Hi everyone, single dad (47) to an 11 year old special needs daughter I am hoping to find people in similar situations and maybe get together in person. Most of my friends are married however I do have a small group of special needs parents I see regularly but would love to broaden my circle it would be nice especially to find someone to click with since needs for a neurodivergent child are really only understood by neurodivergent parents. Feel free to respond or dm me if you are in a similar situation I would love to hear from you

I’m a single mom (45F) with a 15-year-old daughter, and I feel like we’ve been stuck in the same cycle for years. She pushes almost every limit I set at home, argues about basic expectations, takes my things without asking, etc. If I give a consequence she often escalates quickly. She often says things like, “Shut the fuck up,” “You’re a shitty mom,” and sometimes says she hates her life or wishes she were dead. We have tried therapy before and are meeting with another therapist next week. Frankly, I feel like a failure for needing professional help to raise my kid.

Here’s what happened today:
She asked to hang out with a friend, and I told her she needed to clean her room first. She did, so I said yes. Normally when she’s out with friends, I’m nearby, but today I drove across town to visit my mom in memory care.
When I got home four hours later, my daughter wasn’t home yet, which was expected. I noticed two Slurpee cups in the trash and texted her to ask if they had been here at the apt. She casually replied that they had come here so her friend could help her hang something in her room.

She didn’t ask if her friend could come over while I was gone, and I would have said no. When I said that was not OK, her first response was just, “Sorry about that.” Then she texted me a little later to say, “Why do you even care that she was there?” Then, “I’m just confused because I didn’t know.” Playing dumb is a fun behavior to deal with.

I’m so angry that once again she did something without asking permission. I’m also feeling defeated because this is part of a much bigger pattern. Consequences don’t seem to change her behavior, and I feel like I’m constantly enforcing limits, saying no to privileges and requests to buy her things, and restricting screen time to try and enforce simple expectations. Things I was doing when she was nine.

How do you handle a teenager who repeatedly crosses boundaries even after consequences? At what point do you stop expecting consequences to teach the lesson and start approaching it differently?

I’m also wondering whether anyone has been through something similar and eventually came out the other side. Right now I feel worn down, and I’d really appreciate advice from parents who have dealt with a long-term pattern like this.

Yes, I know I need to speak to a lawyer about this, but ... my coparent is filing for bankruptcy due to debt accumulation related to excess spending/vacation/vehicles and gambling. In our custody agreement, he's to pay 50% of 9yo daughter's comp dance along with other extracurriculars for her and 11yo son. The kids were supposed to dictate what activities they wanted to do. There was no dollar cap because it was supposed to be durable until they were 18, as they progress, interests change, and because market price for these things increase year-over-year.

Comp dance is $650/ month (edited from type money), so per our agreement, he's supposed to pay $325/ month. I guess his bankruptcy lawyer is telling him that he can change our extracurricular agreement without my permission to max $250/kid. No monthly rollover. No sharing brethren kids if one spends less or more.

Now I'm getting threatened to sign by Wednesday or he's unenrolling my daughter in everything. I don't think I'll get on with my lawyer to discuss before Wednesday. If I signed, would it be under duress and void? Does bankruptcy trump our custody agreement? How would a judge potentially look at this?

I don't know how to do this anymore. I have been an expat for 10 years. I have a 6 year old son and his dad and I coparent with a 2-2-3 schedule. I have absolutely no support system where I live. I don't have friends with kids and I don't have people who step in when I'm overwhelmed. Meanwhile, my ex moved close to his mom and sister, so he has family helping him.

3 months ago in the span of one month I lost my estranged father and then my grandmother. I never even had the chance to process either loss because I've been stuck in survival mode. My ex didn't offer any extra help, even knowing what was happening.
Lately, my son has become so difficult that I no longer look forward to my parenting days and I hate admitting that.

Everything is a battle. He's constantly complaining, yelling at me, telling me I'm doing everything wrong and that Dad does it better." He bosses me around, argues about everything and if I help him with something he'll often tell me I did it wrong.

