What benefits can I apply for?

clearingout

it's an interesting point. My mum is Catholic, although she was (at least surface wise) more than happy to have me divorced once it was clear my ex had been having an affair. I think a lot of it is about me and the obviously negative concepts I held about 'single mothers' and 'people on benefits' before coming one. My father read the Daily Mail which probably says an awful lot about the home I was brought up in, although I would say, very, very emphatically, that I don't see the world the Daily Mail way! I don't consider myself naive in any way but my life had chugged along nicely up to the point that the ex upped and left. I'd like to think I'm not a judgmental person, but at some level, I have to face that I was most probably a very judgmental person prior to all of this!

My children are, thankfully, well behaved. They are not, however, doing well in school. My eldest is very behind - but he has had to change school 3 times since starting (he's now in year 3) and he bore the brunt of our marriage breakdown. I also believe that he's dyspraxic - pursuing this at the moment. My middle child has a speech delay (as did his paternal cousin so there's possibly something genetic going on) and my youngest seems to be following that pattern. These are not, clearly, 'single parent' issues but it's hard that they're not 'perfect' and doing well so that I could stick two fingers up at my ex! However, I do know that I am doing the best I can and that if asked, their teachers would say the same about me. Life's tough, that's for sure!