Wow, what a year to be writing. And write I did, although a lot of it was off the blog both for other publications and for projects which are still not finalised so it might have felt a little quieter than normal (watch this space for the other projects sometime soon-ish).
I started the year with a nice positive post about what we can learn from single parents and given the pressures of 2020 (and into 2021) I think there’s something in there for everyone that we can learn from doing it alone which can be applied to help parents everywhere with the ongoing pressures of the pandemic.
Unsurprisingly it was the pandmic that formed a feature of much of my writing for the rest of the year.
In March, as the pandmic really took hold in the UK, I tried to raise a little awareness of the impact on single parents. I wonder if that still holds almost a year on? At the time myself and both my boys were ill with Covid and I was trying to work from home whilst homeschooling. To say that month was a disaster is an understaement. Thankfully after the Easter holidays I was furloughed until the end of August which eased the pressure a little.
In April, I boldly claimed that single parents were well placed to deal with the pandemic. I’m not so sure I’d agree with that anymore. We have some extra skills and experience of being isolated that’s for sure. However, for many of us the buffer to survive life’s knocks and bumps has been eroded gradually over the years meaning the pressures of this year have been incredibly painful and we’ve lost our carefully curated support networks. Still, we are still standing (well sort of) so perhaps I was onto something after all.
In May, I gave you a little insight into the best and worst bits of lockdown as a single parent. Again, I’m not sure if that all stands true now as we enter another lockdown, perhaps I’ll write a revamped one when I’m not quite so busy juggling single parenting, campaigning, writing and homeschooling! (So 2022 perhaps?)
In June, following the Cummings saga, I wrote him a letter (you’ll have to wait for my memoirs to see the contents of that), but during a slightly mad few weeks I was on channel 4 news and featured in The Guardian. I wrote about it in the iNews too. And on the back of it all, the Single Parent Rights campaign was born. It now has it’s own website, but in the interim, I set up a page on my blog to talk about why single parents need to be added to the equality act and how people can support the campaign. They all still stand, so do check them out if you want to get involved.
July and August were quiet on the blog as I worked on a piece for iNews highlighting the campaigns single parents were undertaking to address the injustices they faced, from unfair pricing policies on days out, to securing adaptations for their children living with disabilities. I also buried my head in some bigger projects which I hope to finalise this year.
September was a funny old month. Technically we were all out of lockdown, but as a solo parent feeling isolated and alone it didn’t much feel like that. I wrote about supporting those with suicidal feelings as well as what it was really like exiting lockdown.
October led to more words on the feeling of never ending lockdown as a single parent in a pandemic which in part inspired the piece on why feeling like a single parent in lockdown isn’t the same as being one. Still one of my favourite thanks to all the wonderful quotes and exeriences other single parents shared with me.
As we enter a new national lockdown, I think that final post is one that’s feeling rather current so if you want to share it around, please do. I’ve already heard people once again comparing themselves to single parents and if nothing else, it underplays how annoying it is to argue with a partner over who’s turn it is to do whatever it is that partners do.
2020 has been a hell of a year for single parents. But we have got through. Whether crawling, clawing or just plain old screaming. I have no doubt we will all rise like warriors to get through this next lockdown (and qny subsequent ones). I’m also very pleased to say it seems like single parents are being treated a bit better this time round with many schools and nurseries (anecdotally) providing priority places for the single parent families. Something which should be offered to all single parents who want to take it. I’m also in a much more fortunate position this time because due to illhealth I’ve ended up staying with my own parents so can share the load somewhat with the juggle that is life, work and kids in lockdown life.
I’ve had an exhausting year, not just from lockdown and all the joys it brings, but from a lot of illhealth thanks to long Covid (and other complications although no doubt all connected too) which peaked at the end of the year. 2021 is set to be a slow and steady one. The final home stretch. I’m just waiting for someone to wrap me in a silver blanket, hand me the refreshments and tell me, “you did it”.
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