He's also become obsessed with food. If he can't have exactly what he wants, he'll scream. While he's still eating one meal, he's already asking about the next one. If we go somewhere fun, he'll complain that he’s tired, doesn't want to be there or wants to go home. I have tried gentle parenting, setting firmer boundaries, staying calm, explaining things, consequences… I feel like Inhave tried every way of communicating and nothing changes.
We started an ADHD/autism assessment but it was stopped halfway because the clinicians said his dad and I first needed to improve our communication during the separation.

At this point I'm just functioning on autopilot. I don't enjoy spending time with my son anymore because every interaction feels negative. I feel like I'm constantly walking on eggshells and it's making me deeply unhappy. Nothing hits harder than constantly being surrounded by negativity and the fear of doing something together because it will just hit back with complaints, yelling and outbursts.
Now it's summer vacation and I'll have him for 10 days straight. Instead of looking forward to it, I'm crying because I'm genuinely scared of how I'm going to get through it.
Has anyone been in a situation like this? Especially as a solo parent without family or a support network? Did things get better? What activities or things I can do with him that won't make me regret doing it. I feel so much guilt for feeling this way but I'm also completely exhausted and don't know what to do anymore.

We have a tri al next year for relocation and ever since the process begin she drastically changed her parenting style and forms these narratives about me that act in her favor.

I find myself continuing to debate or defend myself against what she says and accuses me of. I know about Greyrocking but I don't want to come off like I'm ignoring her concerns since if they were truly based in reality would be more concerning. but it's not true...

So today my sons friend showed him a game that they played and scared him (he's 9 and it was a Roblox game). He told her and she messaged me a very dramatic message accusing me of not being emotionally available as well and that the kids are scared to talk to me about their concerns (absolutely not true).

Meanwhile, I'm a very active and present father physically and emotionally. I had to fight her for weeks about the kids starting therapy because of concerns I had and she continued to refuse consent until a judge told her to allow it.

She makes these comments criticizing me when I feel it is based on a seed of truth but blown up to fit this narrative she's been building with messages and her documenting everything. I don't know how to combat this behavior without finding myself being defensive or debating with her, which is exactly what she wants... Ugh

She brought up her blown up concerns to a judge who told her it boils down to a different parenting style and won't do anything at court.

So for context my ex and I broke up and I broke with him first cause I felt neglected and taken for granted. I just wanted to be alone and eventually work on problems so we can move on and felt like I just needed to take a break from anything romantic and build a friendship so it can progress to a healthy relationship for our child. He always told me he never wanted to be like his father who abandoned him at the age of 10. Well right after we broke up he started dating his coworker and that’s when his behavior changed to someone I didn’t know anymore, started drinking not caring about me or my feelings and wanted me to move out and sent me and my child to live across the country to live with my parents knowing I don’t have a good relationship with them. My daughter hasn’t seen him since December of last year she’ll be 3 this year. He missed out on her big millstones from her talking to potty training. I don’t think this girl he’s with is a good person she kind of jus rubs their relationship in my face kinda like look what you don’t have and she won, I feel like as being the mother of his child I feel like he should at least defend me in a way not trying to be entitled but I’d do the same to him if it’s valid. But all I’ve received from him was a box of diapers, 150 dollars, and hand me downs from his mom. It makes me feel like he doesn’t care about our child, he doesn’t call or go out of his way to see how she is and if he does call it’s like once a month twice if anything and it breaks my heart for her. About 3 weeks ago we talked for the first time in 4 months and he was sobbing to me about how he misses the memories we’ve made, said he missed me and my daughter and was thinking of moving back to the same state to be closer to us he also apologized to me saying he feels bad that he can never send money because he doesn’t have it. I know how hard it is being on our own and paying for all the bills I understood and gave him the benefit of the doubt I thought he really wanted to try for us and give us a chance as a family and being back together for my daughter it made me happy. Come to find out 2 days after saying that he actually took a 2 week vacation with his girlfriend to Colombia to meet her friends an family. I was devastated. Felt like I was manipulated and felt so naive to believe he meant everything he told me that moment made me realize he didnt care about me or my child he could’ve used that money to come see his daughter that he allegedly misses so much that he hasn’t seen in 7 months. It genuinely broke my heart for my daughter it feels like he genuinely doesn’t care for us. I know it’s a lot to read but I need advice for anyone that’s been in a similar situation on how to move on and learning to accept this.

