Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think the gatekeeping of the single parent terms has to stop

78 replies

cadburyegg · 01/07/2026 10:20

Yet again another thread where someone is told not to post on the lone parent board. So ridiculous. Why is there such a competition amongst single parents (I am also one) to prove who has it the most difficult? In real life no one gives a stuff about the terms lone parent, solo parent, single parent and who uses them. Do we need to have a debate every time about which term to use? It’s not a race to the bottom.

OP posts:
PizzaPunk · 01/07/2026 11:05

Can you explain a bit more OP?

Did someone who isn't a single parent post in that topic to tell single parents how hard they have it?

It's not clear.

C152 · 01/07/2026 10:57

Haven't seen the thread. Is someone getting annoyed because part of a couple is referring to themselves as a single parent? If someone's using the term because their partner is a useless twat which, for all intents and purposes, makes them a lone parent, I don't have a problem with that. Or someone taking care of their kid(s) while their other half is away for a week etc. Surely it comes across in context? If someone is part of a stable and happy couple and blithely refers to themselves as a single parent just because they're taking their poppet to the playground alone for a couple of hours, I can see how that would be grating to real single parents who are struggling.

Rowley456 · 01/07/2026 10:57

I'm unfamiliar with the debate as I've not been a single parent for a few years now. Can you explain to me what you are annoyed about in more detail?