If you are a newly single dad, you may be feeling anxiety about how to parent successfully on your own. If you have recently gone through a divorce or separation, you are likely trying to cultivate your own approach to parenting while navigating a different approach taken by your child’s other parent.
It is completely normal to feel anxiety about single parenting during this transition. Thankfully, if you take some time and effort to prepare yourself for some likely scenarios that you will almost certainly face at some point, you can ease a great deal of this anxiety proactively.
For example, there will come a time when you will need help from others. Single parents are often strong, independent and pride themselves on juggling numerous obligations at once. But if you fall ill, if you unexpectedly have to go out of town or even if you simply find yourself at the end of your rope for a day or two, it will be imperative that you have access to some additional support.
If you can count on loved ones to help you on short notice, that is great. But if not, consider connecting with other parents at your child’s school or other single parents in the community. Preparing for emergencies will make them easier to navigate.
In addition, it is important to anticipate burn-out and to prevent it when possible. If you can schedule some time for yourself to do what you love to do, you will be less likely to suffer from caregiver burn-out and to have that kind of depletion affect your kids.
Source: The Huffington Post, “11 Hard Truths About Single Parenting,” March 11, 2014
