I am looking for a legit scholarship for myself for children who live in a single parent household. All the ones I find are for the parent to go to school and not the child. I know there have to be some out there but i can’t seem to find them. help! thanks!

I divorced from my ex husband when my children were 3 and 1. He immediately got together with the woman he was cheating on me with and after a long (over 1 year) custody battle, he ended up winning custody. Not only because he told a ton of lies in court, but because he now had a two parent household and I had a single parent household.

My kids are now 10 and 12. I have every other weekend visitation and holidays. Lately they’ve been saying they don’t want to come see me, because they want to play with their friends and do all the fun things their dad and step mom tell them they missed out on when they’re with me. I try as hard as I can to make their time fun with me, but since I only have them 4 days a month, our time is obviously limited.

How do you handle it when your child tells you they don’t want to see you? I love my children with all my heart and I’m torn-do I make them stay because I love them and want to see them any time I can, or do I let them go?
I should point out- yes, there are lies told by the other side. I honestly don’t believe it’s from ym ex, but from the step mother. The kids have told me straight out that she’s said I didn’t have custody ebcause I didn’t want them, that SHE carried them in her stomach, etc. The oldest looks a lot like me and the step mom tries everything she can to change her appearance- cuts her hair, colors it blonde (her color) etc. She is also letting them get away with murder so I look like the "mean one" if I have rules. They also make a lot more money than I do, so I can’t buy boats and expensive cars and costly clothes. I don’t make pennies, but they’re spoiled over there and i can’t compete financially. Because they are with me only every other weekend, they don’t have those close friendships established with a lot of kids at my place. I’ve asked them if they wanted to invite any of their other friends over but they say no, I think they are embarrassed, most their friends don’t know I exist.
I do go out of my way every time I have them to ensure we do at least one fun activity- go to the movies, go to golfland, go bowling, play board games, baking, shopping, etc etc.

Also, they do have their own rooms with 25" tv’s, cd’s, movies, games, toys, video game systems, etc. I didn’t want it to seem like they are visitors in my home, even though it’s only every other weekend. I have repeatedly told them how my door is always and will always be open for them at any time.

Single parenting is already becoming a rapidly growing trend in the society today. Studies show, that in the United States alone, there are four single parents to every ten parents and there are two single parents for every 10 adults.

Single parenting can be the result of a voluntary decision, such as those women who choose to have a child by artificial insemination and those unmarried persons who adopt children. Women who become pregnant outside of marriage, or those parents who are widowed, divorced, or simply deserted by their spouses are all single parents.

More of single parent homes are female than male. The reason for this is that mothers are the one who gave birth to the child, so the mother and child have a stronger connection than with the fathers. But whatever the sex of the parent, parenting alone raises some unique challenges.

The problems that single mothers face are that they have a more difficult time providing for their families because women generally have lower paying jobs. Even though women face greater financial problems, they tend to be more nurturing to their children.

The fathers are often thought of as the one who brings home the money and not much else. In single parenting, the father must do a little bit of everything and take the place of a missing mom in the household. Men tend to have higher positions in the work force, so single dads do not run into the economic issues that single moms do.

Being a single parent inherently comes with challenges, when it is a single parent household, the single parent must wear several hats and do a great deal of tasks to keep the family together. Children raised in one parent homes have the opportunity to take more responsibility for the entire family’s well being than those with two parents to share the burdens of income earning and family care, making them independent, mature, resourceful, and responsible.

Because of the demands of single parenthood, single parents have a harder time dating others. Childcare must be arranged and there simply is limited time to spend dating and hanging out with friends. This would cause some single parents to be angry and feel left out of the “adult world”.

Single parents have the unique opportunity to influence their child or children for good or ill, without the counterbalance of another parent. Fortunately, many children raised in a single parent home will report with admiration the extra effort made by their single parent Mom or Dad.

Ms. Jane Bear is the best writer since Shakespeare. See more of her stuff at Guide to Infant Items Get your free report on Maternity Clothes and Apparel

Today’s Facts….which of course do not pertain to all single parents however…….

Today in America…

Single parents account for nearly a third of family households with children under the

Half of children will live in a single parent household at some point in childhood.

The number of children born to unmarried women per year quadrupled from 500,000 to more than two million in less than twenty years.

The number of single mothers increased from three million to ten million between 1970 and 2000.

Every day in America, 1,186 babies are born to teen mothers.

Every day in America, 3,742 babies are born to unmarried mothers.

What is the effect?

Violent criminals are overwhelmingly males who grew up without fathers.

Seventy-five percent of children/adolescents in chemical dependency hospitals are from single parent families.

More than half of all youths incarcerated for criminal acts lived in one-parent families when they were children.

Sixty-three percent of suicides are individuals from single parent families.

Seventy-five percent of teenage pregnancies are from single parent homes.

Children living at home with both parents grow up with more financial and educational advantages than youngsters raised by one parent, as US Census statistics have long shown.

Seventy-two percent of the US Populations believes that fatherlessness is the most significant social problem America is facing.

Children in single parent families are two to three times as likely as children in two parent families to have emotional and behavioral problems.

Children who lived with only one parent had lower grade point averages, lower career aspirations, poorer attendance records, and higher drop out rates than students who lived with both parents.
I am totally aware of deadbeat dads……trust me.

I did say not all single parents. I know there are many great single parents and many horrible parents who stay together. I do find these statistics to be a bit alarming though. Don’t you?