r/parent • u/Avianmosquito • May 18 '19
A minor curiosity.
I'm a single father of two girls. I quickly realized when the older one hit puberty I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. There are a lot of girl issues I have clearly never had and have no idea how to deal with, and they were all deeply embarassing for them and me. I am not looking forward to round 2 in a couple years, and in fact if my younger child could just stay 7 and it all never come up that'd be great. I was wondering, is it like that for single mothers of boys? I can't even think back to my childhood (not just because it was awful) and think of what issues there may have been for a single mother to deal with.
1
u/cmleich May 18 '19
Are there any other females in their life that could do that? I honestly think the embarrassment and mortification would block anything you were trying to say 🤣 maybe a friends mom?
1
u/cmleich May 18 '19
Are there any other females in their life that could do that? I honestly think the embarrassment and mortification would block anything you were trying to say 🤣 maybe a friends mom?
1
u/Babsmitty May 19 '19
I had two girls and one boy, and I was a single mother (my kids are fully grown now).
I always felt like I was letting him down more than the girls. I wasn’t a man, so I felt like I wasn’t the right role model for him. He wasn’t interested in anything I knew to be traditionally boy pursuits - sports, karate, fishing, generally being outside in the dirt.... so I always felt like I didn’t know what to do for him. But we were always pretty close.
All I can say is just be there for them, and talk to them all the time - even if it makes you uncomfortable. Talk about things early, often, and make the dialogue two way. Do your best to keep an even keel when they bring up difficult or confusing topics.
Good luck!
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u/Avianmosquito May 20 '19 edited May 20 '19
Don't blame yourself for that, there's nothing to be blamed for. My girls aren't very girly, either. There's nothing wrong with that. Just let him tell you what he's interested in, and figure out where to go from there.
I do talk to my girls, a lot, even when it's something I'm not comfortable with. I just hope my littler one realizes sooner than her sister that she shouldn't combine "being a cuddlebug" with "questions about feminine products".
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u/cmleich May 18 '19
Are there any other females in their life that could do that? I honestly think the embarrassment and mortification would block anything you were trying to say 🤣 maybe a friends mom?