The power of positive thinking – coping with life as a single parent

When you parent alone, it’s all too easy to get bogged down in the day to day tedium of life. As smooth and happy as I try to keep the family dynamic, there are plenty of times when I sit down at the end of the day and feel myself slowly slipping down into a state of mild despair.

Those hours between putting the kids to bed and putting yourself to bed can be very lonely ones – it’s typical ‘grass is greener’ territory. When you’re part of a couple you often crave an evening to yourself, then suddenly you have every evening alone, and it doesn’t feel fun anymore.

It’s times like these that a bit of positive thinking can work wonders. As easy as it is to become melancholy, so it also is relatively simple to turn things on their head. Imagine your life as a product, do some PR on yourself – you’ll be amazed at the positive spin you can put on even the dreariest of circumstances.

Last weekend for instance, I came home from a night out and got into my empty bed just after midnight. Maybe it was the three G&Ts I’d consumed in the last two hours, or maybe it was something bigger, but I found myself wishing I had someone to share my bed with. I let my thoughts wander to imagining having someone to curl up into, someone to give my bed that lovely man smell.

And then I caught myself.

Yes I was alone, but actually wasn’t that great? No duvet hogging, no snoring, no man smells of the less savoury variety. I know, I know, this may seem like clutching at straws, and I hope that one day true love will blind me to these minor irritations, but in the meantime I’m going to focus on the silver linings, no matter how big the clouds.

You can read more from Jo on her popular blog – Slummy Single Mummy

Share this post:

Related posts: