Life of the Single Parent As Bill Richardson states, “Raising a family is difficult enough. But it's even more difficult for single parents struggling to make ends meet. They don't need more obstacles. They need more opportunities”. I could not agree more with this statment. When you think of a single parent you probably think of someone that works all day and night just to be able to raise one or two kids. When I think of a single parent I think, "There is a strong willed adult with kids that are lucky to have around"! Being a single parent is never the end of the world, you just have to look at it as a new challenge for you to conquer. However, there always will be disadvantages that you may have to just accept and do the best you can to get through them. The effects of having a single parent family aren't all bad though, there are several different ways you could turn it into a positive thing. There is always a chance of divorce in all couples so when it happens it is never really that big a deal. But when the couples have children is when it not only becomes a problem, it becomes a HUGE problem. The article Top Ten Reasons for Divorce says that the number 1 reason for divorce is lack of commitment, it states, "Commitment may be lacking in one of the partners because marriage happens not always out of love". People marry for all sorts of reasons that they themselves do not remember once they are a few years down the road. Couples that do this are doomed to fail right from the start and have no chance at all to raise a family! Sometimes being a single parent is not anybody's choice, it could have just happened because of the death of the partner. As Cynthina Parker states, "Becoming a single parent due to the death of a spouse and co-parent has special challenges for both the parent and child. Not only are you dealing with your own grief and assisting your