Parents question regarding single parents/married parents?

As a married parent, I definitely see the benefit. As a mother, I could never fill the role of a father. My husband has a different approach to many situations, and their are just some issues he is better at dealing with. I am not great at being the disciplinarian. We have a wonderful son, who is very intelligent, well-behaved and independent. Once in a while, he will really get out of hand and because he normally listens so well I will be at a total loss. So, I get to pull the "That's it, I am getting your father!" card. Also, I am not good at sports. My husband taught my son to excel in all sports and he even taught him to ride a bike with no training wheels in one day. He teaches my son how to be a man, and he teaches me how to let him fall. As a mother, I am naturally protective, I want to catch my son every time he stumbles. My husband has taught me that my son needs to learn to climb a tree by falling off that low branch with no one to catch him, he needs to learn to ride a bike by skinning his knees a few times. If I am always there to catch him, he will never learn his limits, he will never learn how to land. I couldn't raise my boy to be a man without a man showing me how it's done; how else would a woman know? My husband could never be a mother. He doesn't hear every little cough at night, and he can't tell if my son has a fever with a single look. He will never master the art of kissing a boo-boo so that it immediately feels better. He could never nurture or comfort my son's little feelings the way I do, instilling compassion, empathy and a loving heart. He could never raise our son to be a real man without me.

Well, technically we aren't married, but we are in a two-parent household. Honestly I haven't noticed so much that a child is from a two-parent or single-parent household. What I've noticed that if the father is active in the child's life they seem to be happier. There are two little girls in my daughter's day care class who always cry and won't play much and (while I shouldn't know this about them) one has a father who just went to jail, and the other's father works away from home. The one who's father works away from home doesn't give any money to his wife or two children (they were living in a van until the day care asked for donations anonymously and gave them enough money to move into a low-income home).

So, while some kids come from homes where the parents are married it doesn't necessarily mean they are any better adjusted. My boyfriend and I aren't married. We're raising two girls (his 6 year old lives with us full time), and are expecting another. We have strong parenting beliefs and we're both very active in our children's lives. I volunteer at our 6 year old's school and our 4 month old's day care when I have time. He makes sure to read to them every night and we eat as a family every night. Even a single parent can make sure to do things "family oriented." So I don't think there's much of a difference.

I live in the Southwest U.S.

I was a single parent who is now a married parent. Depending on the support structure of a single parent, the is no need for any differences. Single parents that are on there own may let some things slide that a good married couple wouldn't. Nothing bad, but maybe due to time bath's are every other day instead of every day. But even married parents can let things slide. My husband works out of town and sometimes bath time is only a quick soak to get to dirt off and I will have time to wash hair tomorrow, or maybe the nest day. Behavior does not have to be any different. If there is 1 parent or 2, rules need to be set and followed, and people don't need to be married to do that. I see no difference in how my children are raised from when I was a single parent of 1 to now a married parent of 3. Only when my husband is home things go faster as he can dry and dress one while I wash the next one instead of me having to do it all alone.

Considering the source is acknowledging that she doesn't have much of a group to base such an observation on, I would suggest it be ignored.

Secondly, there are differences in all children, be it children of a happily married couple, a miserably married couple, a divorce couple, or 100% single parent.

So, no, I do not notice a difference based upon the marital status of the parents but based upon the parenting styles, or many times, lack of.

The source being the day care lady, stating "she has so few married parents in her daycare", how can she base a comparison when the single parents outweigh the married.

lol....no problem, water under the bridge, right?

well i'm not a single parent, but my boyfriend isn't my daughters father, and i've raised her myself for most of her life. in my opinion the behavior of the child depends on the parents, single or married. bad relationships between a child's parents can cause them some problems though.

From what i notice, the children i know vary in their behavior but it's not because they have one parent or two. i know some very well behaved kids that are being raised by only one parent, and some that are complete brats that have both parents. and even vise versa. i believe that my boyfriend has played a positive role in the up bringing of my daughter. before it was so hard to do everything i needed to do as a single mother, and he helps a lot and teaches me how to be a better parent and because of him helping me, i feel like i'm a great mom and i have a great kid. but something couples i know that are married and have one or even 2 kids, their kids are brats, spoiled, etc.

one reason why there are probably so few married parents in the daycare is because now-a-days moms who have husbands that provide for them, like to stay home with their children, while single parents don't have a choice.

It's really frustrating, but there's not much you can do about it. I know how you feel. I watch my daughter's father go out all the time and he basically lives the life of a bachellor - like he never even had a kid. But then I think about how lucky I am to really get to know my daughter and how rewarding that is and will be when she becomes older. Sounds kind of clique I know, but it is true. Also, I find that the people that have been the most patient about my situation have really been great genuine people and my relationship with those people have been very rewarding as well. Because they are the people who are the most accepting of me and my responsibilities as as single parent and respect me for that part of my life and admire me for valuing that part of my life so much. My boyfriend has been wonderful about it and has never given me a hard time with it - which makes me realize what a great person he is. Had I not had my daughter, I may not have appreciated him as much as I do. He really loves me for me and he respects me as a woman and as a single parent. It makes me happpy that I have brought someone into my life that can help me set a good example of how a great relationship can be to my daughter. Hope all that makes sense. E-mail me if you want.

I have been both. I raised my daughter alone until she was 6 years old, she is now 9. I also am married now and have a 13 month old son. I can see a difference in the way my daughter acts now. She has two people to help her, play with her, but also to discipline her. I do not see a difference in raising my son being married so far, than I did with raising my daughter alone. I guess maybe being married helps financially which helps with the stress level, so that could be a difference in the parenting skills.

<~~ Trying not to be defensive about this, so please ignore me if I come across this way.

I can only answer from my own experiences. I have been told by daycare that my son is incredibly well behaved and such a loving little boy. They've also told my mother and stepfather that when they have picked him up some afternoons.

They had no idea that Johnny's father wasn't in the picture until my mom told them. And she said they were absolutely shocked. They said he behaves better than most of the kids in his class (only been in time out once!) and all of the other kids in his class are from married parents.

I am married. I have married and single parent friends. I don't notice a difference at all. Some of the kids behave badly and some are very well behaved, they come from both types of families. I think it has more to do with how much time they spend with their kids and how high of standards they have for behavior, not whether they are married or single.

I live in Florida.

I honestly have not, a couple of girlfriends of mine are single moms but their parenting style or lack of father in the child's life has no affect on the child's well being. Did the daycare administrator expound on the differences? Was it emotionally, mentally, physically?