I know more single dads but they don't rate a mention in this article.

Single dads have only come into the picture for the last 15 or so years; mothers have been doing it for centuries. Give them their credit and thank goodness for this article. I am a single mother, but I still look at other single mothers and ask the same questions, "How do they do it?"

My daughter is a single mom and she is only 17 yrs. old and she is doing quite well with responsibilities, she has a job, she is working towards going to college and the father is involved but wants nothing to do with his daughter. He rather hand her off to family members to care for her and refuses to have her go to daycare which is good gor a 14 month old.

I'm a single mom, I've been raising my three boys alone for the past 8 years (my twins just turned 9). Their father was abusive and just all around bad news, I left him on my twins first birthday while I was eight months along with my youngest. I am an older mom, I didn't have my twins until I was 37 but I have my much older (78) widowed mother to help. Between the two of us we're doing the best we can with my three. Unfortunately, they have absolutely no male figures in their life. I haven't dated in 5 years and we have no relatives close by. Our Big Brothers association had to close because of lack of funding. They have all female teachers, and cub scout leaders. They've had an occasional soccer coach or swimming teacher that was male, but they are very temporary, most have children of their own and wouldn't have time for my guys. BTW, they haven't seen their dad in 7 years and nobody is sorry about that. Well, thank you for letting me share and ramble on.

I am now 47, i was a single mom in the early 80's, with no help from her father, we struggled, had great support from my mother who babysat while i worked, and let us live at home for a year, when we got our own place i could only afford to rent an apartment with 2 roommates, and worked as a cashier, that is the only time that i was subsidized for childcare and housing, although i made a little money I was mom. My love and protectiveness i had for my daughter would never allow me to give her away, we had tough times, I now own my own business and am very independent, my daughter is now 27, and is now also a single mother, Its hard to give advice even though you know by experience, we think at first with our heart, and not always with common sense when we are young. But most young mens commitments are short lived hence leaving the child(ren) with the mother. My experience it is hard to be a good mom, when your trying to be dad to.

I grewup without parents and im also a single mother, without experience or guidance or help, i did raised my two kids, my daughter is now attending college and i still have the boy at home (17yrs), it is hard but all i can do is try to be the best mother/father i can, juggling between soccer practice and rotc, my work and my own personal life, i dont even know myself how i do it, but I love it when my son and daughter tell me that they love me and they would not choose any other mother but me and when my son tells me that im the cool mom and fights with his teammates to let them know that Im his mom and that he just sharing with them, believe me I would do it all over again. God has giving me the moral support, the energy and the experience and without the church and their guidance, life would of being a little harder. so if you are like me without parents, find the help with your local church, it works. God bless single mothers and single fathers raising their kids, it works

I'm a single mom of a 6yr old girl. The day she was born and everyday since then has been a blessing. My family is far away but my support comes from my daughters grandparents. Her father is as involved as anyone can be if you live 5 hrs away by car. Needless to say not as much as he should/could be involved. He seems to not have an issue with his parents and his sister playing the "father role" in his daughters life. I grew up in a loving home with both of my parents and I never imagined I would become a single parent. Everyday is hard. Harder than anyone could imagine. Being both Mom and Dad is just like another full time job. You leave one to start the other. I have spent many days and nights crying and praying for guidance, answers, support, energy and sleep. The consolation I get is when my daughter calls out "mommy" and I reply "yes sweetie" and she says' I want to tell you something,' i say what is it and she says with a smile, I Love You. That makes everything I have and will go thru worth it!

i have been a single mom for 6 1/2 years. it is so nice to hear other comments and realize that i am not alone.i must say that i take great pride in being a single mom and am so glad that i have had this experience in my life it has made me such a strong person and i feel like an even better mom because i know that i am all that these two beautiful children have. don't get me wrong there are sometimes when i feel like "giving up", but then i look at my babies and realize that we are going to make it through we are very blessed to have each other i couldn't imagiine life without them and i would do it all over again without batting an eye!!

