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Three generations of single parenting

Single parenting is certainly not the easiest job. I come from 3 generations of single Mothers.

My Grandmother – single parenting

My Grandmother raised 2 children on her own when my Grandfather passed away due to brain cancer. Although she was a qualified school music teacher, she was not allowed to teach because of her marital status, not even after her husband passed away.

She was therefore forced to go onto welfare and so she did illegal needlework (and many of her rich clients knew it was illegal and therefore didn’t pay her) just to take care of her children and to try and give them a better life. She would many days go without food without complaining so that her children would have something to eat.

My Mother – single parenting

“Raising a family is difficult enough. But it’s even more difficult for single parents struggling to make ends meet. They don’t need more obstacles. They need more opportunities.” – Bill Richardson

My Mother left school at the tender age of 15 to provide for her struggling family. Those days children were allowed to enter the work market at any age. She gave my Grandmother ¾ of her salary. She didn’t have a childhood because even before she left school, she baked and sold bread and cookies on the streets (also illegal) because she would get a lesser punishment than my Grandmother who would be send to jail for working as a married albeit a widowed woman.

My Mother worked herself out of poverty and married my Father, a train driver when she was 24 years old. Nine years later he passed away due to a car accident. She raised 3 children on a small monthly income as a result and even found time to help out in the community.

Me Amanda – single parent

I was 5 years old when my Father died and 28 when I became a Single parent in the 3^rd generation of single parents in my family. My husband was 30 years old when he died in a car accident. I raised 2 children on my own without going into welfare.

While my Grandmother were not allowed to work after my Grandfather died and therefore forced into extreme poverty she showed her strength by keeping her children from being taken away from her and illegally did needlework to generate some money or goods to raise her kids.

Three generations of single Mothers delivered three strong woman and although My Mum and I did not end up in Welfare we both had to live on very strict budgets to survive and care for our children. I believe that my Grandmother would also have been able to raise her children without welfare if she were allowed to work.

What makes my family story so unique I think is not just the 3 generations of Single Mums but the fact that all 3 husbands died which created the single parent families

Being a single parent was and still is the toughest job. I do not wish single parenting on any one. You carry all the responsibilities, burdens, worries but also double the love.

“Being a mom is a full-time responsibility in itself, but it takes someone with grit and a much stronger attitude to be both the mom and the dad.” – Mum junction