Yesterday I wrote a post about Modamily, a new way to make a family. It really is amazing how our families have changed and evolved over the years. Gone are the days when the stereotypical family was dad in a business suit, mom staying home raising their two to three children.
We’ve changed so much as a society it’s hard to say whether this is good or bad. Many people escape marriages that are abusive to them or their children, and it’s wonderful that we live in a time where no one feels they have to be trapped in an abusive relationship.
Then there are people who are just meant to be single. Sometimes they don’t discover it until a failed marriage makes them realize that they married because it was expected of them, not because it was what they really wanted.
So they revel in their singleness, they work, raise their children and nurture their friendships but at the end of the day they enjoy the solitude.
We still think that people who are single want to be married, or they are crazy cat ladies. Remember the old maiden aunt, poor woman couldn’t find anyone to marry her. Maybe she was just ahead of her time and knew what she wanted, which was to be single.
Why is there such a stigma not only about being a single parent but about being single in general. Someone recently said to me that she didn’t understand why I didn’t have a significant other, she said I have so much to offer, then she tried to talk me into online dating again.
This friend just couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t want to be coupled up. I think I have the best of both worlds, I have lots of friends and a daughter I adore. I can live every day the way I want, I can raise my daughter the way I want, I can do the things I want. Why is it hard for people to believe that being Hailey’s mother is enough, I don’t feel the need to be married.
That may change, but for right now, I’m right where I want to be.