There are ex wives who are now single moms because they left an abusive relationship.Teenage motherhood is not the way to go;welfare has to step in and the taxpayers pick up the tab.

I am a mom with a 6 yr old son. His father lives about 1 mile away from me and we split custody 50/50. Does that still describe me as a single mom? I sometimes feel guilty saying that I am when I only have my son half the time. but when I do have him, I am doing it on my own. I'm not sure if I'm entitled to say I'm a single mom. Should it be called "half time mom" instead?

I'm 34 years old, adopted my 4 year old daughter 2 years ago and am a single mom by choice. My married friends ask me all the time "How do you do it?" I look at them and honestly answer "I don't know what you're talking about? I just do it." They keep saying having 2 parents is tough, they can't imagine doing it alone. I honestly answer that I don't have anything to compare it to. I've never been married & am not sure when I will, so I just put one foot in front of the other & do the best I can for the joy of my life! Everyday starts with prayer. For both guidance and direction. I figure I can't be the best mommy I want to be without the Lord's help.

As a 42 yr old single mom by choice, via fertility clinic, I knew being a mom was for me. My 9 month old son is a happy, well adjusted boy. I am blessed with a very strong support system in my family, friends and employers. My brothers and my dads serve as strong, loving, consistent male influences. Mom and several of my friends have been rock solid support for me and have enabled me to fully enjoy my experience. As a dedicated career girl I almost missed my opportunity. That would have been tragic for me. Being a single mom isn't for everyone, as it can be challenging, but it is so much better than I had ever imagined. As I look around me I see many married moms do a large part of the work load on their own, so I do not feel I am missing out on anything and it has it benefits. Someday we will have a husband and father, but for now we are doing well. My biggest advice: pray, think carefully about it, plan, save, inform friends and employers, line up support systems and male influences; if it's right...jump!

Unbelievable article. As a "only mom" I was offended that she didn't mentioned widowed parents. After 9/11 and the war in Iraq you would think that young widowed parents would get a mention. Single parenting is hard, but most single parents have another spouse that helps with the day to day raising of their child, if only to take them for a weekend. Widowed parents have nothing. Their spouse is gone. However, mentioning parents that have chosen to adopt alone or raise their children without the benefit of marriage, sperm banks and the like is insulting to real single parents who did not choose this. Visit a web site for young widows and see what single parenting really is all about.

I am a single dad of 2 kids. Let's not look to the past and what single moms did then. Its was is happening now. How about the dads who have stepped up and taken responsiblity. Dead Beat has a new member. I do get praise for being there with my kids but to me its my responsiblity to see my kids make it in life. Axe the name single-mom and call us single parents.

There is no point trying to figure out who has it hardest as a single parent. The article did make a serious error in not mentioning widows; however, the assumption that "most" single parents have lots of help from the noncustodial parent is often not true. I don't and I became a single parent through divorce. In addition, the financial stress is very real. I would not dare to presume that every widow receives SS benefits for her children. Hopefully they do, because the children deserve it. That being said, if you have an ex who deliberately works under the table, gets paid in cash, or refuses to work so they don't have to pay child support, guess what? No money, and it's hard. Additionally, if you a single parent and the other parent isn't involved because either they don't want to be or they are deemed too dangerous by the court to be, then you have the burden of explanation while at the same time not making the child feel they are half of a rotten person, or having to explain WHY dad doesn't call or visit.

I've been a single mom for 10 yrs, after my husband became very abusive and refused to participate in counseling. I'm an intelligent professional, but unfortunately the man that I married was covering up a very angry and resentful personality that came out once we had 2young children. The most hurtful thing a person can say is "well, you married him!" I can't change that, but I did leave him to protect myself and my children.
He has done many uncaring and painful things to all of us over the years,and has only paid child support intermittantly. He has caused so much pain and stress in our lives, and gets away with it, because I can't afford to keep going to court.
I wish that there was a system in our state that required all divorced parents to attend some counseling during the divorce and have annual "check ups" of their interactions and financial support. It could be done in a very loving and positive way, and thereby help to instill the concept that all parents need to be responsible for their kids.

