For this assignment I interviewed my sister, who is a 48 year-old female that has only 1 child. My sister is a prior member of the armed services. She became a single parent at the age of 27, after her military career. As, she adjusted to the role of motherhood she had to endured several traumatic situations within her personal and professional life but most of all within her parental life. In being a single mother, she stated that she had a lot of regrets and alterations that she wished were in place prior to her becoming a parent. The most prevalent of which is that of having a spouse that supports and encourages her. Since, she was without the support of the father of her child, she was forced to make ends meet on her own. This struggle …show more content…
There are times when situations get hard and life looks like it is coming down all around you. For my sister, these moments were seen when her daughter was about 12 or 13 years old. This was the time when she was really tested as a parent. Around this age she realized a few things about her parenting style. The worst of which was that she had spoiled her child and provided her with a false impression of the world. In this time she realized that her daughter’s decisions can effect both of their lives. Her daughter decided to join a gang, this was one of the hardest situations she had to endure. After, all she went through to protect and give her daughter the portion of the world she could. Her daughter twisted her instilled morals to join a situation that they both were not ready for. This situation ultimately lead to the numerous court dates, fights, and ultimately her daughter getting sent away to job …show more content…
She zoomed in on the moments that both built and broke down her and her daughter. However, the love and joy that being a parent still offers her is priceless. After, all if we don’t fall short, we did not try. My sister is now utilizing her reflection to assist her daughter in being a better mother. Now, as a grandmother to 2 kids, a boy 8 months old and a girl 3 years old, she can rectify her wrongs and demonstrate the rights. After all of her hardship her daughter has still managed to make her mother proud by living a better life then she did. Her daughter now has her own place, car and is attending college. Which goes to show, with all our parental failures, success was in the love and effort we
The daughter alludes to an idea that her mother was also judged harshly and made to feel ashamed. By the daughters ability to see through her mothers flaws and recognize that she was as wounded as the child was, there is sense of freedom for both when the daughter find her true self. Line such as “your nightmare of weakness,” and I learned from you to define myself through your denials,” present the idea that the mother was never able to defeat those that held her captive or she denied her chance to break free. The daughter moments of personal epiphany is a victory with the mother because it breaks a chain of self-loathing or hatred. There is pride and love for the women they truly were and is to be celebrated for mother and daughter.
The rifts between mothers and daughters continue to separate them, but as the daughters get older they become more tolerant of their mothers. They learn they do not know everything about their mothers, and the courage their mothers showed during their lives is astounding. As they get older they learn they do not know everything, and that their mothers can still teach them much about life. They grow closer to their mothers and learn to be proud of their heritage and their culture. They acquire the wisdom of understanding, and that is the finest feeling to have in the world.
Families are becoming more diverse and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some people consider families to be strictly biological, while others consider people they love to be their family. Although two-parent families, also known as a nuclear family are the majority, one-parent families are becoming more common in today’s society. A sole-parent is considered to be a parent without a partner or spouse who is the primary care giver of one or more children in a household (Ministry of Social Development, 2010). From the age of 14 onward I was raised by m...
The struggles Cecelia faced as a single mother working to complete a degree and support herself and her son did strike a familiar tone with me. Although I did raise my daughter as a single mother in California for almost six years, unlike Cecelia I was well employed, had completed my bachelor’s degree, and was in my thirties. Even so I also struggled more than occasionally with bias against my status as a single mother, albeit a successful professional, and the unanticipated ways this affected my daughter. There were clear biases evinced by teachers, child care workers, doctors, childless friends and coworkers, who all believed that they had not only the right to judge my d...
In the trajectory of humanity, single parenting has become a concept internationally accepted by most modern cultures. What exactly causes single parenthood? Well there are many factors in which could result in a single parent household. Death of a partner, divorce, and unintended pregnancy are just some of the causes of single parenthood. Based on this worldwide acknowledgement and understanding, single parenthood is usually aided by monetary help from the government or unions. Although financial help is available, the psychological effects a child goes through could never be fixed by any type of cash value. These psychological traumas and mental changes could affect the parent raising the child as well. Even with some financial help, single parents sometimes struggle to make ends meet. A study featured in Time magazine informed Americans that middle to lower class single parents will work 40+ hour weeks at minimum wage to provide for their child. If the parent is so busy at work, who's watching the child? Sometimes, the single parent might still have connection with their own families. Grandma and grandpa have to raise the child since the parent is hard at labor to provide for their offspring. Occasionally, some of our elderly folk do not have the competence to watch over a child. It might even be that the child is too energetic and could wear out the seniors. The child will then resort to the television, street, friends, etc to learn and grow. These influences might be negative for the child especially if they're not coming from the mother or father. An investigation of single parenting leads to the affirmation that raising a child by yourself is very difficult and must be approached very leniently and effectively.
