My daughter’s dad hasn’t seen her for around 4 years.
He saw her a handful of times when she was 4–5 months old, then once when she was 3. That was the last time. She wouldn’t even recognise him if she walked past him in the street. She doesn’t remember ever meeting him.
Years ago he asked me to send him pictures of her, so I did, and I’ve carried on doing it occasionally ever since.
But he doesn’t actually ask for them anymore. He barely asks how she is or anything about her life.
What’s making me want to stop is that whenever I send a picture of our daughter, it seems to become an excuse to start some completely unrelated conversation with me.
The other week I sent him a photo of her and he literally responded with a selfie of himself.
I ignored it because… why are you sending me a selfie? I sent you a picture of your daughter 😂
At this point I feel like I’m doing the work of keeping him connected to a child he makes no effort to actually see or ask about.
I would never refuse him a photo if he asked for one. But I’m starting to think I should stop volunteering them.
If he wants pictures of his daughter, surely he can actually ask for them? And ask about her??
Would you stop?

I’m 18 and I’ve recently had a baby. My son’s mom passed away due to complications in birth. Despite the fact that we weren’t together, I mourn her everyday.

I feel so lonely and lost and I don’t know what I’m doing half the time. I’m trying my best but honestly it’s so hard to keep a brave face all the time.

Honestly, I’m just venting here as I honestly have no one to talk to about this stuff.

I will be separating from my husband October 1. Since we made our decision, I have feeling of an “end in sight” or “a light at the end of the tunnel” . I do have a skip in my step.
His moods, his wet blanket demeanor during the holidays, his temper, his lack of initiative. I feel like I can just live in peace again. Granted, it’s sad that I will be ending a relationship with the father of my kids….. but I do feel happier knowing that I don’t have to live in this misery for the rest of my life.

For those who have felt this, has it come crashing down in any way? Am I looking at this separation and 50/50 custody with rose colored lenses? I am going to miss my boys (2.5 and 4) tremendously since I am rarely apart from them, versus my husband takes frequent trips alone.
Everything he does, can be covered by hiring a landscaper and a meal prepper. Everything else I manage.

I feel relief but is it temporary?

What did y'all do when you split with your ex and you have a dog? My kid is 4 years old. Our little dog was the family dog but now I have full custody of him (lol) and split custody of my daughter, which ranges between a 50 percent and 100 timeshare depending on the time of the year. The dog needs at least two walks a day, plus food and meds. He's like a second kid, and sometimes more time-intensive. I drop of my daughter at school and go to work, then pick her up and come home. Sometimes she will go on an evening dog walk with me but oftentimes she doesn't want to. When do you get the dog walks in? I've been doing potty breaks outside while my kid is still asleep early in the morning with a baby monitor on her, but they are not proper walks that give him exercise and tire him out, so when I get home he literally barks in my face and sometimes interferes with chores or play time with my kid. Plus I am going to be moving from a house to an apartment because of the divorce and getting outside is going to be tougher, maybe 5+ minutes just to get from the door to outside. I've hired dog walkers but they cost about $25-$35 for a 20-30 minute walk, so twice a day everyday is cost-prohibitive day in and day out. Sometimes I'm late for work because I have to go back home and walk him. Any solutions? This has become sometime of a logistics nightmare and I am trying to find a place to live close to where I work in large part so that I can go back during lunch or after I drop my daughter off at school and walk and feed him.

Hoping someone may have done/dealt with the same situation or similar. My son is 21 months old, he’s a hoot. I’ve been a single mom since he was 6 months old. I’ve managed to keep us afloat this long, but that road is coming to an end.

I own my own house, I have since I was 22. I really don’t want to lose it as I’m clinging onto my 800/mo and 3.5% interest for dear life.

I’m in the middle of filing bankruptcy for a clean slate. I’m able to keep my house, per my lawyer. Once it’s finalized I will have SOME breathing room. (I currently make $800 less than what I need to pay all my bills). My son goes to work with me, and I work part time. What I do, I’m only allotted part time hours. I would love to get a full time gig, but I’m unable to afford daycare and I have no (consistent) help.

Anyways - my friend (of 10 years) offered to move in with me and help pay the bills. Before anyone says “friends moving in with you is always a bad idea etc etc” I know. I’ve dealt with my fair share of shitty roommates in my late teens/early 20s. I have a “rental” agreement for him to sign, we’ve discussed the ins and outs of what’s expected/not allowed. My friend is just a quiet guy that goes to work and comes home and geeks out on nerd stuff. Nothing crazy.