I am a single mother of a son, 10 yrs. old. I have been a single mother for 9 years. I left his father by choice, which not knowing, would be the best thing I could ever do for my son. He visited him off/on for about two years, then when my son could talk he told me of the abuse his father was doing to him. Since, he has had supervised visitation, by me. Talk about hard. Now, his father is trying to get unsupervised visitation. Through all of this doing it alone I have to keep a smile on my face and be "normal" for my son to have a productive life - as much as possible. At this moment I am fighting my behind off to keep him away from his father. This is very hard on me emotionally, especially not having a partner to feel support from, emotionally, financially, in any way. In the end, I will want my son to know that I did everything possible to keep him safe and out of harms way. In the end it's up to the court - which is very sad. There are single mothers out there that have seriously stressful situations.

What, no mention that 80+% of the criminal class comes from 'broken' (fatherless) homes? That kids raised in mother-only 'families' suffer from a host of disadvantages ranging from an increased risk of never completing high school to being a teen mother?
Society should do everything possible to stop the ongoing devolution back to the feral breeding system which predated the Stone Age, and to which 'modern' women are now dragging us back.
It certainly shouldn't be celebrating single motherhood in any shape or form. It's a disaster for everyone. Single motherhood, especially the voluntary or preventable variety, should be viewed as a form of child abuse.

How dare you, bachelorbill? Have you not read all the various reasons for single motherhood???? I am a single parent by choice.....yes, I didn't want to take the risk of hooking up with one of the losers mentioned in the many posts above. I am teaching my child that families come in all shapes and sizes. I also wish that some day I meet a man/father that is worthy of the title and that my daughter can look up to. Because of the media, she is already (at 7) wishing not to marry when she gets older because she's afraid her "husband" will either kill her kids or her!! I often think that many of society's problems with delinquent boys comes from the role models they have. Enough single mothers and maybe we can change the total energy of this world in order to make it a more caring and loving place. Testosterone seems to be the real disaster for everyone. Hopefully, you won't be reproducing and instilling your hateful attitude on any offspring.

You go, Joanie. Bachelorbill, is it child abuse to protect your children from an abusive man? Yes, many people have sex before marriage. I didn't, but many do, and girls get pregnant. Should they abort it? How about teaching boys to not even ask? Hmmm? Did you ever talk to a child from an abusive marriage? Most of them who grew up in it wished their moms had left, wonder why she stayed so long. I long for my children to have a father, but so far there is no one I've met who deserves the privilege. Are your numbers based on verifiable statistics? Women are dragging us back to the Stone Age? Au contraire, I think. I'm not blaming all men, and a shout out to all the men doing it alone, but many times, men leave, men abuse, guys don't want to marry the girls the get pregnant. So single women are adopting children instead of leaving them all in foster care. What a shame, right? It's hard for good single men to adopt because of all the sexual abuse out there, more's the pity. Your opinion is just that, your opinion.

bachelorbill- perhaps you should take a look at the men like yourself before you go mouthing off about " Modern" women. As a single mother I find your ignorant comment rude and insulting. Maybe if men these days were half the men their father probably were, and knew how to treat anyone with respect, or how to step up and take responsibility for their actions then maybe their wouldnt be so many single mothers.I can clearly see why you are a bachelor.....

My first thought of bachlorbill reminded me of the KKK and the ignorant and destructive cycle destined to repeat itself over and over again. It's a tough subject and a challenge to all single "parents" to raise responsible girls and boys. It needs to begin at an early age and be lead by example. If there's abuse (physical or mental) in the home, that is what is taught, lesson book or not. I really liked the idea of teaching the boys to not even ask. Not to also be negative, but that is a lofty goal, especially in the homes of the even slightly disadvantaged. On the flip side, even those homes where income isn't an issue, I've seen the boys just squash any opposition, whether it be disciplinarian or just with friends because they know they can get what they want if they just persist. Rewarding bad behavior and not a single ounce of weight put out there for the value of good behavior is recipe for disaster.

