A single parent has detailed her extreme upset after hearing the heartbreaking comments her son made to their babysitter. The 26-year-old, who has a four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter, admitted that while she finds parenting her two young children alone a ‘huge struggle’ they are: “Fed, clothed, clean, go to daycare, and have everything they need.”
But she also shared how her babysitter told her something that truly tugged at her heartstrings: “I work full time, clean, cook, grocery shop, take care of the kids etc. All on my own. I have no time for myself and what little time I do I have I try to spend it with the kids. However, lately I've been very worn down,” she said.
“By the time I get my kids from the after daycare babysitter at 5pm I'm already mentally drained. Then as soon as I step foot into my apartment I have to start getting the kids ready for dinner, then bed if I want them to wake up refreshed for the day.”
She says she wakes up every day to her children fighting over everything, before having to change nappies, brush their teeth, feed them breakfast and get them ready for the 7.45am bus. “From there I have 45min to tidy the house, get dressed, eat something, enjoy a cup of coffee then go straight to work,” she said.
After telling how her job involved being yelled at by ‘ungrateful’ people over £4 ($5) fees when they have £100s of thousands of pounds in their bank accounts, she goes home every evening only to have to start all over again there.
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“My son has been asking for me to read to him a lot, but by the time I sit down to I'm so tired from my day I can't keep my eyes open,” she said. “I can tell this disappoints him and it kills me every time I tell him no, but I'm only one person and can only do so much. My kids constantly hang on me. Grabbing at my arms, legs, hair, feet. Anything they can do to touch me.”
She continued: “I love my children and I would do anything for them, but I'm tired. I have no help, my mum is sick and doesn't help much even when she's feeling well. My dad is an alcoholic and can't be trusted with them alone. My daughter’s father, anytime I try to reach out to him it's all about his problems and how bad things have gotten for him.”
With the single mum at breaking point, she told that hearing what her son had said to his babysitter was the final straw: “My son wishes I would read more to him. It tore my heart out to know I'm making him feel that way. And my daughter, although she can't express it yet, how I know the disappointment she feels when I ask her to stop touching me and to give me some space.”
Admitting the comments made her ‘feel like a failure’, she said: “Every day I wake knowing what the day brings and knowing that by the end of it all I'll be crying myself to sleep knowing I didn't do enough. I don't know what to do. There's just not enough time in the day for everything and I know my kids are the ones suffering for it…"
Her story touched a nerve with many Reddit readers, who headed online to offer their support to the struggling single parent. “This difficult time will not last forever. You’re doing a great job, and one day your kids will see that clearly,” said one reader, while another said: “Please do try to be kind to yourself. You’re doing the best you can. Take care, ok?”
“You are doing SO MUCH! You are amazing! These years are incredibly hard even when you have a good support system. It will be ok, I promise,” commented one supportive reader, with another saying: “You are the furthest thing from a failure, you are successful single parent. Your children are blessed to have you and they will know that their entire adult lives. They love you and they know you love them. Be gentle to yourself.”
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