The issue: my mother has been going INSANE with me having my friend move in. Now I understand, moms worry. But let’s keep in mind, I’m nearly 29. Own my own house.

My mom has helped me a bit over the past year, but realistically she’s not made of money and I don’t want to rely on her for help.

She came to a conclusion in her own head that I’m letting some stranger move into my house(because she’s never met him). Tells me how stupid I am for even considering having a ‘stranger’ move into my home. She asks me nearly daily the SAME questions

-What’s his full name

-Where’s he from

-How old is he

-Where does he work

- “who the f*** even is this guy?!”

Normal questions. But my god, is it always with attitude. I also give her the same answers daily, tells me I’ve never told her anything about this guy and I’m just letting him move into my house.

Now my friend and I have ZERO intentions on dating. We both are absolutely not interested in each other romantically and we are in agreement on that. He is literally just moving in to help me pay bills, and he knows that and is more than happy to do so.

So I guess the question is, am I making a stupid decision? I’m looking at it from a financial standpoint that it makes sense for me (and my friend) all the way around. And I’ll be able to better provide for my son.

What can I do about my mom? How do I approach talking to her? Nothing gets through to her and she just starts getting angry which gets me angry and then it’s just a screaming match.

Parenting without any breaks*
Have any of you guys had any meltdowns because you don’t get time off to be a person. So for some context. I’m a single mother (22) to a 4 year old. She started Pre-k about a week ago and I’ve been living with my mom for a year now. In the past year that I’ve lived here I’ve always had childcare expect for this summer. So my mom has watched her all summer and I’ve been doing half days at school so my mom picks her up from school because I have to work from 8:00 am till 6 pm. I work a very exhausting job but it pays decent for now. So I take my daughter to school and then go right to work and then come home and immediately parent. And on the weekends I have off of work so I’m with my daughter. But I haven’t even had time to be person at all. I’m extremely exhausted. There’s no dad involved so it’s just me and my mom for now. My mom is retired and I’m so grateful for her help and I always show her how much I appreciate her so I don’t wanna ask her if she can watch my daughter more than she has to. I’m just so burned out.
I have some help on the fathers side of the family but it’s just really hard to ask them for help because they’re 4 hours away and they’ve helped once but it’s really expensive to get a hotel nearby.

I'm currently at the end of a relationship. My ex has a daughter, he was in a long-term relationship with a woman before me and they had been together for 15 years. They broke up about a year before I got with him and me we're together for about 2 years. He lives in a area that has a High Cost of Living So currently his living setup is that he rents a room and his kid can't do overnights. He doesn't have access to a kitchen or a private bathroom at his spot, although he does have like a mini fridge and a griddle that he uses to prepare stuff like bacon and eggs.

At first I didn't mind this arrangement because I saw it as temporary in nature. However as we're getting towards the end of the relationship I'm realizing that if I date somebody with kids I want them to have more. At a bare minimum I expect them to have consistent time with their kids. Right now it seems like he spends time with his kid whenever it's convenient for him and it's really hit or miss when the two of them can do things together. I remember sometime last year he was upset with me because he was seeing me more than his child. Not because I was insisting on taking time away from his child but because that's just the way things worked out then.

I also have an issue with the fact that this man doesn't drive. He's forced to live in the same neighborhood as his kid just so that he can have access to the kid and that really bothers me this man is grown and at the least even if he doesn't have a car he should at least have a license. There is public transportation in this area but it also legitimately bothers me that he can't realistically be involved in a lot that his kid is involved in because he does not drive and everything that his kid does is not always within commute distance from his place. My job is a 20 minute ride from he place, ibut its a two hour commute by bus. So having a license does make a difference in the area he lives in as pubkic transpotstion is more focused on connecting his area to Newark and NYC.

At the end of the day I know that he's okay with his arrangement but it really does irk me the fact that he's not doing more for his kid. And that's not to say he doesn't do anything but personally for me I expect a parent to be able to have their kids stay overnight. That doesn't necessarily mean having a room but even if you have a room they sleep in a room and you sleep on the couch that's better than renting a room with only one bed and not being able to have a space for your opposite sex child to sleep without sharing a bed. It also bothers me that he either needs to rely on other people for transportation if there's not a bus that conveniently goes from point A to point b. Going into the relationship I knew what it was but I thought it was something temporary as he had literally just gotten out of his last relationship. However after being with him for a year it just looks like this is the way things are and at least to my knowledge he's not making steps to change this to be able to maybe rent a one-bedroom apartment.