I am a 27 year old single mom of
three kids. A 6 year old daughter, 5 year old son and a 3 year old son. I really liked this article. I have my mom to help me out somtimes. I am thankfull for that.

Bachelor Bill answer me this. Who exactly got all of the single Mom's pregnant?? It takes male and female to pro-create. That means equal responsibility.
I question the article's assumed large level of involvement by the non-custodial parent. What constitutes involvement?
I never wanted a divorce, but had no choice, and my son is 200 miles from his father. I do it largely by myself, with what help "Dad" can give me given the distance. (And he's a great dad now).
I do the best I can with what I've got and I have a great kid.
As for single Dads being left out, I know single parents of both sexes and I fail to see how a compliment to one detracts from the other.
For the widowed Mom, my heart goes out to you. I didn't cause my situation either. We need to work together to support each other, not tear each other down. It is horrid to have to hold it together in your grief and still parent. My prayers are with you.

Everytime i hear the word abuse, from a woman concerning a man, i have two very specific tought.

First, what is consider abuse now a day. Is the fact of just saying no to demand from your girlfriend is abuse. Not reponding to her every wish ? Not accepting the society evident double standard, treating your girlfriend like an equal ?

Second, the fact that most women does'nt realise that they do thing that are abuse to there husband first and that what they consider abuse is just a man defending himself....

Seriously, equality mean without regard of sex, strenght, or history book, who are anyway clearly biased.

It is always good to have encouragement, especially for something so difficult as parenting. Because of some poor choices I became a single mother at the age of 23. Something I never imagined I would be. I am now living with the consequences every day. I work full time, go to school part-time and take care of my 8month old daughter with support from family and (some) support from her father. I wouldn't change it for the world as I love my daughter too much for that. I only wish the consequences for mutual decisions was more equal between men and women. The women seem to have to pay much more than men.

... DoingthebestIcan, basically, you just said what i suspected, you basically went for the Cool Looking guy (Dangerous looking guy) and somehow you got surprise by the result. Instead of choosing one of the hundred nice guy that was around.

The reason why women are always complaining about men, is the fact that they always choose the Cool looking one. The one who look VERY VERY Rich, VERY VERY strong, or VERY VERY dangerous, once they did that, once they went with guys who are on the fringe of society, they turn around and declare that all men are the same.

They meet the exeptions, and declare that all men are like that. To be one of those exeption you have to be a Selfish guy, who care only about themself. The one who cared really about you, you dropped them because they were not challenging enough. You wanted a trophy Guy, a guy who is hard to get because he doesn't care about you.

And now you are complaining because he drop you off like an old shoe.

It is always good to have encouragement, especially for something so difficult as parenting. Because of some poor choices I became a single mother at the age of 23. Something I never imagined I would be. I am now living with the consequences every day. I work full time, go to school part-time and take care of my 8month old daughter with support from family and (some) support from her father. I wouldn't change it for the world as I love my daughter too much for that. I only wish the consequences for mutual decisions was more equal between men and women. The women seem to have to pay much more than men.

Montreal Guy, I find it insulting that you presume to know so much about me. You say that I am labeling all men to be the same and you are then doing the same to me. That is called hypocrisy.
I had little experience with dating, I met my boyfriend and did not think he was some "trophy guy." He was older than me, not well off, he seemed responsible, had a job in law enforcement, and appeared to be a "good guy." I found out too late that people (men and women) can portray a good image of themselves until things go wrong. Then their true characteristics come through. I am now a lot wiser and will be more careful in the future. I am not the type of woman to go for a rich, dangerous, etc. guy. I simply want a responsible man who is caring and considerate.

You are right, i wasn't clear.
Am i NOT labelling all women, only the one who are complaining about all the men.

For your own Case, let's see why i think that you have some responsability. I will assumed that when you started dating him something appeal to you.

Older guy... why older, older normally is only appealing to women for the following things. The guy as more money, he is more flirty, he is old fashion (he want the women to stay at home, while he make a living). Once you commit and realised he was not well off. You probably began loosing respect for the guy !

