I have written a bit here in the Single Parents blog about tending to our mental health and all the personal development things we can work on in order to make us better parents, and make sure we have happy, healthy families. I realized that sometimes it isn’t just “knowing” what we “should” do, but it takes a heaping dose of courage in order to step outside our front doors and get involved with the world as a single parent.
Any time a person feels “outside” the norm for whatever reason–whether we are making our own selves feel different or it is coming from a collection of societal pressures, it can be tempting to just hide out or keep to our own world so we don’t have to come in contact with those people, institutions and situations that help us to feel isolated. But, in reality, the more we get involved, the less isolated we feel and if we aren’t the “norm” we can do a pretty darn good job of representing the happy reality of a single parent family.
It takes courage. It takes being able to move forward and make attempts at things even when we don’t feel particularly strong. Buying a house as a single parent, going to parent-teacher conferences, taking care of legal matters, sending out kids to college–whatever it is that is perceived as the “domain” of two-parent families, we can definitely do just as well–but first we have to muster the courage to get out in the world and get involved with what is going on.
If you can’t muster that courage for yourself–think of your child or children. You can only make their lives better in the long run by learning to be happy, productive and involved as a single parent and role model for your kids.
Also: Do You Have a Vision For Your Family?
Boost Your Single Parent Confidence
Single Parents and Childbirth Classes