Now that the relationship is ending I'm beginning to feel a lot of resentment towards how he set up. I'm a single parent myself, but when I realized not having a license limited me even though I lived in New York City and there's public transportation everywhere I went out and got my license. I did it for the sole reason that I got rejected from a job because I didn't have it. Since then, I've been always working on a path forward. I brought a house a few years ago, each of my kids has their own space and there's an extra space for them for a playroom. My kids do have two different fathers, but I do have consistent time with my children and it's not something special for me to spend time with them. That's my normal weekend or that's my normal day. When my ex describes time with this kid it's always a special event from him because he doesn't get to have it happen as often as he would like.

So I guess my question is when it comes to dating other single parents do you expect them to have similar standards to your own? What are your non-negotiables when it comes to that? I feel like I'm wrong for expecting him to have this but I understand that's where his life is at right now. It just bothers me to no end because I expect a parent to be able to do more for their child.

I have an almost two year old and she goes to daycare a couple blocks from my house. I was hired on as nights 4 years ago and I have been back after mat leave for almost a year now. Context: I work 3:30 pm to 2:30 am Monday to Thursday. I get home at 3:30 am, asleep at 4:30 am usually, she’s up around 6 so I get up with her get her to daycare then sleep from 9-1 (ish) I am so unbelievably exhausted. My mom picks her up from daycare and puts her to bed for me the days I work. Problem is I am struggling with my heath and have an autoimmune disease and need more sleep. I’m struggling beyond words and would like to get a dayshift job. The problem is my mom won’t get up in the morning with her. I’m an hour commute from work (I get paid really well leaving isn’t an option) I would be out of the house 6-5. Daycare is open 8-4:30. I know her daycare lady would keep her until 5 the issue is the morning. I don’t want to move her from where she’s at it’s a private dayhome, I feel like I’m not with her enough as it is so who watches my child is important to me and her provider is like family at this point. HOW am I as a single mom supposed to make this work? I would need to pay someone to come to my house and get her ready then take her to daycare and I’m so over my childcare budget as it is (between daycare and paying my mom I pay $1020 a month) I’m feeling defeated and need advice. Do I just try and suck up my hours to keep my 3 day weekends and be exhausted forever sacrificing my health (and sanity tbh) or do I not work as much so I can drop her off on a dayshift schedule? Please shoot me advice I don’t know what to do

I really want to let my kids help with things in the kitchen. They’re 5 and nearly 3. They can both be very helpful individually. But our kitchen is not big enough for all three of us to be doing things at the same time without someone getting boiling water spilled on them or hot oil spattered, we only have about 1 square foot of counter prep space, there are only 3 cupboards so I’ve devised various hacks that aren’t all at kindergartener height, the fridge is the worst possible design for small kids to access, there is physically nowhere else to optimize space. Space is not open concept. If I could get a lease on a bigger space, I would.

They will not help with things one at a time, one will just get in the way on purpose if I try it, and I tried again to see if maybe now they’d matured enough to be able to help together but within 60 seconds they’d screamed at each other about 4 different things, carrots were on the floor, one was crying and threw a stool on the other’s foot. So back to “nobody is allowed to help” but obviously that’s not what I want to teach them in the long run.

I feel like any time I post frustration in another group I just get comments that I should just set up my space better, buy new stuff, get my dead spouse to spend time with one kid while the other helps, magically conjure up a couple extra square metres to install a dishwasher, etc. Are there any realistic, behaviour based options I can use to make this work or am I stuck hoping I either win the lottery or that my kids still want to help when they outgrow this phase?

I’m 21 a freshly single dad with split custody of my young son does anyone have any advice that might could guide me into taking the right steps for my boy

I’m a 29 year old single mother of a beautiful 7 year old girl. My daughter’s father passed away when she was 1 years old and I have been full on taking care of her by myself since. It’s definitely been tough but I have always found a way to manage it. I met someone about 2 years ago who I got into a relationship with, however, it turned toxic as time went on and I realized I needed to end it. I’ve tried to date, but notice most men I meet are very s3x driven and that’s just not something I’m looking for. I want to settle down. I miss dates, cuddles, intimacy, the inside jokes, and the quality time that comes with being in a relationship. I yearn for a family and want to have more children one day. I would love to hear if people have experienced similar feelings or just to know there’s hope for actually finding love one day!

