One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is pumpkin carving. I loved carving pumpkins as a kid, and I really love carving them now with the little ones that I live with. Carving pumpkins is always a super fun experience, especially as the children get older and want more complex designs. We got our pumpkins from Cammas Hall, where the kids got to pick out whatever pumpkin they wanted. Amelia ended up with the largest, which was white, Kai had a very classic looking pumpkin, and Robin had a slightly smaller one. Dann and I shared a red pumpkin that was quite flat, almost as if it had been squished down, which is what we liked about it.
Every year it feels like there are more and more national, or international, days. Single Parents Day is an interesting one because from person to person the definition of a single parent varies quite drastically. I don’t normally use the blog for much more than reviews or days out, as I’m quite a busy person, but this felt like a really good opportunity for me to talk about some of my experiences over the last few years. I’ve got three children, and they live between two homes. While they’re here I’m lucky enough to have my partner, Jupiter, helping me out – and she helps out a lot. So, in many ways, I don’t ‘parent alone’, but by some people’s definition, I’m a single parent.
The classic view of the role of a parent has changed a lot over the years. When I was at secondary school only one kid in our friend group had separated parents, and it seemed like a really rare thing. There was always a stigma around people separating, especially if they had children, and the general consensus was to keep muscling on in the relationship regardless. But at times that is the equivalent of telling somebody with a broken arm to “suck it up”. It turns out that divorce before 1900 was incredibly uncommon, with less than 1000 in a year in the 140 years before that. However, there was a big ol’ peak in that after WWII ended, and then it became incredibly in vogue through the 60s and 70s. Despite over 100’000 annual divorces (in the UK) since 1972, there was still a big stigma around couples separating. But, having a child or being in a relationship isn’t synonymous with marriage.
