Single Parenting… What Challenges??? Tips to help make single parenting easy for you and your children.

By Jacqui Stewart of http://singlemamachallenges.blogspot.com/

I am a single mother. That is certainly something I hadn’t imagined putting in a sentence regarding myself! However, it is what it is and you move on and make sure to put your kids first. That thought seems to be missing in the relationships of ex’s with children. I’ve met some people where the parents are so bitter; they can’t be in the same room as one another. From day one, I’ve always said that my daughter comes first. Anything I say or do in communications with her father, I take her feelings into consideration. That is the one thing I would say is most important. Your children’s feelings should come first. Working together in co-parenting will certainly help your children be raised with the self-esteem they deserve to be raised with.

When your children are with you, make the most of what you have! After my divorce, I decided to go back to school and obtain my Bachelor’s Degree. This is also while working fulltime. My work paid for me to go back to school, woohoo! I obtained my degree for less than $10,000.00. However, when I went back, it took much longer than I anticipated because I always waited until my daughter went to bed so I didn’t take valuable time away from her. Sometimes we would also just sit side by side doing homework together. With that being said, I also made sure to balance our life with fun stuff too!

It’s not wrong to take time for you! Never feel ashamed to have a Girls Night Out even if it’s on your night with your child. It took me quite a few years to realize that it was ok, and I was not being selfish. Trust me, my ex tried to make me feel that way when I started dating again a few years ago. While it was very rare that I did actually go out on the nights she was with me, I finally started to do so. I felt guilty the first few times and always cut my evening short. Then I realized that it is good for her to see that I do have a life outside our four walls.

Recently, in the last year, I started several blogs. One is my personal blog, in which I use to write about my personal life. Another is a review and giveaway blog where I review products from companies, write about them as well as providing giveaways from said companies. The final is my blog with my daughter which we just started in the last month. I can’t wait until we get more posts up there! She has wanted to start a blog for awhile and didn’t like that we couldn’t do anything until she was older. It was suggested to me by a co-worker to start one with her. Why didn’t I think of that? That would give us something that she and I do together and work with each other on. So far we love it! What else could be better than to share something with your child that you both enjoy? That gives you both a connection that just cannot be broken.

So, if anyone asks you what challenges you face as a Single Parent, you can ask them…. What Challenges???

Want to hear more from Jacqui the Singlemama? Here are her links:
http://singlemama-reviewcorner.blogspot.com/ — Review Blog
http://singlemamachallenges.blogspot.com/ — Personal Blog
http://motherdaughterconnection.blogspot.com/ — mother/daughter blog
http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/the_single_mama_review_corner/ – NetworkedBlogs
http://twitter.com/SingleMama1101 – Twitter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=331756135569&ref=ts – Facebook Group
http://singleparentingchallenges.ning.com/ – Ning network