In the last couple of months Luke has been traveling a lot for work. It has been challenging. I know that there are many families that have one spouse/parent on the road a lot so I am not looking for sympathy.
I say Luke’s time away is challenging because with him gone we all have to rework our routine. We all have to do things differently. We talk on the phone instead of seeing each other face to face. Monkey and I end up eating easy meals at home and I cook a lot less while Luke eats out for every meal. All the little things Luke does around the house fall on my shoulders while he is stuck in a hotel room and living out of a suitcase in a very boring city.
I recently overheard someone saying that they knew that they would do fine as a single parent because they do just fine taking care of their children on their own while their spouse is traveling for work. This statement caught me off guard. Honestly it really bothered me, because this person was a stay at home parent while their spouse is the financial provider for the family.
Even when Luke is away I am not a single parent. I am lucky to stay home with my daughter and although I am the only one taking care of her while Luke is gone, I still have a partner in parenting. If being a single parent was only about one individual taking care of their children and home then maybe this person would do fine at going it alone if it came down to it, but I just don’t think it is. I don’t have to stress about going to work outside of the home, making sure that I am earning enough money on my own to pay the bills, and daycare on top of taking care of Monkey by myself. I know that I would not be able to stay at home with Monkey if I were a single parent.
I have a feeling that I don’t even know the beginning of being a single parent and that this other parent doesn’t either. I feel the difference in what is required of me as a mom when Luke is away and I am on duty from sun up to sun down. It is a challenge, but I know that even while I am the only parent present I am definitely not a single parent. Because even though I can’ imagine my life without my husband I also I know that life as I know it would not exist without him.
Like I said, I have never had to be a single parent, I have never lived in a home with a single parent either so I may be way off in my assessment. It just seemed that this person missed a big part of the total picture when they seemed to be bragging that they felt they didn’t really need their spouse even though they did not contribute to the families finances.
I know that it is not my business really and I am making a judgment about another person but am I wrong? Is being a single parent something less than I am thinking?