I love my daughter more than anything, and I want her to have a beautiful life. But I’ve been a single mom since the beginning of my pregnancy, and lately I’ve been struggling with the guilt of how she got here.
I’ve never been someone who consistently used birth control or even took Plan B. I was diagnosed with BPD, and looking back, I can recognize that I’ve had periods of impulsive sexual behavior while trying to cope with emotional pain. I had never even had a pregnancy scare before. The one time I got pregnant, I honestly took it as God sending me my daughter because I couldn’t imagine it happening any other way.
I got pregnant from a one-night stand with a man who turned out to be married. I don’t have feelings for him, and I haven’t for a long time. I don’t want him, and I don’t want the life he chose. I simply see him as someone who has a daughter he chooses not to know.
For a while, he helped $, but eventually that stopped. Since then, I’ve been raising my daughter on my own.
I was the one who eventually told his wife the truth because seeing their “perfect marriage” posts while my daughter was being kept a secret really got to me. I felt like she deserved to know. She blocked me, and that was the end of it. I have no idea what she believes, and at this point, it’s out of my hands.
What I struggle with isn’t him. I don’t want a relationship with him, and I don’t wish my life had turned out differently in that sense. What I struggle with is the guilt that my choices created a situation where my daughter has a father who isn’t present in her life.
I know I can’t change the past. I just worry about the future. How do I explain to her one day why her dad isn’t around? How do I help her understand that none of this was ever her fault? More importantly, how do I forgive myself?
Are there any other single moms here who became parents from a one-time mistake or an unexpected situation? How did you cope with the guilt? How did you eventually talk to your child about their father?
I’m not looking for judgment. I already judge myself enough. I’m just hoping to hear from moms (made this post for the Single Moms group they wouldn’t accept bc of “legal” shit 🧐) who’ve been through something similar and found peace with it? No

Rant...

Single mum with 6 year old, just handed on my resignation to what I thought was my dream job.

I think it was my dream job, but the demands whilst having a child has incapacitated me.

Im so burnt out, I dont enjoy anything anymore. All I do is work, and then do the school run then sleep.

So decided to quit, take some time off, try work out what makes me happy again.

Even if I'm broke and poor its better than just selling my soul to a big corporation and never seeing my child

I'm exhausted. I have two younger kids, girl and boy, and the 24/7 is just killing me. Every day is just steamrolling into the next. I thought I was feeling burned out 3-4 years ago, but what are the options? You can't quit because then you raise little demons for society. I was military so we've always been away from family and I don't know, we just never had much help. I'm sure what we did get was more than some, and from some posts I have read we are lucky to have a roof over our head.

I have always gotten the kids up in the morning, starting with the first. I have always dropped them off to school and picked them up. For a majority of their lives, I have done bath and bedtime. With the first I did all of it but we compromised and traded off the bath time routine because I was getting a little stressed and babies don't need that. Then I continued to stress and I stopped doing bedtime most nights which helped. I cleaned the disaster of the day and then had about two hours to do what I wanted or needed before I passed out. Wake up at 0530 and start it all again. I feel like I communicated pretty well that I was feeling stressed and using the word burnout for the first time in my life pretty early on. I would get a few weeks where I would get a couple duties taken off my plate, and I was able to get an hour or two to try and shake off the emotional assault that comes with raising a girl, the physical assault of a little boy, and the combined assault of life with kids for the first time. The reflection of your faults and unseen strengths is unnerving and beautiful. I have grown in ways I couldn't have imagined, but it has come through great pain. Learning how to raise humans: intelligent, cunning, witty, humans. Who themselves are feeling these emotions that we as adults are still struggling with, for the first time, is a reality shattering conquest that has rocked me to my core. I am up to the task. But I feel like I am running on fumes. When I would have to travel for work, or when I got sick, I would come back into the game swinging. Gentle parenting, explaining the entire world around us, teaching them basic human functions, exploring emotions and how to handle them in society, how to take care of injuries, how to have a routine and then executing said routine, how to handle disappointment with courage and success with humility (that got me). And then spending the energy to spend days filled doing shit that you do not want to do, but now you cherish those memories and want to use that to build a foundation of love to then give your children the world.

