It is a fact that there are millions of single parent homes. In a majority of these cases the father is the absent parent, whether it maybe from a divorce or some other reason. In many of the single parent homes, the absent parents have little or no involvement in their children's lives. I came from a single parent home. My mother has been working two jobs for the past five years to support our family. Our family has had a fair share of both good and bad times. Those challenging times left a big mark on our lives but at the same time helped us come closer together. I am living proof that it is not easy being a child of a single parent for several reasons. The single parent misses important things in their children's lives because they are always working, if younger siblings are involved the oldest had to grow up to fast, and only having money for life's necessities. My mother was not able to attend school plays, spelling bees, or softball games because she was at work or she was too tired to come out and support me. At first, I would try to understand but later on, it really upset me. She was never there to watch my best performances, to see or hear me spell the winning word, or hit the game winning hit. When I needed her, she was never around. She missed so many of my biggest and proudest accomplishments. In some single parent homes, the responsibility lies in the hands of the oldest if they have younger siblings. They have to cook, clean, and watch their siblings. I was only in the fifth grade when my little brother was born. Since a majority of my childhood years revolved around raising my little brother, I missed out many of the things that children my age were suppose to do. I could not ride my bike, play kickball, or race on the water slide. It was not fair watching the other kids play from the window. The most important issue of all was money.