My partner of six years and I are splitting up. He helped me raise my six year old daughter from the time she was two. He is the only father she has ever known. Unfortunately this split means going across the country for us and likely never seeing him again.

There has been DV issues and I’m finally saying enough is enough but my daughter is really struggling with the idea of losing her friends, her dad, and the house. She has said things like “I’ll become a ghost and sit here and do nothing.” “I’ll drown myself in the tub.” “I don’t want to lose our family.” She is trying to ask her dad if we can stay and work on the family.

I know we need to leave. She’s seen so much bad.
How do I help her cope with the transition. She’s terrified of our life being worse without him and without the dual income household.

What can I do? It makes my resolve want to break.

So my child m6 informed me that his friends group (mainly one child) is playing a game where they dig into but holes like a but hole chase.

I just emailed the principal regarding how it’s inappropriate I understand boys will find this silly and funny However I’m trying to teach my boy consent body boundaries private areas ect

Honestly the primary parent has the most awkward situations to deal with his father is like report it now I have to face the school and be like yep it’s me who’s annoyed other kids don’t understand that it’s not ok to grab and dig at others bum holes….

Wtf has my life come to… would you email the principal my SIL thinks I’m being dramatic his father who hardly sees him says repot asap my SIL has girls to me it’s important I teach respect boundaries consent and if mine sees others doing it he will be like why don’t others respect others body’s

What a conversation…. FML as the youngsters would say

For context, I'm 34F, divorced about a year ago, one 7-year-old son. During the school week he's with me, and the everyday costs are mine to figure out. Rent, Hort fees (around €130 a month), groceries, gas, packed lunches, and the €15 Ausflug permission slip that appears from the backpack at 9pm.

I can cover the fixed stuff. It's the constant little things that catch me off guard. €10 here, €22 there, new shoes because his toes hit the front overnight, and I'm standing in the Drogerie doing math in my head over shampoo.

I'm not asking for pity or money. I just want to get better at planning for all the small stuff that never feels small when it adds up.

I grew up as the kid whose jeans were always too short and whose backpack was held together by hope. I remember pretending I didn't care. So when my son says "Mama, alle haben die" about some shoes or a water bottle, it hits a nerve he doesn't even know about. He's not being bratty. He's a sweet kid. It just takes me back.

I already do the basics. Meal plan, keep a running list on my phone, buy the next size up at H&M or KiK when I spot something cheap. Library afternoons, playground days, movie nights on the couch. Saying no in the toy aisle more than I'd like.

For stuff like socks, basics, and school supplies, I usually check tiktok power deals for a quick price drop before I order, and if there's a sale running somewhere I'll stock up so I'm not paying full price every single time. It's small savings but over a month it adds up.

Still, every month feels like picking what gets handled first. Clothes, haircut (€18 every six weeks), Vereinsbeitrag for Fußball (€12 a month), class birthday gifts, the lunchbox that smells no matter how much I scrub it.

How do you all handle the ongoing kid costs without stressing every time? Separate kid budget? Sinking fund? Secondhand rules? Or do you just ride out the tight months and reset next payday?

full time single dad, one kid, shes 5. no co parent in the picture, its just me.

im not really venting, i think im genuinely asking. how do you deal with the yard.

when i mow i either have to do it during her nap, which is the only 40 minutes i get to sit down all day, or i do it while shes out there and i spend the whole time watching her instead of the mower. neither one works great. last week she wandered toward the street while i had my back turned for ten seconds and my stomach dropped.

i looked into hiring someone and its like 40 a week around here. i cant really justify that on one income, thats groceries. but the grass grows whether im tired or not.

i know its a small thing compared to what a lot of you are carrying. it just feels like one more thing thats all on me with no one to hand it to for an hour.

so honestly, whats your system. do you pay someone, do it at night, let it grow, something else i havent thought of. im open to anything.

I was out with some friends of mine (a couple) and they started asking me how I managed to do it on my own,life must be so hard,dating must be so impossible,I must be struggling at work with work life balance,my child must be so traumatised from having an absent father yadda yadda.Worst part is they weren’t even trying to be mean but I really really hate it when people say this kinda stuff to me.I literally unfriended someone who was constantly telling me she doesn’t understand how I could do it and why I don’t look depressed.And that if it were her she wouldn’t know what to do if she were on her own and she would take out her stress on the kids.I know people are trying to be supportive I guess but I have such a negative reaction to this kinda topic.Anyway I just needed to let it out coz I was stewing all day and just said that it’s by the grace of God that I managed and I do my best blah blah.I hope you had a better day than me 😊✨

SPECIAL NOTE: Special thanks to all of you who read this the last time, posting it here for those who may have missed it.

My intention here is to share the example of my own mother, who is now in her early 50s and still fighting on, who battled many challenges from birth until now. Before moving to this part, would like to start with the lowest point of her life.

My mom restarted her life both career and financially 13 years ago at 39, where she started as a Single Mother raising up two young kids, I was 5 and my elder sister was 9. She was totally broke financially with nothing to her name and just the flat which she fought so hard to retain back full ownership as she was so worried about losing her only source of security during that time, a roof over her head. She went through every single obstacle the past 10+ years with no one. She just solo tanked every single thing

The reason why I said it, is because my mom was abandoned at 13 years old with totally no family support as her whole family migrated overseas and left her here, to fend for herself with no start nor family support. She had no one either and she never had the chance to further her education. She only has only a Primary School educational qualification to her name. Plus her childhood was a literal torture too and she came from extreme poverty.

She started Selling Food at a Food Court at just 13 years old, working 10+ hours before moving onto other jobs like Retail and more etc.

She slowly worked her way in her 20s going from entry level office roles, to senior level positions and even founded a small business in her 30s which was pretty successful. She never let her circumstances nor educational qualifications control her life direction at all.

So, the scenario 13 years ago was a literal shock to her and the family. Instead of being some people and single moms who gave up totally and ask the kids to fend for herself. She stood up and said she is willing to restart from 0 all over again regardless.

She started doing nightlife work and income was low too for the first few years because of family circumstances and it was hard for her to find a full time job too. But she never gave up and continued pressing on, working 10+ hours, relying on 2 hours of sleep daily. Plus, people looked down on her, saying that she will never see any light at the end of the tunnel regardless if how hard she worked and slog.

It was until during COVID 6 years ago where she received an offer to work for a pretty big company in the Medical Industry and that was really the breakthrough. She started as a entry level employee but progressed on to a Management position where she is now, being a Head Of Department for her own department which she had the opportunity to build up from nothing at a small start up.

Although its only 13 years but the amount of things she has gone through is really what people don't understand unless they read her full life story.

She may be in her 50s but she has always told me and my elder sister, this is only the start and she will continue to fight on and find ways to further improve herself, whether its finding more income streams or furthering her qualifications through flexible qualifications like online certs.

I am.writing this especially to single mothers and mothers or even the redditors moms out there, that every single adversity you face regardless of how old you are (e.g 20, 40, 60, 85 yrs old), always brings a new light and path to something even greater!