Sometimes it seems that schools and such either forget that there are single moms in the world, or they don’t care. When Hailey was in school all of her parent teacher conferences were during the day and any choir performances or the like were during the day as well. When she qualified for the gifted and talented program, I was excited, until I found that she would need to attend another school, ten miles away and they didn’t provide transportation. Needless to say, Hailey didn’t get to go to that school.
I understand that teachers work during the day, but so do many parents. I didn’t want to miss the important things at school but there was a limit as to how much time I could take off for non emergency things. I know this isn’t exclusively a single parent problem, lots of married mom’s work as well. When I was in school my choir programs and Christmas plays were in the evenings, so the fathers could come as well. That was in the good old days when most mothers didn’t work.
I think it is so important for parents to be involved in their children’s educations. That is so difficult when you have to work. I never wanted Hailey to be the only child without a mother helping in the classroom or a parent showing up for a play. It was difficult sometimes ridiculously so, but you do what you have to do to be involved. I wish there were more school related activities in the evening. So many parents want to be involved but they can’t, especially single parents. Our kids need us there, they need ot know that their education is important to us. Maybe one day the schools will realize this is not the 1950’s and be a little more accommodating.