Online Class: Single Parenting

Empowerment for Single Parents: Thriving Amidst Challenges

The journey of parenthood is a winding path filled with both enchanting moments and unexpected challenges. Embarking on this journey alone, as a single parent, can amplify these emotions and add unique complexities to the mix. With no partner to share the daily ups and downs, single parents often bear the brunt of societal judgment, navigate complicated conversations about the absent parent with their child, and grapple with heightened stress levels. Joint custody scenarios, while shared, can bring about their own intricate dance of coordination and potential for heightened tensions.

Introducing our comprehensive course, "Empowerment for Single Parents." This meticulously designed program serves as a beacon of light, illuminating the way forward with actionable strategies, compassionate insights, and practical solutions tailored for those navigating the world of single parenting. Celebrate the distinct joys that a single-parent family can offer, while mastering the skills to overcome the unique challenges you face.

What can you expect from this transformative course?

• Deep Dive into Parenting Dynamics: Understand the nuances of single parenting with a lexicon of words and phrases commonly used in these scenarios. Equip yourself with sensitive, yet direct methods to handle intricate conversations with your child, fostering a safe and understanding environment.

• Behavioral Insights: Discover the underlying behavioral patterns of children raised in single-parent households. Recognize signs, respond appropriately, and build a harmonious bond based on trust and mutual respect.

• Life-Balance Mastery: Learn how to strike a balance between personal aspirations, professional responsibilities, and parental duties. Delve into time-management hacks, emotional well-being tools, and techniques to streamline your day-to-day activities.

• Financial Acumen: Equip yourself with strategies to manage financial responsibilities head-on. From budgeting tips to securing a stable financial future, we provide you with the tools to maintain both short-term stability and long-term security.

• Self-Care & Resilience: Recognize the importance of caring for yourself amidst the hustle of single parenthood. Explore holistic wellness strategies, relaxation techniques, and ways to build resilience, ensuring you're at your best for both yourself and your child.

This course is meticulously crafted not just for single parents eager to thrive but is also an invaluable resource for professionals in child development or related fields. It’s not just about enduring the journey but reveling in it, fully empowered. Join us, and together, let's transform the narrative of single parenting from challenging to empowering.

 

Course Motivation

Single Parent via Divorce

Becoming a single parent is a more common occurrence now than it was in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, most single parents attained that status via death of a spouse or divorce. As the 20^th century progressed, divorce became the more prevalent of the two causes of single parent families. Now, in the early part of the 21^st century, there are a variety of causes, and single parent families account for about 28 percent of all family units at any one time (2013). According to a recent report by Legal Momentum (The Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund), the majority of single parent homes are headed by the mother.

No one is sure exactly when the custom of marriage began, but divorce has a clearer history. Prior to 1857, divorce was extremely rare, allowed only in extreme cases (to men, primarily) and granted by the Catholic Church (only the wealthy and powerful could even hope to do this). The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 made divorce more accessible to women, but the burden of proof, such as adultery, had to be coupled with another provable flaw, such as rape or cruelty -- and the possibility of a public scandal for divorcing parties was a real threat.

Things did not change appreciably until 1969, when the Divorce Reform Act was passed, which allows couples to divorce without proving the "fault" of the spouse. Hence the term "irreconcilable differences" – basically, no one person is at fault for the breakdown of the marriage.

Being divorced no longer carries the social stigma it once did, and children are likely to know several children in their school or age group that are also children of single parent homes due to divorce. Despite this, it is still a difficult situation, no matter how well-prepared you and your family members feel.

While divorce still remains the number one cause of single parent family status, our next contender is not far behind. 

Many single parents have had a child or children with one or more partners outside of marriage. While some couples may elect to stay together, or even marry, many go their separate ways, often leaving one parent to raise the offspring alone. The absent parent may return regularly or periodically to see or care for the child, or they may decline to claim the child, leaving the single parent on their own. It is interesting to note that a common reference to an absent partner that seems to have taken hold is "Baby Mama" or "Baby Daddy," both dismissive-sounding terms. It is unclear what effect such phraseology has on the offspring of such unions.

The percentage of single parents via unmarried/never married partners has increased greatly over the last several years and now rivals "divorce" as the number one cause of single-parent situations.

Single via tragedy (accident, death)

Sometimes, tragic circumstances leave one a single parent. Accidental death, natural disaster, murder, and suicide are all examples of becoming a single parent due to tragedy. In such cases, it is important that the remaining parent cares for both their own, and their child's, or children's, psychological and emotional needs, which may include seeking professional assistance from a psychologist or medical doctor.

Single via absence (prison, no longer in contact, abandonment, etc.)

Whether you and your child's other parent were married or not, sometimes a parent is completely absent from a child's life for reasons other than death. For example, if a parent is in prison, the remaining parent may or may not elect to allow the child (or children) to visit, particularly if the parent was incarcerated prior to, or shortly after, the birth of the child. Some birth parents abandon their child or children, leaving one parent to pick up the pieces of a child's shattered life.

Abandonment can occur at any time in the child's life, not just at birth. Consider the divorced mother who remarried, retained full custody of the children for many years, then left both her new husband and her children behind when she ran off to the Bahamas with an 18-year old, just as her children entered their pre-teen years. Their father, who had only monthly visitation, was handed two pre-teen boys, practically strangers to him, and expected to cope with his own emotions, as well as theirs. Woefully unprepared, the entire family suffered, and even in adulthood, the children have difficulty reconciling their father's proclaimed love with his actions when they were younger. (Not to mention the abandonment issues caused by their mother's sudden departure and complete disappearance from their lives.)

Some parents pull a "disappearing/reappearing act" with their children, causing confusion and upset. Broken promises, inconsistent behavior, general absence, and inappropriate anger responses on the part of the "in/out" parent can cause great dysfunction in the home and make adjustment and daily life for both the children and the remaining parent difficult. Sometimes, the child will blame themselves for the absent parent's sporadic (or complete lack of) involvement.

Single via other circumstances (i.e. choice, "inheriting" kids)

It is not uncommon in today's world for an individual to choose a single parent lifestyle. Actress Sandra Bullock is an excellent example. During the adoption process (with her then-husband Jesse James), Sandra discovered her husband was unfaithful, and they divorced. Still wanting a child, Sandra opted to pursue the adoption on her own. Today, she and son Louis are a happy family.

Many single women approaching their 40s opt for single motherhood, either using a "sperm donor" (in-vitro fertilization), surrogacy, or adoption. Men also adopt and become single parents; approximately one third of adoptive parents are single parents, and the number of men in that group is rising. (Due to privacy reasons, exact statistics are not available.)

Most people who become grandparents don't expect to ever be in the "parent" role again – but it does happen. Parental emotional or psychological instability, drug or alcohol addiction, incarceration, or dropping the children off at Grandma's and not returning are all avenues by which a grandparent becomes a parent again. The rights of a grandparent, versus the rights of a parent to their child, differ greatly, so seniors who find themselves in such a situation are well-advised to seek legal advice, particularly if the situation will be long-term, or the child's parent is unpredictable. We'll discuss these challenges in this course.

Being a single parent at any age can be challenging, but it's not impossible and can be incredibly rewarding. This course will discuss ways to successfully parent a child on one's own, including child behavior, challenges, techniques, and rewards involved with being a single parent.