Single fathers are a minority. They are rare, but growing rapidly as more and more people can fathom a father being able to satisfy the needs of his children. Single fathers are not given sole custody without a fight. A much harder one than what a Mother would have to endure. Normally, custody is given to the mother. Lately, however, fathers are starting to care more about their childrens best interests, and are begining to fight against the sterotypes society has dealt them.
Everyone has a family, rather it is with your biological relatives or long-time friends. A lot of people have been raised in different types of households rather it is with a grandparent or a foster parent. Everyone has their own individual story of their particular support system. In most cases, people have been raised with both parents, which is ideal in this society. As years gone by, a lot of changes have occurred within raising a family, whether it be getting raised by a LGBT couple or being raised by a sibling. The most common change that has occurred is single-parenting. A lot of children are being raised by either just their mother or father. In most cases, the mother is the single parent. Being a single parent can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. In this essay, I will explain the ups and downs that come with being a single-parent.
In my observations I decided to visit my sister’s house and compare it to the household I live in. The reason for my decision was to compare parenting between teens living with their parents and adults living with their parents. Most appealing to me within my choice were the hopes of noticing habits within a parent who is involved in their career as an officer verses, parenting habits within single mothers or those who weren’t fully prepared to raise children at the time they conceived them. During my observation I noticed there were a few specifics that I didn’t fully attend to when considering my subgroup. Some of those important specifics includes that one of
McLoyd, V. C., & Wilson, L. (1992). Telling them like it is: The role of economic and environmental factors in single mothers? discussions with their children. American Journal of Community Psychology, 20, 419-444.
2. Dowd, Nancy. In Defense Of Single Parent Families. New York: New York University, 1997
I was a lucky child growing up. Yes, I’m sure that a lot of children would say that, or at least I hope that they would. As the child of a single mother I would say that in comparison to how society frames it, it is not nearly that bad. My mother was a successful, dedicated working parent and my father a hard-working detective. They cared for each other, they just did not see a future together, despite my birth. Being the child of a single parent is considered a disparaging obstacle when it comes to child development. I however do not feel that I suffered at the hands of single parenthood. The theories of Freud, Piaget, Erickson, and others lend notion as to how aspects of nurture and nature, come together to shape an individual.
I did my research on motherhood. My research specifically focused on single mothers and the struggles they go through. One of the most important facts I learned was that mothers make significantly less money than a father would. According to the article, mothers make 73 cents to every dollar a father makes. A single mother would have less money to provide for her child than a single father would. Because the mother might have to take a maternity leave to take care of her child, she would be earning even less money because she is not working. At that point, she might not have enough money to pay for the essentials her child needs or to do important household tasks like pay bills. Because of the wage gap that mothers have along with unpaid maternity leave, she is stressed about the money she needs to provide for her family.
In the world today parents come in various forms from the single parent, to the married parents, and to the divorcing parents just to name a few. Although the individual parent is their own person and they have their own parenting style the goal is still to successfully raise a child into a grown adult. For my interview I chose two close friends who happen to be both single parents with children of the same age. My two friends are from separate parts of the country and don’t know each other. Both have only one child, however Leila is the loving mother of a son and Brendan is the proud father of a daughter. What I found interesting was their similarities as well some drastic differences with their hopes and concerns of becoming new parents.
In America, the 2009 Census reported 11.6 million as the number of single parents living with their children in 2009. There were 9.9 million single mothers and 1.7 million single fathers. There is a huge disparity between these numbers. One wonders where the other 8.2 million fathers are and why it is that women are the majority are being the primary caregiver. The most important concern is how the children of these families have matured into responsible, well-adjusted adults. Circumstantial women are those that are single, head of the household, earning income from two or more jobs, and raising children on their own. Most of these women have been put in this position due to the male figure being absent. Single women far outnumber men in the same situation. Also, a man’s income would most likely be higher. Women not only run the household, but also go to work to support th...
One of the many roles that father’s play in their children’s lives is the provider role. After divorce, children are negatively affected economically. Parents begin living in different households, even doubling their financial responsibilities. In fact, children face moving to lower income areas, changing school districts, and even loosing resources necessary for health and growth. The mothe...