Widow Rant!!!!!You don't have to read this
Talking to many of my younger widowed friends with young children over the last few years and there seems to be a huge misconception in the general community.
The misconception you ask? Because they are widowed they are unable to now raise their children without the support of their deceased husbands.
This makes me shake my head in wonder at the strange and Victorian beliefs that still linger in society today. No one thinks twice about single parents of either gender raising children alone. A divorced parent is not considered incapable of raising the children of the marriage either, so why is it that so many believe a widowed person is incapable of raising his or her children?
I have met many young widowed and their children and after the first few days of intense grief they move forward and adjust to their new normal. The children grow up still knowing that the parent who is no longer here still loves them, they know that the parent who is still living is going all out to do their very best for them and those kids are well adjusted, bright and lively kids. In some cases they are better behaved than some kids in families where there are two parents.
It is a hangover from the 1800's to treat a widowed person as if they are incapable of raising their kids alone. Back then a widowed person was encouraged to marry again as soon as possible to enable them to have someone who can help them raise their family. A widower was always encouraged to marry another woman fast as it was considered impossible for him to raise children alone.
We are now in the 21st century. Attitudes should change. So many families are now different to the way they were structured then. We have families where we have two parents, families with just a Mum or just a Dad, all these families work, so please let the widowed sort out their families for themselves. If we do need help most of us are quite capable of asking for that help.
