10 Helpful Tips for Single Parents

Parenting is a very challenging role in our community today. However, single parenting is the most difficult process as most of the responsibilities of bring up a child relies on a single person. Performing the task of a mother and a father can be very frustrating and exhausting. Here are some valuable advices shared by professionals to help single parents in raising their child.

Give top priority to your child
Have your child at your top list priority. Give extra love, care and attention to strengthen the bond. Sometimes, you need to sacrifice more by giving priority to your children. Nevertheless, this will give you more happiness and honor in the future. Taking good care of your welfare and maintaining this task will certainly mold your child in becoming a successful human being.

Steady and positive discipline formation
To be a single parent by fate can lead you to the downfall of your self confidence. However, feel strong and emphasize discipline in your life in a self-assured and non-emotional mode. Implement the disciplinary actions to your child and make sure that he/she follows it in a positive way.

Proper and effective communication
To be an effective single parent, one needs to practice proper and open communication in the family. Communicate with your children in a most caring way. Ask them about their activities in school, their new friends and etc. Know also their likes and dislikes. Give your entire energy on assuring that your beloved feels comfortable and stress free while communicating to you.

Be honest and explain your emotions
Losing temper is a common incident but the presence of your child at that instance can be more dangerous. Be honest and explain the reasons why you get annoyed. Explain clearly to your kid and make sure that you will adopt better ways to deal with your temper.

Organize the household and finances
A successful single parent takes care of the needs of the family in a very useful manner. Plan a budget and make sure to spend your money wisely. It is necessary to a single parent to be successfully organized in the case of finances and fulfilling the needs of the child. Forecast your activities to avoid messing up at the last minute. Give your child responsibilities considering their age group for this will help them become more responsible people in the future.

Maintain good habits
Attain stability, organization and good manners in your child by implementing good habits. Keep proper habits with bedtime routines as well as study activities.

Positive relation with relatives (especially the separated parent)
Association of the child to the separated parent is important. Encourage the child to be with the other person and make them both involved in and influence each other’s state of being. Even though you feel hatred towards the separated parent, co-operate considering the child’s benefit. However, if the person threatens the child, remember that the child’s safety should come first.

Positive perception
Being a single parent is a very challenging task but always remember to maintain a positive outlook and perception towards life because this may influence your child’s attitude. If you possess a positive outlook on a certain situation, your child may adopt this positive perspective. It may even help them to survive and flourish in difficult stages of their life.

Spend some time with your child
Spending more time with your child and involving yourself in their activities is very important. Get involve in pleasurable activities such as playing, gardening and outings. This will strengthen the bond and may even erase all the worries of the child associated with the separation of his other parent. It can be very relaxing and rewarding for the both of you.

Appreciate your child
Show appreciation, love and care to your child as often as possible. It is also important to praise them if they have done well. It will motivate them to do the good habits.

Performing the task of both the mother and the father in bringing up the child is no more a difficult task. Implementing these advices can help you transform the tasks of single parenting into pleasurable ones.

The Pros and Cons for Single Parenting

Since 1970, approximately 20-30% of children live in single parent homes. The number varies according to studies and from different countries around the world. More of those are female than male, but again the numbers vary substantially from one study to another. By being a single parent raises some unique challenges.

Mostly single parents continue to work thus many of the basic difficulties involved are practical ones. Like how to find and afford a sister or a day-care for the kid, what to do for the weekends or having to work late, how to arrange shopping, etc.

Being a single parent, you will find all manners of creative arrangements for meeting these difficulties. Others rely on older children to take care for younger ones, while the younger ones often take on more responsibilities than other children in their age group. Some rely on relatives and friends or just simply leave the child at home alone for extended periods.

Beyond practical arrangements, there are some parenting issues, mostly of value-oriented or psychological nature that can be equally or more intimidating. Single parents will more often guess their actions, not having a spouse to bounce ideas off of.

Dealing with children of the opposite sex could be more challenging. Single parents often find it difficult to know how to guide a child of the opposite sex, not having someone to consult with about his or her childhood experiences. However, some of that gap can be filled by discussions with grown-up siblings.

Single parenthood can have advantages too, even in difficult circumstances. The absence of a partner means the absence of sometimes irrational and intense arguments that the child would observe. Setting up parenting rules and guidelines is more straightforward for single parents, since there is no partner to debate with.

Recent studies point to other positive aspects of parenthood. For single parents with sufficient incomes, there is no observed ill-effect of the single parent home on a child’s education or personality development.

Certainly, being raised in a single parent home often makes children more mature and self responsible at a younger age. Many benefit from the increased attention that a single parent will often give in the absence of a spouse.

Being raised in a single parent home may have been a shame in previous generations, but those attitudes are gone nowadays. Some regard the situation as more ‘contemporary’ or even ‘hip’.
Single parents do something to ease their minds by paying much attention to observable behaviors to monitor their children.


Pre-teens who became withdrawn may be suffering from the effects of parenting or death. Children will often be hesitant to discuss their feelings regarding the situation and much patience may be required to draw them out.


Teens that were left alone at home for long periods may be unduly influenced by peers. This may sometimes lead to unwanted behavior. While parents will want to respect their teen’s privacy, watching for early tell-tale signs of drug use or other harmful behavior will save everyone much grief later on.

Single parents have a unique opportunity to influence their child either for good or bad, without the offset of other parent. Fortunately, children raised in a single parent home will appreciate the extra effort required and made by their single parent Mom or Dad. You can be one of them.