When you lose respect for your boyfriend , he is feeling it. Since he is a man he cannot call it abuse.

You think that women has a raw deal. From your point of view, maybe it is truth. but i got a few question first.

Did he pay child support ?

if not why ?

Did you not already did go to school and learned money earning skill ?

Tell me why this guy wasn't good to be a dad ?

You see it is easy to blame other for our own shortcoming.

Sometimes women have a reason to complain about men....
I did not lose respect for my boyfriend because of money. A paycheck does not earn my respect. Character does however and I found his character lacking.
I work 9 hours a day and go to classes on my lunch break. I am working on my bachelors degree so I can get a better job to provide for my daughter; I will graduate in the spring. I am proud of myself for holding down work, school and parenting.
I receive very little child support; partly because my child's father's circumstances, and partly because he does not want to make us a priority. He spends more on cigaretts a month than on child support. Cest la vie. I can't change him and I don't want to.That said, he is a good father and for that reason I want him involved in my daughter's life.
Ultimately, I can only control my own actions and I plan to spend my energy improving my circumstances instead of waiting for him to improve them.
I don't blame him for my shortcomings. I blame him for his.

I am a single parent of 3 teenagers, I also work full-time. Raising children almost alone, is rough. I respect a person who doesn't stick around for the sake of the child/children. Because when you do that it does more harm than good. Children are like sponges. Children absorb more than we give them credit for. Unfortunately our society thinks that sticking around is the right thing to do when in the long run it causes misery, pain and resentment and I am willing to bet, most of the extramarital affairs that rip families apart. Some people choose to be single parents while others have it thrust upon them. I have a question for the men who are answering and posting. If you got someone pregnant and weren't in love with, would you stick around? Oh and birth control fails so it can happen to you. I dont hate men by any means. However my own father wasn't there for me and I turned out to be one hell of a woman and single mother and I am proud of myself for that.

... DoingthebestthatIcan, you are doing all this and you still have the go on the internet ?

There is 24 hours in a day.... normally a person sleep 8, you must eat for about 1-2 hours there is the university, the job and you got a child on top of that.

First how many hours a day do you give to your child ? Make her do her Homework, cooking diner, Cleaning the house, play with her, talk with her ?

If you have the time to curse men online, it must not be that much.

One thing for certain, you find the daddy to be a good daddy, what then are the flaw... he smoke ?

He is violent with you physically ?

You are spending some energy here, complaining. How does it improve your circumstances ?

And lady thrashing all men in general, like in here.... is not really a positive thing, the guy that just point out that the text up there was somehow sexist, wasn't prepare for the onslaught.

But for myself i know that women are as nasty as men, in there own way. And to be a fight there must be two people.

To Single Parent and Happy....

First and foremost... Birth Control Fail.

You are probably forgotting some fact, birth control never fail.

Try failing an abortion, or an adoption, lady has a lot of choice, the pils, the condom, spermicide, the patch, the diaphragm, the ovaries bypass, the hysterectomy, the "sterilet", the morning after pill, the abortion, the adoption and the abstinence.

Guy's have the condoms and abstinence.

You got Roe VS Wade that basically forbid a man any decision if you conceive or not.

When you speak of a child, it is always a burden, never a blessing. You don't mention the unconditional love, never mention the new view you got on life, all the childhood memory that come back to life. Never mention the companionship of your little bundle of love.

All this are MAJOR advantages, that balance the time that you give your child. Why do you forget all this...

Men must wait for the mother's decision, it's her who decide if he will have to pay her money for 18 years, or see his child.

