Single Moms Need Friendship: Gal Pals Help Ease Burdens

Ask any married woman to name the highest need of a single mom. Most will assume that babysitting is her top priority. Some women might suppose that financial help is a major contender. Others may guess that volunteering their husbands to fix things would help ease her burdens.

While all of these responses are certainly practical and beneficial, most single moms have an item on their wish list that frequently goes unnoticed: friendship.

Not just a passing "Hello," or a casual "We should get together sometime." Single moms need full-on, thick-or-thin, chick-flick-watching girlfriends. And this is much more complicated to attain than the average single or married woman may realize.

Mingling with other women is no simple task for single moms. Because they work full-time, most single moms have much less time to spend with their children. Therefore, when they are not at work, their children come first - no matter how exhausting their workday has been.

This, of course, puts housecleaning on the back-burner. Additionally, single moms must do the food shopping, the laundry, and the bills, because there is no one else to share the burden. Realistically, they would have to have another 8 hours in the day to meet the needs of everyone in the family to the fullest potential.

And then there is the issue of scheduling. If single moms do happen to make plans with a potential new girlfriend for coffee or a movie, it cannot be done spontaneously. They must first check their planner, considering all events pertaining to their work or their children. Then, should an open time slot occur, they must attempt to find a sitter - and the money to pay that sitter. Talk about a hassle.

The other option for single moms is to invite potential new friends to the house, so that no babysitting would be required. However, this would necessitate a grueling search for the couch under all of the laundry, toys, and book reports, before visitors arrive. (The reality is, until you've reached a level of unconditional friendship with another female, first impressions are important!)