By Gianna Campos
Before I actually start this story, I want to salute single parents everywhere because raising a child/children on your own is no easy job. And to do this on your own is an amazing accomplishment. Your job does not go unnoticed.
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I remember while I was in kindergarten, my grandpa would drop me off before he went to work since my mom started working at 6 in the morning. I specifically remember one moment when a teacher had asked me who was dropping me off at school.
I can’t remember her name for the life of me, but I remember she was helping me on the monkey bars since I was still too scared to go across them alone. She asked me, “so who was that that brought you to school today, Gianna?” I remember being embarrassed, and not even of my grandpa, but more of the fact that it wasn’t an actual parent that brought me to school.
I remember thinking it should be your parents who take you to school everyday. I told her “Oh.. Um. It was my mom.”
“No I saw that it was a man.. Was it your dad? Or Grandpa?” she continued to ask. I just kept saying it was my mom, and she dropped the subject.
I always thought that you should live with your parents, and your grandparents are in their own little home where you go to visit sometimes. I thought that I was strange because I lived with my grandparents and mom with no dad. I remember thinking I was the only one like that in my school. As I got older, I realized that it was okay.
It was actually a lot more okay than I thought, though. According to datacenter.kidscount.org, in the year 2006, 32% of children were within a single parent family.
Soon I ended up getting over the embarrassed feeling, but I still had to watch my mom struggle daily.
Obviously when I was little, my mom wouldn’t tell me what was going on with money or why she was stressed because I wouldn’t have understood it, anyways. But as I got a little older, I knew when things weren’t okay. I would ask what was wrong, and sometimes she would tell me and other times she wouldn’t. She knew that if she told me, I would take that stress and put it upon myself. She wasn’t wrong because I did do that.
But now as a young adult, my mom and I will talk about how it was for her and how she still deals with everything today. We recently talked about how she first felt when he left and if she could change the situation would she have. She told me that it wasn’t anything new because my dad had always been so in and out of her life. She wouldn’t have changed the situation because her and my dad are better off apart. They didn’t work together because he wasn’t faithful to my mom. She doesn’t even hate him for leaving.
“I’m more resentful towards the fact that you had to go without your biological father. So maybe yes I do hate him… well no.. no I don’t. I hate what he made you feel, and being a single mother has been the hardest job of my life.”
I hope this whole experience doesn’t sound terrible because it wasn’t always like that.
I remember for one of my mom’s birthdays, my aunt had told her she would take her to Las Vegas since she had always wanted to go. So, she went on her trip for about 3 days and when she came back, she had gotten me this shirt. It was sort of like a tie dye shirt and it had pink and a little bit of purple. It had a bedazzled crown on it and under the crown with pink gems wrote princess. I loved this shirt and wore it any chance I could. And maybe for others that’s not such a big deal because it’s just a shirt. But my mom had always struggled on being able to buy me clothes whenever she wanted too. So, this one shirt had meant so much to me.
No matter how much I hated growing up without a dad, I wouldn’t change the situation either. My mom is my best friend. I remember when I was little we used to just sit together and draw.
Growing up with a single mother has taught me that you do not need a man to help you. It’s taught me independence and strength. My mom will forever be the strongest person I know. I appreciate every single sacrifice she’s made for me, I appreciate everything she’s done for me and my well-being.
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I remember while I was in kindergarten, my grandpa would drop me off before he went to work since my mom started working at 6 in the morning. I specifically remember one moment when a teacher had asked me who was dropping me off at school.
I can’t remember her name for the life of me, but I remember she was helping me on the monkey bars since I was still too scared to go across them alone. She asked me, “so who was that that brought you to school today, Gianna?” I remember being embarrassed, and not even of my grandpa, but more of the fact that it wasn’t an actual parent that brought me to school.
I remember thinking it should be your parents who take you to school everyday. I told her “Oh.. Um. It was my mom.”
“No I saw that it was a man.. Was it your dad? Or Grandpa?” she continued to ask. I just kept saying it was my mom, and she dropped the subject.
I always thought that you should live with your parents, and your grandparents are in their own little home where you go to visit sometimes. I thought that I was strange because I lived with my grandparents and mom with no dad. I remember thinking I was the only one like that in my school. As I got older, I realized that it was okay.
It was actually a lot more okay than I thought, though. According to datacenter.kidscount.org, in the year 2006, 32% of children were within a single parent family.
Soon I ended up getting over the embarrassed feeling, but I still had to watch my mom struggle daily.
Obviously when I was little, my mom wouldn’t tell me what was going on with money or why she was stressed because I wouldn’t have understood it, anyways. But as I got a little older, I knew when things weren’t okay. I would ask what was wrong, and sometimes she would tell me and other times she wouldn’t. She knew that if she told me, I would take that stress and put it upon myself. She wasn’t wrong because I did do that.
But now as a young adult, my mom and I will talk about how it was for her and how she still deals with everything today. We recently talked about how she first felt when he left and if she could change the situation would she have. She told me that it wasn’t anything new because my dad had always been so in and out of her life. She wouldn’t have changed the situation because her and my dad are better off apart. They didn’t work together because he wasn’t faithful to my mom. She doesn’t even hate him for leaving.
“I’m more resentful towards the fact that you had to go without your biological father. So maybe yes I do hate him… well no.. no I don’t. I hate what he made you feel, and being a single mother has been the hardest job of my life.”
I hope this whole experience doesn’t sound terrible because it wasn’t always like that.
I remember for one of my mom’s birthdays, my aunt had told her she would take her to Las Vegas since she had always wanted to go. So, she went on her trip for about 3 days and when she came back, she had gotten me this shirt. It was sort of like a tie dye shirt and it had pink and a little bit of purple. It had a bedazzled crown on it and under the crown with pink gems wrote princess. I loved this shirt and wore it any chance I could. And maybe for others that’s not such a big deal because it’s just a shirt. But my mom had always struggled on being able to buy me clothes whenever she wanted too. So, this one shirt had meant so much to me.
No matter how much I hated growing up without a dad, I wouldn’t change the situation either. My mom is my best friend. I remember when I was little we used to just sit together and draw.
Growing up with a single mother has taught me that you do not need a man to help you. It’s taught me independence and strength. My mom will forever be the strongest person I know. I appreciate every single sacrifice she’s made for me, I appreciate everything she’s done for me and my well-being.