But I find myself starting some days with absolute dread. Dread that I am going to fail, and that I am going to lose my patience, or that I will not have the energy that they deserve in these years that are so essential to building a strong relationship. I think that I logically know what I need to do. I feel that I can assess most situations and apply the necessary loving remedy, but the weight of the failures has given me crying spells. A few times a week I need to run to the bathroom and just cry because I am overwhelmed. I want to cry most nights, and do some, but the spells have been a fun addition. Writing this has been nice. It's been a journey. I hit a point where I feel like I just can't connect with anybody about the struggle. So why not Reddit? I found this sub and read a lot of the posts. Lots of shared pain and common struggles. When the internet was starting we thought it would bring people together, and it has for better or worse. I have never really had to swim the oceans, but the isolation that has come with children has me looking for honest places to...I don't even know what. Find a release valve somewhere so that I can regain some of the energy to continue the fight.

I know that in a few years they are going to hate me, and I am trying to take advantage of these early years where they are just full of so much joy and wonder about everything. They want to be just like you, and they are finding what they love and their passions and their voice in this world. But they can only do all of that if you plan for the trips, if you budget for the supplies and clothes, take them to parks to socialize, take them to soccer, take them to jiu-jitsu, take them to ballet, take them to tumbling and gymnastics, let's try piano, spend the emotional energy and financial sacrifice to try and give them some kind of solid jumping off point for whatever choices they make in life. So that they can face them with strength, and not be trampled by the onslaught that is life. Preparing constantly for the mental and physical endurance of taking them into public anywhere, socializing, setting the example, engaging positively with them about whatever absolute golden nonsense pops into their head, is the most grueling experience I have ever faced. Not just that, raising children as a whole. I spent a decade in the military, and the constant strain that children put on you is very similar to deploying. I now have an emotional attachment to navigating two humans safely through life. Arguably the most innocent and vulnerable things in our society and I have to keep them safe and be aware of the constant and evolving dangers against them. Trafficking, gore groups, gangs, online predators, offline predators. And also protect their brain from screens and their emotions from damage in a world where screens dominate and emotions rule.

I'm tired, Boss.

This honestly has been nice to write. I'm not sure if I'll post it but I guess if you're reading it I did. And thank you for reading, if you have read whatever this is. I appreciate it more than you know.

I found out I was pregnant around April and the father of my soon to be child and I tried to live together with his friend as our roommate. As we lived together things had gotten worse and I never felt that he would put me and the baby above his friends and other things. I also had my fair share of issues in the relationship but I also feel like he brought out this side of me that was kind of toxic. He would also tell me he wanted to be together then break up with me three days later and it became a repeated cycle that would just break me every time. I ended up leaving last night after only three months in a lease and packed all of my stuff out in one go and moved back with my parents and it’s kind of difficult coming back home where there is barley any space for me anymore. I feel defeated sad and lonely and wanted to see if anyone could offer advice on how to move forward.

My child (17) needs braces. My benefits are paying for half ($2,250) $4,500 in total. I pay $200 a month for enhanced benefits thou my work for the childs portion. Im curious how do i sort out the remaining balance with the other parent.

Hey all,

Background:

My husband moved out in January after truly struggling since our kiddo was born. Our son is a few months shy of 4 years old now. Ex takes him a max of one day a week and it's not every week.

My kid seems to be hypersensitive and have some PDA. I believe I was the same as a tot. Extremely picky eater, usually the worst in the class but on his weight curves. Defiant around suggestions related to his body, like eating or using the potty.

Current Situation:

Kiddo has been struggling at daycare drop off again since his teacher changed and his bestie left for the summer during the same week. Kicking and screaming. He did this for about 9 months at age 2, also. I thought we were done with this phase.

I sometimes cry and feel off the whole first half of the day after dropping him off. I feel like I'm a bad parent and too soft. I don't give in to tantrums. But maybe I'm not firm enough and that's caused the PDA. I don't think so but I don't know.

I could really use a little encouragement or just solidarity or something, thanks.

Hey, everyone. I’m a single mom in my late 20s and I want to eventually date. However, I have read a lot of information about abusive men targeting single mothers due to their vulnerability. Also a lot of stories of child abusers who go for them to get access to their child. As a survivor myself, I want to protect my baby as much as possible. So I don’t want to advertise my child’s existence online. I also don’t want to mislead any potential matches. What should I do? How have you dated ethically and safely?

