I could not wait to be an adult so that I could take care of my Mum. She
disapproved my idea of working during the holidays. She even got me enrolled in extra-curricular activities because she strongly believed that school education was vital. To my amazement, most of my friends with both parents could work during the holidays rather than enrol them for extra-curricular activities.
Apart from making sure that I was not behind in my School Education, she also strived to make sure I lack nothing in other areas. I always had the right clothes and other good stuff, this earned me a good position as of one of the popular kids at school. Friends with both parents did not have as much as I did and were envious. My school fees were paid before due dates, compared to some of my classmates with both parents whose fees were never paid on time.
Some of my friends could not believe that I received no support whatsoever from my Dad. They believe that my Dad would have been making regular deposits into my Mum’s account without my knowledge, I wished this were the case. If my Dad had been doing this my Mum would have told me. She had my head buried among books, thinking about her sacrifices I had to make sure that I did not disappoint her by getting good grades to prove it. Dealing with figures has never been my strongest point.
I hated mathematics most especially with the formulas attached, but thinking about how Mum went the extra miles to give me the best, I also put in extra efforts in getting good grades, especially in mathematics. And even when I was behind regarding my academic promises, all she ever did was to encourage me. A friend of mine whose result was not impressive got a tongue lashing from his mum. A single parent like my mother, she portrayed how useless his father was using cutting remarks and derogatory terms. My friend gave up schooling and ended up on the street.
As a grown up I will always admire the way my mum handled this issue compared to my friend’s mum. She never said anything negative about my Dad. Whenever he pops up during conversations, she never said anything positive or negative about him.
Were you raised by a single parent, how was life growing up?
Are you a single Parent, how are you coping?
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