I've been a lone parent for 6.5 years now.
I left the children's father when the youngest was 4 weeks old.
We never lived together as a family, he'd just shack up temporarily whenever he felt like it then return to his house wheId annoyed him too much or our toddler was distracting him from sitting on my computer 24/7.
I've lived alone with my two children for nearly 5 years now. Wow 
that makes it hit home actually.
I sway between sometimes hating the evenings - looking up rubbish on the web, watching Corrie and Channel 4 trash, etc. I get all my house chores out of the way during the day.
I used to be a prolific reader, but when the children were younger it was impossible to sit down and engross yourself in a book when you knew you could be disturbed at any minute.
Lately, perhaps coinciding with a new relationship, I've found myself missing something I never had, which sounds nonsense I know!
I miss the perception I have (because I've never had the reality, I left a DV relationship with a man who didn't want his children) that evenings are cosy, relaxing times to be spent vegged on the sofa going over your day's trials and tribulations with eachother, the good and bad, work stress, family gossip, dreams, obv as well as cuddles and canoodles where appropriate.
I miss not having someone to share my days with. My memories. I feel lonely, to be honest, as if I'm half living my life because there's nobody to reflect it all back at me with :/
But the solution is to distract myself better I suppose. I really ought to be doing something productive, perhaps reinstate an OU course I started years ago, even though the subject isn't going to help much when I return to work. I can't see a degree in Environmental Science being much use on the checkout at Poundland. That was a long time ago actually, as an aside does anyone know if there's a window for reinstating your course??
I am also inspired by some posts above employing people's creative skills. Food for thought.
I'm currently jobhunting. I imagine I'll just be too knackered when I start work to do anything but collapse on the sofa of an evening anyway!