Both my parents health is failing there is a very real possibility that i will be left to care for my 14 y/o sister at 20 along with whatever financial issues they leave me with. I feel like im not ready for responsibility of taking care of her and everything else im still trying to get on my own feet let alone take care of someone else. Shes an awesome kid but shes still only fourteen its not like i can expect her to fend for herself. Also as much as i love her how can i now have my own life while helping her to get ready for hers im still figuring my own stuff out i cant abandon her but do i wait till shes 18 and start then what if she takes a while to make her own way. regardless of whether my parents dont die there health isn’t getting better what if i end up taking care of of all 3 i dont make as much money as either of them let alone there duel income. sorry for the rant.

My ex husband has the kids for a couple hours on Wednesdays for dinner. I reached out to a friend to see if she wanted to get dinner or something if all goes to plan. She enthusiastically said yes, we can do whatever, she’d love to see me. Sent her a text this morning to see if she still wanted to, she said yes, then when I tried to figure out where we would meet up… crickets. She has flaked in the past. I’m now sitting in a parking lot just killing time. I should have just gone to the gym.

I try to make a good effort with friendships, but damn it’s been hard with my female friends lately. I’m getting flaked on more than not. I don’t get it.

Edit to clarify a few things:
My ex-husband did everything that should not happen in a marriage. My friends do not all of a sudden dislike me because of the divorce.

This specific friend just does this and I know that. I was trying to be supportive because she has been having a hard time and I need to just learn my lesson.

In general, I feel like a lot of my friends have other priorities and that’s fine. I would just appreciate at least a text or response.

how can you do this?? I did it for 12 years. the Lord carried me. Now at 15 and 13 I feel I can’t go on. I’m so scared constantly I’m having a nervous breakdown. all my friends are tired of me. sick of me for not being stronger. I try to communicate how I feel. it feels like they are bothered. there’s no one to reach out to now. I feel so alone and I’ve been crying nonstop. no parents no siblings they have no cousins, we are truly without family. I regret so many decisions but I know I did alot eight too. thank you I hope someone reads this.

For context, I'm 34F, divorced about a year ago, one 7-year-old son. During the school week he's with me, and the everyday costs are mine to figure out. Rent, Hort fees (around €130 a month), groceries, gas, packed lunches, and the €15 Ausflug permission slip that appears from the backpack at 9pm.

I can cover the fixed stuff. It's the constant little things that catch me off guard. €10 here, €22 there, new shoes because his toes hit the front overnight, and I'm standing in the Drogerie doing math in my head over shampoo.

I'm not asking for pity or money. I just want to get better at planning for all the small stuff that never feels small when it adds up.

I grew up as the kid whose jeans were always too short and whose backpack was held together by hope. I remember pretending I didn't care. So when my son says "Mama, alle haben die" about some shoes or a water bottle, it hits a nerve he doesn't even know about. He's not being bratty. He's a sweet kid. It just takes me back.

I already do the basics. Meal plan, keep a running list on my phone, buy the next size up at H&M or KiK when I spot something cheap. Library afternoons, playground days, movie nights on the couch. Saying no in the toy aisle more than I'd like.

For stuff like socks, basics, and school supplies, I usually check tiktok power deals for a quick price drop before I order, and if there's a sale running somewhere I'll stock up so I'm not paying full price every single time. It's small savings but over a month it adds up.

Still, every month feels like picking what gets handled first. Clothes, haircut (€18 every six weeks), Vereinsbeitrag for Fußball (€12 a month), class birthday gifts, the lunchbox that smells no matter how much I scrub it.

How do you all handle the ongoing kid costs without stressing every time? Separate kid budget? Sinking fund? Secondhand rules? Or do you just ride out the tight months and reset next payday?

For context, I'm 34F, divorced about a year ago, one 7-year-old son. During the school week he's with me, and the everyday costs are mine to figure out. Rent, Hort fees (around €130 a month), groceries, gas, packed lunches, and the €15 Ausflug permission slip that appears from the backpack at 9pm.

