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What is Single Father

A single father is a father who raises his children without the help of a partner or spouse. A single father can be a real father or a step-father. Fathers are important, for the emotional and psychological development of children it is necessary that fathers carry the responsibility of his children. There can be very different circumstances that can cause a father to parent the child singly.

Challenges for a Single Father

A single fathers can find it very difficult to handle small kids, usually toddlers. Similarly, working with both the kids, home chores and office work can be really challenging. This can deprive a father from his own self-care and sanity. Here are 5 very serious challenges that every single father goes through during bringing up a child.

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Time Management Issue:

The very basic and very difficult issue for managing small kids is time management. Fathers who are usually not experienced for managing schedules can be very tired of following the continuous schedule with no time to relax.  Waking up in the morning, doing kitchen chores , making food for small kids, sending them to school, going for a job, keeping a check on their school records and homework schedule, coming back from work and giving the kids time at home is such a huge challenge. It is like being a mother and father together without time for yourself. This time management can be very tiresome when you have a work genre which includes more than 8 or 12 hours of work. 

Managing Toddler Kids Need a Complete Checkup:

It is very difficult to manage toddlers by fathers. Mothers are very adept at it. Small babies are a tough job for fathers who are single because their spouse died during delivery of the baby. Such babies need complete nurture and support. Breastfeeding is not possible so feeding them the right amount of milk with the right nutrition, changing diapers, being available throughout the day, not leaving the child alone even at night is such a huge challenge. When babies grow up to toddlers they should be taken care of too. Babysitting round the clock can be a serious problem when the toddler is of mischievous nature. Such kids can be taken to daycare during the day when the father is at work.

Emotional Disturbance:

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Emotional disturbance is very serious problem in single fatherhood. When a father has to do the duty of both the mother and the father, it is tiresome and can emotionally disturbed the father a lot. This is possible that father is emotionally drained and sometimes needs time for himself too. Kids can be disturbed too because of lack of motherly warmth.  Such fathers try very hard to manage the relationship with their children. Alongside emotional incompatibility, it is possible that children develop lack of attachment and attention in their childhood and turn into disturbed adults.

Social Stigma and Society Pressure:

Society pressure is always there on a father for raising the kids alone. Usually in Asian families, it is considered a taboo for the father to be doing household chores and child’s care. Asian culture prefers mothers to be there even if she is a step one. The father is pressured to remarry and start a family again. Such pressure can disturb the father’s confidence and can trigger a trauma response too. Rather than supporting, the comments on a father’s parenting can be a serious threat to a father’s patience.

Patience and Understanding:

It is common that fathers need to be patient and understanding but when it is single parenting, all the qualities of patience should be doubled. It is possible that no matter how much a single parent invests his energy in, the children might complain about the style of parenting and be misunderstood. Such disturbances and complaints are common in parenting. Being a single parent is a tough job and it is possible that hearing remarks from your own children might bother a single father too. 

5 Reasons Behind Single Prenting

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1. Divorced:

One of the key causes behind the increasing number of single fathers in the United States is the divorce. Single fathers can be handling the kids alone as a result of solo parenting. Divorce due to any reason may disturb a child’s life and deprive him of any of the parents, usually mothers who move on in their life leaving kids to father.

2.Death of Spouse /Widowhood:

Widow fathers are those whose wives die due to any accident or illness. Rather than going for a second marriage such fathers prefer bringing up their children alone. Usually the mother of a child is dead during delivery or in the first years of child birth. This can deprive the child from a mother’s warmth and love. Such fathers are overworked and usually depressed.

3.Unmarried Men:

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Men who haven’t married but have kids left from their relationships. Usually it is common in western cultures. Such fathers have to manage their parenting styles as an inexperienced one.

4. Adoption:

Adoption can be either planned or unplanned depending upon the circumstances. It is much in practice that children are not biologically related to fathers. In rare conditions where men want to have kids without marriage or any sexual relationship, it is the choice of adoption. Sometimes adopting a child can be due to any other reason i.e. child of a sibling or friend who is ill, unable to take care of child or even dead. Men who take care of them and become single fathers later on in life.

5. Uncoordinated Co-parenting where Mother is not Interested:

It is very common when co-parenting fails when one of the both parents lose interest in the child’s life. Mothers who move on and are in a particularly new relationship cannot manage time for the child and such kids are under the influence of their father. Single fathers take their charge as a responsibility, and a time is reached where there is no interference of mother in the children. 

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