Almost no one can take on an entire future in one step, much less while reeling emotionally.
Carolyn HaxI'm sure there are people who can toggle quickly from all-in caregiving to structured socializing, but I can't think of any offhand.
Carolyn HaxYou can't make someone agree with you, not even when you're 100 percent sure you're right.
Carolyn HaxThe sudden death of a partner while expecting a child is so universally understood as awful that I don't think anyone with any other weight to carry is going to get to same kind of sympathy - except perhaps people who lose a child.
Carolyn HaxThere has been, for some reason (or more likely an unfortunate accumulation of reasons) a trend over the past several decades for parents to do the work of parenting in the isolation of their own homes - and not only that, this trend has overlapped with the other trend of much deeper parent involvement in raising kids. That you also represent trend No. 3, more people raising kids solo, has only exacerbated a close-to-no-win situation.
Carolyn Hax