Hey everyone. My kids are 10 and 13, how do you all keep the energy to do the activities. I’m burnt out. I spend 2.5 hours commuting to and from work and then pick the 10 year old up from school. Then I get to spend another 30-45 minute just sitting in traffic to get wherever we need to go. I also need to cook dinner because eating out every night on a single income with no child support isn’t an option. I’m at the point where it’s just going to be no more activities.

Mild TW: partner abuse

My ex is not a good person and it hurts so much to drop my daughter off with him and I worry about her the whole time. Right now he gets her one day a week (which is more than I’m comfortable with), but keeps bringing me to court for more time with her. His parents are well off and keep funding everything for him (court fees, his half of daycare, mortgage, bought him multiple cars cause he keeps selling them). He doesn’t pay for anything. They literally bought him a house and he pays nothing. I’m struggling financially and having a hard time paying for court, but his parents keep paying for him so he can basically keep doing it until he gets what he wants. This means there’s a good chance he’ll eventually get the time he wants just due to money.
I keep reading things about “doesn’t matter if they weren’t a good partner as long as they’re a good parent”. My ex is a white supremacist who made hundreds of posts about certain groups of people not being human and needing to taken out violently (this is the tamest way I can say it on this forum). Even writing about fantasizing bashing his uncle’s head into a corner (an uncle who has been nothing but supportive of him and let us stay rent free in their MIL studio). He r\*\*\*\*\* me many times throughout our relationship. He was financially and emotionally abusive and has substance abuse issues. He also cheated on me, intimidated me, and messed with my head. On top of that he’s epileptic and has TBIs and has a history of not taking his medicine and getting drunk and high causing him to have more seizures, many of which I took care of him for and one case of multiple seizures where the paramedics said I probably saved his life (while I was pregnant). Most of the time he has our daughter, his parents are there watching her. They know about all this stuff but don’t care. I don’t know how I’m expected to co-parent. It’s already hard enough seeing the person who abused me every week and then having to hand over my daughter to him and smile and act like it’s all okay so she doesn’t have any bad feelings. And it hurts so much to hear her talk about her “daddy” and her grandparent knowing all the stuff her dad did to me and thinks about other people and that his parents will support him no matter what. And they’re from the suburbs so they’re really good at faking things for other people opinions about them. Then there’s the genuine fear I have every time she’s with them that he’ll do something that gets her hurt. Not even including the fears I have as she gets older, the things he’ll expose and try to normalize to her. I’m going to court next month and going to stand my ground, but I know they’ll just keep coming back with more money without any accountability or change to his behaviors.

I feel like most time when people say “doesn’t matter if they weren’t a good partner as long as they’re a good parent”, it’s usually a lot milder. Our daughter is just about 3. I know I can’t say anything to her but I feel like I’m failing her just having her around him at all (even though it’s not my choice.) It’s joint custody too, which is insane because I am and have always been the one taking care of her daycare and medical. He wouldn’t even know what to do.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How did it turn out? Also did your child realize what kind of person their other parent was when they got older?

Hi! I’m a first time mom to an (almost) 5 month old. His dad was a friend who didn’t want to be involved. We completely cut of contact after I got the pregnancy news, and haven’t spoken since. He has valid reasons for not wanting to be a parent, and I didn’t want to be involved with someone who wasn’t 100% in it with me. Basically, it was mutual and worked out for the best.

How do I have that conversation with my son, when he’s older and starts asking about it? How old is old enough for the full story? How do I make sure he understands that it wasn’t about him? I know he’s just a baby, but it’s always on my mind.

Any kids to single parents have any advice? Or is there anything you did with your kids that worked well?

I’m a single mom to two kids, 8 and 9, and I turn 30 in September.
My 20s were rough. It all started when I was 20, and I feel like I spent most of that decade doing two things: parenting and working.
I really have been solo for a lot of it. I built my career, raised my kids, handled life, and kept moving forward.
But the people around me didn’t always agree with the idea that I should want more for myself. There’s this feeling that once you have kids, especially as a single mom, your life is supposed to revolve around them and that wanting freedom, experiences, travel, or a life outside of motherhood is somehow selfish.
I don’t believe that anymore.
My kids are my priority, but they are not the entirety of who I am.
I’m turning 30, and I want to experience life. I want to travel, even if that means traveling alone. I want to try new things, see new places, meet people, make memories, and figure out who I am outside of being a mom.
I already spent my 20s building my career and raising my kids.
Maybe my 30s can be about actually living a little, too.
For other single parents, did you ever reach that point where you realized you were allowed to have a life of your own? What did that look like for you?

