Step up or step in as a man!

Many women in South Africa raise their children as single mothers.

These are women who carry the responsibilities and burdens of raising their children alone on a daily basis. Most women do their level best, sometimes beyond their strength, just to make sure their children are comfortable in life.

Most of them make ultimate sacrifices and they also compromise themselves countless times just to ensure that the future of their children is successful. Believe me, these are women who don’t just make a home a better place – they make the world as a whole better.

These mothers bring hope where there was none, they bring light where there was darkness, and they also bring the future to the present by investing their time and strength in the well-being and success of their children.

If I made a list of all the things single mothers do to ensure a brighter and successful future for their children, believe me the list will be long and endless. And the truth of the matter is that everybody knows that most single mothers work hard for their children. I believe all responsible mothers should be seriously celebrated, more especially the hard-working single mothers.

The big question here is: did these women conceive these children on their own, without any man?

These children most definitely have fathers. So where are they and what are they doing?

Truly, it’s really a shame to see how most men fail to take responsibility for their actions by being there for their children.

When God made man the head and leader of the family, He also gave him strength to carry and administer that responsibility. So I don’t really think that men who deny responsibility are weak, they do have strength too. But they use their strength for useless and meaningless things rather than using it to step in or step up and assume their responsibilities. Such men think they are smarter and wiser by leaving their baby’s mother to raise the baby alone. And that’s far from being smart or wise – it’s plain foolishness, immature and ignorant.

I seriously urge you as a man to take a seat and have a moment of introspection about your purpose and your responsibilities in life. As a father you have a purpose driven by your role in your child or children’s lives. Many times single mothers try their level best to bridge the gap left by absent fathers. But truly speaking, they can’t be both mothers and fathers in the lives of their children.

There is a role that only a father can play in the life of a child. Even though you’re no longer in love or in a relationship with the mother, your child still needs your love and care.

As a father you must assume your responsibilities without thinking twice. A great difference in life can be achieved by doing so – we break the circle of fatherless children, because children need both parents in their lives.

“Take the bull by the horns” and stop running away from your responsibility. What you do to your child, he will do to his, thinking it’s the right thing to do. Two wrongs will never make a right. Some women who have the help of their men still struggle to balance things in life, for women have many things to sort out compared to man.

I can’t imagine what single mothers are going through when it comes to the balance of life. Being all alone is really hard for them.

I salute all the fathers who took responsibility to provide and to protect their children from day one. I salute the fathers who wish to do more for their children, but their economic situations deprive them of that privilege.

I salute the fathers who are no longer in a relationship with the mothers of their children, but make sure they have a healthy relationship with their children and shower them with love. I salute the fathers who do their best to be better fathers.

I salute the fathers who understand that a father figure is needed in every child’s life. I salute the late fathers who left their children with great memories and lessons to cherish. And I also urge fathers who are irresponsible to start being responsible. All it takes is a decision to be the father your child needs.