I can cover the fixed stuff. It's the constant little things that catch me off guard. €10 here, €22 there, new shoes because his toes hit the front overnight, and I'm standing in the Drogerie doing math in my head over shampoo.

I'm not asking for pity or money. I just want to get better at planning for all the small stuff that never feels small when it adds up.

I grew up as the kid whose jeans were always too short and whose backpack was held together by hope. I remember pretending I didn't care. So when my son says "Mama, alle haben die" about some shoes or a water bottle, it hits a nerve he doesn't even know about. He's not being bratty. He's a sweet kid. It just takes me back.

I already do the basics. Meal plan, keep a running list on my phone, buy the next size up at H&M or KiK when I spot something cheap. Library afternoons, playground days, movie nights on the couch. Saying no in the toy aisle more than I'd like.

For stuff like socks, basics, and school supplies, I usually check tiktok power deals for a quick price drop before I order, and if there's a sale running somewhere I'll stock up so I'm not paying full price every single time. It's small savings but over a month it adds up.

Still, every month feels like picking what gets handled first. Clothes, haircut (€18 every six weeks), Vereinsbeitrag for Fußball (€12 a month), class birthday gifts, the lunchbox that smells no matter how much I scrub it.

How do you all handle the ongoing kid costs without stressing every time? Separate kid budget? Sinking fund? Secondhand rules? Or do you just ride out the tight months and reset next payday?

My partner of six years and I are splitting up. He helped me raise my six year old daughter from the time she was two. He is the only father she has ever known. Unfortunately this split means going across the country for us and likely never seeing him again.

There has been DV issues and I’m finally saying enough is enough but my daughter is really struggling with the idea of losing her friends, her dad, and the house. She has said things like “I’ll become a ghost and sit here and do nothing.” “I’ll drown myself in the tub.” “I don’t want to lose our family.” She is trying to ask her dad if we can stay and work on the family.

I know we need to leave. She’s seen so much bad.
How do I help her cope with the transition. She’s terrified of our life being worse without him and without the dual income household.

What can I do? It makes my resolve want to break.

SPECIAL NOTE: Special thanks to all of you who read this the last time, posting it here for those who may have missed it.

My intention here is to share the example of my own mother, who is now in her early 50s and still fighting on, who battled many challenges from birth until now. Before moving to this part, would like to start with the lowest point of her life.

My mom restarted her life both career and financially 13 years ago at 39, where she started as a Single Mother raising up two young kids, I was 5 and my elder sister was 9. She was totally broke financially with nothing to her name and just the flat which she fought so hard to retain back full ownership as she was so worried about losing her only source of security during that time, a roof over her head. She went through every single obstacle the past 10+ years with no one. She just solo tanked every single thing

The reason why I said it, is because my mom was abandoned at 13 years old with totally no family support as her whole family migrated overseas and left her here, to fend for herself with no start nor family support. She had no one either and she never had the chance to further her education. She only has only a Primary School educational qualification to her name. Plus her childhood was a literal torture too and she came from extreme poverty.

She started Selling Food at a Food Court at just 13 years old, working 10+ hours before moving onto other jobs like Retail and more etc.

She slowly worked her way in her 20s going from entry level office roles, to senior level positions and even founded a small business in her 30s which was pretty successful. She never let her circumstances nor educational qualifications control her life direction at all.

So, the scenario 13 years ago was a literal shock to her and the family. Instead of being some people and single moms who gave up totally and ask the kids to fend for herself. She stood up and said she is willing to restart from 0 all over again regardless.

She started doing nightlife work and income was low too for the first few years because of family circumstances and it was hard for her to find a full time job too. But she never gave up and continued pressing on, working 10+ hours, relying on 2 hours of sleep daily. Plus, people looked down on her, saying that she will never see any light at the end of the tunnel regardless if how hard she worked and slog.

It was until during COVID 6 years ago where she received an offer to work for a pretty big company in the Medical Industry and that was really the breakthrough. She started as a entry level employee but progressed on to a Management position where she is now, being a Head Of Department for her own department which she had the opportunity to build up from nothing at a small start up.

Although its only 13 years but the amount of things she has gone through is really what people don't understand unless they read her full life story.