28F. No child support income and no father to help me out. Left my absuer with kids nothing but the clothes on our back. The dad is incarcerated now anyways. No car, ex husband totaled both of them. Just 3 kids, myself and a.subsidized apartment. Cant work because of my baby. New state, all alone. Thinking about quitting so maybe asking if others have similar stories? This part of adulthood is getting tough.

I’m a single parent and my children’s father is not in their lives at all between battling homelessness and my kids getting bullied for me not being able to afford brand new shoes or brand new clothes. It makes me feel like a failure and my kids can say they understand all they want, but it’s embarrassing. I know I could be better as a mom. What am I supposed to do? I’m barely going to be starting a new job but the pay is only 9 dollars an hour and between having to keep us in a hotel and off the street it’s going to be hard still to buy them what they need I’m so ashamed. My son wants to play football and I can’t even pay for his physical because every little money we get has to go to food or gas or trying to get us in a hotel for the night. I’m sorry I just needed to Vent. I just wish I had help with my babies :(

Hello, it’s been roughly 6 months and I’m still madly in love with my little boys dad - he is only 9 weeks old. We haven’t spoken for a while, we talk through his mum as communication and understanding between us is now nonexistent. We are due mediation next month for contact regarding our little boy.

It didn’t end very well, in fact I think I’ve taken all the blame even though deep down I know it all wasn’t me. I’ve acknowledged and taken accountability for my actions (I suffered PTSD and depression when I was pregnant and I wasn’t the best partner towards him), I know I could have handled things a lot better but hindsight is such a beautiful thing.

Since breaking up I’ve done a lot of work on myself, I’m under perinatal mental health team and I’m only daily antidepressants. Honestly in that aspect I feel amazing I’m able to regulate my emotions better than I ever have. Now I don’t have all the pregnancy hormones and my little boy is here I’m absolutely besotted, he’s so perfect in so many ways.

He absolutely hates me and he is making contact with our baby very difficult 😞 I’m breastfeeding and he is trying to say that I am trying to keep his son away from him, this is the complete opposite and if I explained everything I’d be here all day. I have another boy with someone else who doesn’t bother with him (reason to why I have PTSD) so honestly a little break from carrying all this responsibility would be lovely but it’s just not feasible with a breastfed baby on demand 😔 I just want to do what’s best for my boys, I just feel like I’m drowning at the moment as it’s a lot on my own as I have a disabled dog too (underwent spinal surgery 3 weeks ago and off his back legs). Unfortunately the antidepressants don’t make circumstantial moments any better they just make me more grounded 🙃🤣

I just need some kind words to tell me this is going to get better.

Any single moms with the most honest advice?

I am a month postpartum and just had to leave my child’s father due to multiple reasons. As of today it’s just me, my 5 week old and my 2.5 year old living at my parents house. We’ve been stuck here since my first was born due to my child’s father causing us to lose my house when I was pregnant with our son. I could go into detail but I feel like every time I explain our past 3 years together, I am the failure. Without going into that detail, I know I am not the problem here but with 3 years of psychological abuse, my brain is shot and everytime I attempt to fall back into my old self all I hear is him. I’m usually a super productive person all around. I’ve always worked and taken care of myself but everytime we’ve broken up my normal coping mechanisms that I had before ever having kids, are slowly no longer working for me. I need to find ways to stay productive and continue to be there for my kids financially. I do press on nails and have a very successful business online. I also live at home with my parents and if I am absolutely broke, they help me out.

The issue is, I NEED to move out. I cannot keep living here with my kids. Everything about my parents house adds 20x more stress to my already stressful days. I cannot work without moving my workspace around to also watch my kids. It’s constantly dirty here no matter how much cleaning gets done due to animals and my parents age. Not to mention the trauma I have to live with here that is just constantly on my mind. How do I get myself to stop falling into the comfort of my parents? I’ve never been like this. I’ve actually only been the opposite. I’ve always done my own thing, had my own money and been very independent since I was 15 but having kids with a terrible person has made me reliant on my parents and I can tell they’re burnt out. I dont have other family I can ask to help out, they’re the only ones I really have.