My husbands ex-wife did everything in her power to keep him away from THEIR daughter. Single moms forget that both of them made the kid. Dead beat dad or dead tired of fighting? He spent years trying to be in his daughters life only to have his ex do any and everything to undermine, and belittle there daddy/daughter relationship. She would go so far as to call daddy/daughter time a "Little visit" like he was nothing more then a daycare provider. Before anyone rails on men for not being a dad perhaps you should look to the ex and how difficult she is making it for the dad to be in the kids life. Including but not limited to, moving away from the dad (to a state far away) moving so frequently the dad doesn't have a phone number where he can call his kid. Making sure child support is so much he cant make rent. Or cussing or calling him names in front of the kid. I could go on and on how many times I've seen women do everything to make a guys life miserable. Would you stay in such a situation where your dirt

Montrealguy,
Exactly how sheltered are you? EVERY birth control method has a chance of failure. EXCEPT not having sex. Read a condom label,birth control pill pack, or you can try to go on the internet and so some research so you know what you are talking about before you post. I find it odd that you latched onto the birth control portion (which by the way you were wrong about), and avoided the accidental pregnancy and if you would stick it out. HMMMM. I think it is cute that you also threw the Roe vs. Wade card on the table also. Yes women have the right to chose and I think if men were to switch places they would be thankful for Roe vs. Wade. Also you stated that when children are mentioned they are mentioned in burden. I don't consider my children as burdens. Without them I wouldn't be who I am today. They push me to be a better person EVERYDAY. How dare you think you know me or anything about me. I left my ex husband and had nothing, damn I gave him the house! I started over and struggled for 4 years.

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I have an excellent career, and when I am not with my children I am at work or they are with their father. The women don't get to decide if the father gets to see the child THE COURT DOES. I also know fathers who are wonderful single fathers. I don't consider myself a single parent I consider myself a co- parent. I never have thought of my children as burden or too much, but I do think of them as my life. You seem to forget some parents don't think of their children as a "pay check" some of us make more than our exes. (big hint here I DO). I watched my father not be there for us and I want more for my children so I suck it up and I get along with my ex, it's called being an adult. Your comments are so one-sided and not even researched and you sound like you are blowing hot air. Check out different methods of birth control and when you find one that ISN'T abstinence that is 100% let me know, we'll discuss it further. Hurry up your research is waiting....

... Ooooo the infamous Shaming Tactics.

I am a father of a nice little boy, i am an adult with two child... one who is a real one and the other who is a self entitle princess.

Tell me, since you got part time custody with your ex... do you pay him child support ?

Since you make more money then him, Court consider that to remove the chance that you buy love from your kid and therefore gradually win them over to your side you should pay him child support.

my comment are exactly as one sided as the women in this forum, this is called equality... Suck it up as you said !

BTW... equality mean, if you don't want children you should keep your panties on. It take two person to create life.

Why women should have the right to take risk and not men ?

For thing to be really equal, abortion without rape should be illegal, and giving away your child to an hospital without penality has well.

Women has the right to hop out of the responsability of being a parent. Equality mean that men should have this option too.

First of all, I have full physical care and custody of my children. Which means, that I have them a good 80% of the time. Yes my ex and I co-parent which means I allow him to have as much access to them as he wants, and I include him in the decision making as far as the children are concerned. You say women should "keep their panties on" well if men don't want that type of responsibility then they should keep it in their pants right? Yes I earn more money than my ex-husband, but he pays the VERY LEAST that the court will allow, because of "tactics" that SOME men use during divorce and custody hearings, such as getting up and quitting their jobs. When he went back to work I didn't take him back to court unless it was to make him comply with his end of the court order which by the way, he willingly signed at the close of our divorce hearing. As far as shaming tactic I don't need to use any of those, you do fine shaming yourself on your own. I don't have to buy love from my children, I have ALWAYS been there for the

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I have always been there for my children. They don't get whatever they want. I don't spoil them so they stay with me. I can't help it if their fathers parenting skills "lack" so to speak. I don't believe in buying the love of anyone period. I haven't once mentioned equality on here. I know when it comes to abortion women make the decision,it is after all her body and therefore she gets the right to make that choice. You say abortion and giving your child away to a "safe drop" zone should be illegal? Well then the incidents of women killing new born children will only rise. And can you imagine if you were FORCED to keep a child you didn't want, the abuse and the resentment? And not to mention how screwed up that child will be. Lets not even mention welfare. BTW, it isn't shame tactics, it called calling you out for ignorant, sexist, one-sided comments, that you didn't bother to get the statistics for. Also you avoided my question. Does this mean you would stick around if you oopsed?

