Non-Traditional Roles
In today’s age, a mom has to be the Jaqueline of all trades. Being a mom cannot be perceived as a secondary role since this role defines your life perpetually, and centrally. And that’s if you’re in an ideal situation which is characterized by a stable two-parent household.
Moms have a tough enough job as it is, and that’s without the consideration of women stuck in a single-parent situation. Divorce is difficult, especially if you’re a custodial parent—there are many responsibilities.
If you’re a single mom, you’ll be lucky to get a good night’s sleep. That said, it is possible to reach a sort of “cruising altitude”, and one of the best ways to do that is to take personal control of your household. It means learning things not traditional to the understood “mom” role.
Can You Fix It?
For example, if you’re not technically inclined—and your spouse was—what will you do if the caulking around the bathtub begins to flake off? Will you leave it and ruin the structural integrity of the tub and bathroom, or will you pay a contractor $50 to fix it? Or, will you go down to the Walmart, grab a $3.00 tube of caulking solution, and do the job yourself?
You can do the job yourself. Moreover, it’s not that hard. It’s just not in the ken of most mothers in a single-parent situation. You may be averse to this for the same reason a traditional father may have difficulty offering words of encouragement to a daughter in ballet: traditional roles don’t typically work well outside their job responsibilities.
But you, as a single parent, can’t afford to let this daunt you. Even if you’re not a single mom, you want to get your head around as many fixes you can affect yourself as possible. There are a lot of little repairs you can make which don’t require extensive mechanical skill. You may even get to the point where you’ll be upgrading your home by yourself.
There are many ways to make your living situation nice, elegant, and remarkable. You can do the wallpaper yourself. You can paint the house. You can probably put in new floors. You can take care of the lawn, plant a garden, and grow real fruit from it; that may even cut costs when it comes to food.
Mother With A Table Saw
If you really want to break the mold, you might even look into things like woodworking. You may even find you like it. A nice chair can cost $100. Or, if you understand your woodworking, you can design and build one for under $20 in your garage. This simply requires acquiring the right tools and learning how to use them. For woodworking, you’ll need an electric saw of some variety.
If you’re looking for a top-rated contractor table saw, as seen on Toolnerds.com, you’ll also get the information which will help you get an informed decision. According to the site: “If you’re a devoted professional who handles wood on a daily basis, a contractor table saw is a tool that’s going to make every aspect of your job much easier.”
That said, there are some solutions in this realm which are only for the professionals, so don’t get too far ahead of yourself! You want to take things one step at a time. As a parent who is on her own, you’re not going to have a lot of time to attempt intricate woodwork. This is true even if you’re in a two-parent household.
Maximize The Time You Have
A great strategy is to consolidate your time. Try to avoid that which wastes time unnecessarily. Sure, it’s nice to plop down in front of the TV when you have a few hours to yourself. But watch something edifying. Watch something that teaches you a new skill; that drives you, that inspires you.
You may even find a secondary means of income which ends up overcoming your primary pay, and allows you to devote more time to that about which you’re passionate.