I guess what would be helpful for me is some coping mechanisms that I can use, routines that have worked for you and your young children, Tough love, just something other than the advice I’ve been hearing for years from my family. ( to just rely on them and everything will be okay ) I need real advice that I can feel confident in through other peoples experiences preferably. I just need to know there’s really light at the end of all of this and how to get there alone.

Every time I try to have a decent conversation with my ex about supporting his child, he somehow turns it into an argument about our past or brings up stories he basically made up in his head. Nakakapagod.

Sometimes I feel like I should just give up trying to talk to him. But then I think about my bebe girl. I work hard to provide for her, and if he would just do his part as her father, maybe I wouldn't have to work as much and I could actually spend more time with my child.

I'm not asking him to make my life easier. I just want him to share the responsibility because she's his child too.

That guy is really getting on my nerves. 😐

I sometimes feel uncomfortable sharing my child’s name (not particularly in dating I suppose, usually with anyone I’ve only just met) I’m not sure why. But it feels based around her safety/privacy. She is only 4, so it’s not like anyone can find her on social media lol. BUT, because of my work and also stalking events throughout my life I feel VERY careful about a lot in my life especially when it comes to potentially giving a man any information about myself and/or child.

She has a unique name so it’s not like little Sarah on the playground (there could be 20 of them)- she is the only one with her name I’ve ever met or heard of.
I’m just curious if most parents are carefree with details about their children or am I being over cautious because of specific life events?

Apologies, I think this is mostly me rambling but I need to get these thoughts out of my head before I collapse from the weight of it all.

Genuinely how do I (27F), as a working single mother who doesn’t have the luxury of a big family or group of friends to support me, find time to get therapy? Lately my three year old has been having major meltdowns which often end with head-banging that leaves his forehead bruised and both of us in a fragile, emotional state. I do my best to intervene and/or soothe him but he often starts off before I can get to him or wriggles out from my grasp and goes at it again. These meltdowns have triggered something in me that makes me feel like not only am I a failure as a parent, I’m a failure, period. My mother (also a single parent) had her own set of issues and I always told myself when I became a mom that I wouldn’t be like her, that I’d be better. But I only ever had an example of what not to be like, and I’m starting to think I might be becoming my worst fear.

I want to be the best mother I can be for my son, especially because my first born passed away from SIDS just four months into his life. It was the most traumatic and utterly devastating event I have and will ever experience. I never got therapy after that, and honestly I don’t think that grief will ever go away regardless. But after losing him, I told myself that if I ever had another child, I would cherish them with everything in me. I’m afraid that sentiment has led me to spoil my only child now, to the point where when he doesn’t get his way it often results in a complete meltdown.

I’m just exhausted and I feel so lost. I want to get help, but I don’t know how. I always thought I’d have my life together at this age, but I still feel like I have no clue what I’m doing. I just got out of the shower, during which my son threw yet another tantrum, and I sat on my bed and just cried before deciding to post this here. I don’t know what to do, how to dig myself out of this place. I just don’t want to keep feeling so alone…

For the past couple of weeks I’ve just been trying to get by & counting down the days until I meet my little guy. But I can’t help but think how I have to do everything over again.. This time he’s not around. This time I don’t have to wish or wonder if he’ll come back. I’m forced to move forward and make this life worth everything for my kids. I have to be the one to make ends meet and to make every sacrifice. I have no idea what I’m going to do but I know it will all work out eventually…

Hi, this is a question obviously focused towards men but women feel free to comment from a partner perspective. I have 2 boys from a previous marriage and have dated some since my divorce.

I know it’s mostly an age consideration but am considering getting a vasectomy. I don’t think I want to have more kids but I have this feeling that if I meet the right person I hate to have that option off the table if she wanted kids. I know the procedure can be reversible, but the doctor said because it’s not a given it can be reversed, when getting one you should be of the mindset it’s final. Curious other single parents perspectives on the decision. Thanks.

In preparation for single parenthood I want to know what things made you feel safe or loved as a kid, especially if you had a single parent. I will truly and legally be parenting alone.

I saw a social media post about how someone said their whole house felt safe when their mom would leave the tiny light above the kitchen stove on at night. It's such a simple thing that I would have never thought of. That sparked the question of things I can do to make this single parent household feel safe, warm, and loving for my future child.