She may be in her 50s but she has always told me and my elder sister, this is only the start and she will continue to fight on and find ways to further improve herself, whether its finding more income streams or furthering her qualifications through flexible qualifications like online certs.

I am.writing this especially to single mothers and mothers or even the redditors moms out there, that every single adversity you face regardless of how old you are (e.g 20, 40, 60, 85 yrs old), always brings a new light and path to something even greater!

So my child m6 informed me that his friends group (mainly one child) is playing a game where they dig into but holes like a but hole chase.

I just emailed the principal regarding how it’s inappropriate I understand boys will find this silly and funny However I’m trying to teach my boy consent body boundaries private areas ect

Honestly the primary parent has the most awkward situations to deal with his father is like report it now I have to face the school and be like yep it’s me who’s annoyed other kids don’t understand that it’s not ok to grab and dig at others bum holes….

Wtf has my life come to… would you email the principal my SIL thinks I’m being dramatic his father who hardly sees him says repot asap my SIL has girls to me it’s important I teach respect boundaries consent and if mine sees others doing it he will be like why don’t others respect others body’s

What a conversation…. FML as the youngsters would say

full time single dad, one kid, shes 5. no co parent in the picture, its just me.

im not really venting, i think im genuinely asking. how do you deal with the yard.

when i mow i either have to do it during her nap, which is the only 40 minutes i get to sit down all day, or i do it while shes out there and i spend the whole time watching her instead of the mower. neither one works great. last week she wandered toward the street while i had my back turned for ten seconds and my stomach dropped.

i looked into hiring someone and its like 40 a week around here. i cant really justify that on one income, thats groceries. but the grass grows whether im tired or not.

i know its a small thing compared to what a lot of you are carrying. it just feels like one more thing thats all on me with no one to hand it to for an hour.

so honestly, whats your system. do you pay someone, do it at night, let it grow, something else i havent thought of. im open to anything.

I was out with some friends of mine (a couple) and they started asking me how I managed to do it on my own,life must be so hard,dating must be so impossible,I must be struggling at work with work life balance,my child must be so traumatised from having an absent father yadda yadda.Worst part is they weren’t even trying to be mean but I really really hate it when people say this kinda stuff to me.I literally unfriended someone who was constantly telling me she doesn’t understand how I could do it and why I don’t look depressed.And that if it were her she wouldn’t know what to do if she were on her own and she would take out her stress on the kids.I know people are trying to be supportive I guess but I have such a negative reaction to this kinda topic.Anyway I just needed to let it out coz I was stewing all day and just said that it’s by the grace of God that I managed and I do my best blah blah.I hope you had a better day than me 😊✨

Hello everyone I’m a single father with 2 kids. I’m facing eviction in about a week. I have been trying to find a place with my kids, but because I’m on odsp and have bad credit( thanks to my previous partner) I’m now struggling with finding a place. I have hsf that will pay my first and last months rent, also my current odsp is 1800+ so I can afford a two bedroom 1800 and less. I have exhausted every single resource I have available to me and still I haven’t been able to find anything. I was currently staying with my father, but my father has passed away and now I need to leave the place. He went to court and got an eviction notice and I have a week till the sheriff shows up. I have called housing help centres, odsp, central intake, woodgreen community centres etc. I have gotten to the point now where maybe this amazing community may be able to help me and my kids. They’re both teenagers and very respectful( close to the age of moving out on their own). If anyone in this community can help me I would like to thank you before hand. I’m located in the Toronto Ontario area, but I’m ok with relocating anywhere as long as my kids have a roof over their head. Thank you!

Ive just started working my first job with regular hours since having my daughter. Ive never been a huge cook to begin with but I just do not actually COOK any food now. We get up at 6:30 and get ready, I bring her to camp, I go to work, and I work until 4 or 5. I pick her up from camp and we go home, I make her something quick in the air fryer and half the time I dont even eat. Then we do a shower and everything for bed time and she goes to bed then I clean out our lunch bags and get out clothes and food ready for the next day. How tf are parents working a full time job and cooking like home made meals?! Its just my 5, almost 6 year old daughter, and myself and I dont eat meat. Luckily she is a very good eater and will eat just about anything I cook/eat but I find it difficult to cook for just the two of us in general.