Being a single mom in public

[4ASEC (Amy in Florida)]

I just polished off a weekend marathon of GSPN goodness that was at least a month old, so I can't remember exactly where this topic originated.  However, I wanted to take a quick moment to comment on the laughter/conversation about Stephanie being at the grocery store with three kids and no wedding ring.     

Luckily, as a single mom, I have never had a situation where I get strange looks or feel the need to mention a non-existant father (which I would never do as it would actually be confusing at best for my child to hear).  Thankfully, so far, that has not been an issue.  Either that, or I am just blissfully existing in a naive world with my little girl.  I think we will stay there as long as possible!   

Just curious if other single parents out there have faced negative reactions in public, and if so, how you handled.

 

[Cliff Ravenscraft]

Great question.


Personally, I've never in my life, looked at someone's ring finger to see if they were married or not.  I hear stories all the time about people who leave their ring at home and they get asked out, blah, blah, blah..

Now my wife has an Eagle Eye.  She can spot someone's wedding right from a mile away.

We'll be watching a movie and she'll comment on whether that actor's wedding right "accidentally" showed up in one 3 second scene.

It's been said that women are more observant than men.  So I wonder if these "negative reactions" occur more from women than they do men.

[LeeAndrew]

Same here, just like Cliff I never look at hands to "find" a ring, in fact I never ever thought about checking. Now while I am the observant person in our family, my 3 sisters spot the "ring issue" all to often. I suppose its a question of what you are looking out for.....

I know a few single moms, but they have not really had any odd / bad experience in public. I think that is because where we live people mind there own business.... 

[goode]

My friend is eight months pregnant and she can't get her wedding ring on right now because her hands are quite swollen. One day I picked her up to go to the movies and she made me turn around and she borrowed her husband's wedding ring to wear because she didn't want to be seen pregnant and not wearing a wedding ring.

Personally I don't notice these things, nor care. If I saw a pregnant woman and happened to notice she wasn't wearing a wedding ring, I would probably assume her hands were swollen, but even if she wasn't married, sometimes these things happen and I don't know the circumstances and it's none of my business.

As a woman, the only time I looked for wedding rings was when I was still dating and met a man. I had to know if this was just a conversation, or a potential date

[JoyfulSparrow]

I never think to look for a wedding ring. Even before I was married I never thought to "check" that.  But I think I am not very observant about a lot of things becuase friends used to fill me in on stuff I missed all the time.

Even my husband has commented about a business coleague did not wear his wedding ring when he traveled for business.  So I guess it isn't just women who notice these things.

Currently I can't get my own wedding ring on becuase it needs to be resized.