I began September with such high hopes for my blog and the topic of single parents. I was entering a season of my life where my husband was going to be gone for the fall and wanted to use this time to really connect with "single parenting." By pure definition, I am not a single parent; I am still married. However, this was my chance to get as close as I could to the day to day struggle my single parent friends and clients endure. I would experience around 80 days in three months by myself.
Perfect, I thought. I may not be able to identify completely, but it would take me to my limit as a parent; living alone, disciplining alone, transporting alone, waking up in the middle of the night alone, trick-or-treating alone, eating alone, watching t.v. alone, praying with my children alone, watching soccer games alone. Just plain living life alone.
I am now at day 59 and I have had no time to reflect on a single thought...it has been pure survival. I am sitting down for the first time, only because my mother-n-law is out here helping with the children and I have a night off.
A night to hear my own thoughts and my own heart. And you know what, it is weary, very weary. And I am so thankful that in reality I am not single parenting and that this is only a season in my life.
The next posts will be dedicated to all of my friends and clients who do "life" alone as a parent. Please, share with me your thoughts and refine mine if necessary!
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2 comments:
I am so looking forward to your post on this subject. My family and I have such a disagreement about this very topic, I've found that I had to come at it from a different angle than what I was to help make a connection for them. Great choice for the blog!
Even just the little you shared about your own experiences cuts to the heart of the matter- solitude. It is a strange solitude though. One would wonder how a person can feel so alone with so much busyness, and so many little people always around, but that is the soul's response. When a parent has a spouse they have a built-in social mechanism that is very convenient, especially when going out is not an option. I know that sometimes I get so locked in to not having a social life, that even when I have the opportunity to do something without the kids I often end up staying home pacing around the house wondering what to do. I'm not whining, I have a wonderful life; I'm just responding here to the idea of solitude. Thank you Sharon for sharing.
David G
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