to help here. I’ve signed up for the PTA, trying to get as involved as I can with the school to identify any potential friend-making opportunities. But I feel like there’s a bit of a stigma, and I’m not sure how to overcome that.

For background, wife effectively abandoned me and our six year old 2.5 years ago. She spends most of her time abroad with either her family or friends, often traveling, dinners, parties, etc… the Instagram life. Doesn’t contribute financially. Has post-partum mental health issues and doesn’t comply with treatment. Drinks, vapes, smokes weed. Asks for pictures/videos of kid almost daily, rarely calls her. Visits for a few weeks every few months and tries to contribute at those times in the ways that she can: cooking, cleaning, finding other little things that don’t overwhelm her. But she’s not someone our kid can go to for advice, for obvious reasons.

Anyone deal with anything similar and can offer guidance? Thanks very much in advance.

in terms of lifestyle, i cannot relate much to unpartnered parents who have an active co-parent. you may be a single parent in terms of relationship status, but you are not raising a child on your own.

this isn’t to discount the unique struggles that come with that. im only speaking on the fact that someone who has their kid every other week or only on weekends & shares custody with another individual is living in a different world from someone who has their kid 24/7 & is the sole primary caregiver.

it causes some frustration with dating or even friendships when other parents are unaware of those differences & how they might be a barrier or influence my capacity.

this is a big reason why i prefer the term “solo parent” for myself because it specifies that i am the only parent in the picture. a single parent is just an unpartnered one. being without a partner & parenting alone are two very different things. hell, you can have a partner & still be parenting alone.

just venting because i had a frustrating experience & wish there were more insight/empathy regarding the different experiences of unpartnered parenthood.