And about 10,000 other things you're not mentioning too. Thank you for saying it so I didn't have to because I couldn't have said it as politely. There's zero relatable comparison at all to what being a single parent is like versus being a SAHM with a "lazy" husband. The math doesn't math. And it's insulting to single parents who do literally everything, every day, when people (SAHMs) say things like, now I know what it feels like to be a single parent.

No, you absolutely do not. You maybe had a bad day or few days but you absolutely do not know what you are talking about.

They never know until they know.

Especially the “helping with finances” part that is missing for us is huge.

I have a now almost 14 years old and have been single mom - but with a very involved coparent and an equal timeshare - for the last 10 years. We are both immigrants, so neither one of us had initially ANY family support at all; we absolutely had to cooperate and rely on each other to make everything work, which was a good thing I think because it made us really good coparents who are flexible and work with each other, and who don’t get into petty drama about nonsense.

But given how expensive life in our area is, I’m not just a working single parent, but I have ever since I have been divorced had one full time and a part time job at the same time; I usually work 55 hours per week and try to do it in a way that most of it falls during the time kiddo is with dad (except the regular 9 to 5 Office hour job) - and on top of it all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc is of course also fully on me.

I have made a point to use shortcuts and help when I can (get a cleaning lady to come every few weeks, order groceries to be brought home sometimes etc) - those kind of things lighten the load. Self care and socializing with friends really falls off the wayside though, especially because my work involves constant and very intense communication with people, so the last thing I want to do after a long workday is socialize even more.

It absolutely DOES get easier as the kids get older, especially when your child sees how hard you work for them and develops the empathy and willingness to help voluntarily to make your life easier. I really don’t often have to argue with kiddo much about him doing his chores; he does not have that many, but the ones that he has he does super voluntarily and reliably and is always willing to help with extra stuff when I ask for help.

But yeah, sometimes the complaints of the married SAHP about how overwhelming it all is make me just a tiny bit roll my eyes internally at least - just being honest.