To think that being a lone parent during lockdown is a new kind of hell?

[Notcontent]

I need to get this off my chest.

I have been a lone parent for many years and it’s been tough in many ways. But the current situation makes it so much harder. My dd is now old enough to get on with stuff herself and help with things but I am juggling working from home with trying to feed us, etc. There is also the huge mental load and not having anyone to share it with. I am pretty stressed out but need to provide moral support for my dd. It’s tough.

That is tough! Do you have anyone you can call for a rant when it all gets too much?

Me too! I’d love an adult around to talk to.

Vent away, OP, whatever it takes to get through this.

Is it too early for ?

I do feel for you OP - I'm not envious of those doing this alone. It's tough keeping on top of my 7 year olds school work with two adults here let alone one of us.

Vent away!

I'm trying to get me and DD into a routine basically based on tiring her out and giving her some 1:1 time in the morning to leave me free to WFH in the afternoon.

8-9 am get up and ready for the day. Put a load of washing on.
9 am Joe Wicks work out.
Hang washing out, play in the garden together.
Me, catch up on house work, Dd carry on playing in garden with the cats.
11:30 Otis dance class on YouTube.
DD peel and chop veg for soup and throw into soup maker. Me check and reply to emails.
Have lunch.
DD gets on with school work (Tt rockstar, spellings and literacy activity) and I start to WFH. DD is then free to play minecraft or whatever she wants to do until Dinner time.

I think it's easier doing it alone, you don't then have to deal with another adult round the house who isn't normally there and messing with your routines - you can do it how you like, when you like.

It’s honestly so hard the thought of doing this for weeks and weeks on end makes me a bit tearful

Mentally I think it's really difficult but I have now been told not to come into work (after previously being told I needed to come in and not being able to find childcare) and honestly so far I am really enjoying it.
Being a lone parent once you come back from work you have a million things to do every day where as now I am looking forward to catching up with everything and actually having some fun with my DD instead of every day being a mad, stressful rush.
I may change my mind after a week or 2 though haha

@HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime I really like the sound of that routine and will definitely try it for myself!

It's lonely right now but I am SO happy ex DP is not still here! That would be fucking torture, he's already making moves to get back in. He has quit his job, moaning about his mental health, next will come the sob story about no money and not being able to pay his rent. Why won't he just fuck off?

My DH is a police officer and will soon be working 12/14 hour days and I will be with the kids their waking hours. I know I will struggle and will look forward to him coming home so to be a lone parent in this time would be awful!

I'm ok muddling through working from home.
However I am now worried about supermarkets. Waitrose have brought in a sensible queuing system and I'm scared I won't get in on Friday. I can't get deliveries and I don't want to leave the dc's for too long.

Honestly I couldn’t think of anything worse than being on lockdown with children. Not an attempt to gloat, I genuinely don’t understand how people are doing it.

I know I couldn’t!

I’m a lone parent with children, 7 and 10. I’m a key worker but have been denied a childcare place by the council. My parents were initially going to do the childcare but they revoked that offer after last nights announcement because they feel that it’s unnecessary travel and the way it was worded that you’re not to travel to friends or family’s houses. So now I’m waiting on management contacting HR to see what they say. I’m screwed.

It's going to be so tough for lone parents at the moment I've thought often over the last few days how lucky I am DH is off (technically on holiday) he goes back sunday and I'm dreading it. He's a police officer and will be gone 13 hours a day but at least at some point I'll see him. His nights will probably be tough as I'll have entertain all 3 DC(7,5&2) in the house and garden quietly while he sleeps during the day. I know this is nowhere near the same thing and just the thought of it is stressing me out!

I'm a lone parent & classed as s key worker. I got a place at the school so that's a relief for some of the childcare. The rest is a nightmare. Here, there & everywhere which defeats the purpose. I also feel horrified that I'm sending my child out to a new & scary school without their buddies whilst I take nothing but shit all day. We should be together. It's awful, I have been in bits the last few days. Having no one to talk it through with at night is hard. This will definitely make us stronger if it doesn't completely break us.

My best friend is a lone parent (her ex doesn't want to see their DD in case he catches something from her, he's not fussed the other way round it seems!)

So it's just her & her DD 3 who's going through a tricky phase & wondering why Daddy isn't coming to see her & blaming her Mummy

We're messaging on & off during the day but I know she's finding it upsetting.

No advice but I feel for you, have some virtual &

Ex is actually being more sensible that I thought he'd be. He was due to have Dd today and tomorrow but came to the sensible decision to self isolate from us for a week as he has being testing for people with symptoms at work. He is currently skyping with Dd and I can hear lots of giggles which is lovely.

We are both key workers but I'm not required at work for another 10 days so I really didn't want to expose her unnecessarily but left the ball in his court as I didn't want to be the one to suggest stopping contact.

Yeah me too. Kids are tweens. I'm a teacher so meant to be providing remote learning for m own students but can't do more than post assignments for them to get on with due to lack of sufficient screens for us all and my two needing pretty much constant overseeing to share the laptop, print stuff out etc. They are going to their dad's but not yet. I'm on here a lot for some adult conversation. They're being pretty good really but it is tough.

Thanks to those of you who understand. If I could just relax and do housework that would be ok (yes, I really wouldn’t mind that!) but I have a full time professional job that I now have to do from home, so juggling it all is hard.

Yes, I'm finding it really stressful and can feel myself becoming quite anxious/panicked about it all. My kids are older, and pretty well behaved/motivated to do their work, and we've a bit of a schedule in place and are okay for things like food, but it's the mental strain of it all that is making me feel quite unwell. I feel a bit like I did around the time when ex and I separated - nauseous, panicky, don't want to eat, just feel really shit!

We've decided that they won't see their dad (they only saw him Sat night/Sun/Sun night anyway), and seem okay about that, and I don't feel like I need a break from the kids at all, but I feel that I'm having to be 100% responsible for them at a particularly stressful time.

It doesn't help that I can't see my boyfriend (of over a year), because we don't live together and he wants to understandably stay near his children. It's making the whole thing feel a whole load worse. I know it's only temporary, but it is quite frankly shit! I just keep trying to focus on the first time I see him after all this is settled down.

I fully understand being alone with two children in a house for weeks on end with no time to yourself to process is awful

I’m with you too.

I thought when it was clarified that children could travel between the houses, my ex would share the load but he emailed me saying he wasn’t prepared to take the risk.

So all down to me then

Lone disabled parent with a 2 year old. I go to work for a break 🙈. But I'm in the most vulnerable group and not a key worker so I'm isolated with a twoligan. He's keeping me on my toes!