... i am proud of you, to admitting that mothers are a real threat on there children. It is wonderful to see a women who is aware that most of the infanticide and child abused are at the hand of there mother.

One thing left for you to acknowledge is in DV when one partner is usign Violence on the other partner and the other partner do not strike back, it is the Women who is the Attacker and Men who are the victims.

Please don't tell me that guy should just stop to be wuss and strike back. Because the same study prove the point for me, when there is reciprocity, the women are more likely to initiate violence. 65% of the initiator where women. If you think that this study is bias, consider this. It was publish in the Harvard Medical Publication, in Havard the Student in medical school is composed of a majority of women.

So BTW, get your stats right, stop being an ignorant, sexist and one-sided.

For you question Single Parent and Happy.

I already has put my money where my mouth is, i had an oups... and i wanted to have a child. But it was my girlfriend decision at the time. She wanted to keep it, for moral reason, right now she is keeping him half of the time, but when she have him at her house, he has no friend of his age and mommy try to turn a little boy into a genious. Why... your guest is as good as mine. But me i would guess it is about regret of having him. And she is desperately trying to put that regret to rest by having a genius, a virtuoso.

She should probably leave him to my care, because she would do anything to have him quiet, even rotting him with everything is hearth desire. She is keeping him out of fear of being label a bad mother. In this perfect world where all the women are expected to be perfect Everything.

You created the myth of the perfect women, the wonder women, and now you are paying for it. By being alone, alone because you deserve a perfect husband.

I don't regret being a single parent, not for one minute ,and I have come so far. I think the reason why I am single still is because I am choosy about who I would like to spend the rest of our lives with. My ex husband is not really choosy and has been married 3 times. I don't want that for me. Im response to your comment DV is double sided now days although you don't see many females arrested you do see quite a few, and the stats are rising. Yes females are sneaky, and abusive too. And yes some females love to cause havok in the exes lives, me In my case it isn't true. I let him live his life, as long as it doesn't affect my children. I by no means think I am perfect, Wonder Woman, well, that is another story. I agree I do deserve the perfect husband and that is why I am not settling. In don't think I am paying for anything, I just don't want something mediocre day in and day out, I want someone who makes me feel perfect, even though I'm not. As far as regretting a having a child, well I don't regret it at all.

There's nothing heroic about a woman who choses to be a single mom by abandoning her husband and family for new sexual experiences and romance.

It's great to see how many positive & great single parents there are out there. Not great that they're single but great to see how many try their best and that they are not alone. I was a single mother for about 5 yrs. And after all that looking and partly waiting I met my wonderful husband of now 2 years. He took my daughter in like his own from the start and although we DO have hard times because of things/my daughter's feelings I failed to deal with in regards to her biological father, we work at it every day & are going to start her on some counseling. I was very young when I had her & had a very hard time dealing with our split that I should've handled it differently (ex: counseling for both my daughter and I) but at the time money was a big issue. She's now 8 yrs old & has some feelings we need to deal with. If anyone has some suggestions to the best day of dealing with this along with the counseling, post a comment. For all those of you who are still single, Keep up the good work!

Just wanted to say I have received some good information from reading some comments and realize keeping it simple will work I am 29 years old single mom of 5, work a full time job and I have for years it is very hard. I realize I am too hard on myself and the expectations I have for my children and myself. Even though I have my children I have been to college several times taking short classes. Unable to find stable enough child care to obtain a degree I pray to have someone help me that is reliable while I go to school. My children play sports and out of 4 in school 2 made the honor roll the others no less than a C and we are working on that. Keep the comments going this has been a great learning experience for me. Single parents need an outlet to say its ok to not have it all togather some times the kids want hot dogs and a good conversation. God bless be inspired.

You guys are arguing back and forth like children. Are you serious? And to MontrealGuy.. Please do me a favor and go back to school to learn how to write a complete sentence. Learn how to speak before you try and educate someone about anything.