Single Parenting: The Myths

8. Single parents value family values.
Because there is no marriage partner in the home, single parents focus a lot of attention on their relationship with children, the value placed on that relationship having a lot to do with the quality of family life. 

9. Single parents are good at making ends meet.
For most single parents, learning how to stretch a dollar seems to come with the territory, a skill that children in these homes are often lucky to learn. 

10. Single parents give children clear expectations.
In order to be able to count on each other, single parents create a family system in which children know what to expect of their parent and in which their parent knows what to expect of them.
 
11. Single parents teach children responsibility.
Knowing they cannot do every routine task that needs to be done, single parents are good at delegating self-management and household help to children who early on learn to carry more responsibility, drawing self-esteem from being significant contributors to the welfare of the family. 

12. Single parents are realistic about setting limits.
Because single parenting is an overdemand situation, single parents tend to be realistic about the limits of what they can do, saying “No” to themselves and children when doing more would drive them into doing too much. Rising to the challenge of parenting alone, single parents tend to parent very well.