Coleen Rooney has NO idea what being a single mum is really like, comparing her life to people like me is shameful
COLEEN Rooney claimed that being married to Wayne has at times made her feel “like a single parent.”
As a solo mum to Mabel, seven, I was gobsmacked to read the 38-year-old mum-of-four reveal life’s like a constant “WWE wrestling match” with her boys and that she was often left “juggling” her home alone whilst Wayne was away playing football.
Coleen, speaking to Westlife singer Nicky Byrne, 46, on the most recent episode of his podcast, compared her life to that of a single mum.
Ridiculous.
I’ve no personal gripe with Coleen but she has no idea of the challenges we face. Her comments: “You could never rely on a plan. You couldn’t make a plan. That was hard because I like a plan and I like a schedule and I like to stick to that. I found that hard” are so removed from my lived reality.
I know exactly what it feels like to be a single parent, as I broke up with Mabel’s dad when she was a baby.
And since that fateful day, the parenting has all been on me.
There’s nobody else to lean on when things get crazy.
Only last Tuesday Mabel, seven, was hit in the face by a cricket ball at school, losing two adult teeth and two baby ones.
Abandoning my work and pay cheque, I sped off to collect my blood-covered child from school.
We’ve never managed to get an NHS dentist, so off we went to our private dentist, which cost me an absolute fortune.
I was consoling my precious little one, while pretending that I wasn’t devastated for her.
It would’ve been unthinkably helpful to have another parent there to ease my emotional woes, even if it was only on the other end of the phone.
Speaking of health, I recently convinced myself that the black spot on Mabel’s foot was actually a cancerous mole.
It was a terrifying thought, as I’ve endured melanoma treatment myself.
Child’s health fears
Thankfully, it turned out to be just a verruca.
But I desperately needed a bit of reassurance at that moment.
Then after I learned it was verruca, I started to panic about who would care for Mabel if the worst ever happened to me.
Practical support too
It’s not all about the emotional support though.
There’s the practical stuff too.
Coleen’s clearly never had to combat an outbreak of nits alone.
It’s near-impossible to comb those bugs off the back of your own head.
We endured three bouts of nit treatment, and I’m convinced it was because I kept missing them from my own hair.
And any single parent will tell you that the house is never quite clean, no matter how hard you try.
When you’re tidying up one side of the room, your child is trashing the other half.
There’s no one else to stop your kid enthusiastically covering the floor in glitter, glue and sellotape as you scramble to get things under control.
No time for… anything
As a single mum, people don’t realise that I’m with my daughter or working.
There’s literally no time for anything else.
It’s near-impossible to fit in a gym class or even a regular haircut when you’ve got limited childcare options.
Yesterday I looked into joining the local trail running club, but soon realised that it was impossible as none of the meet-ups ended before 8pm and I can’t find childcare that late.
I don’t attend the primary school PTA meetings, as they’re at 8pm when the kids are in bed.
Don’t even get me started on the financial side of things.
Who pays the mortgage?
It’s a constant effort to pay the mortgage each month now that there’s nobody to share the bills with.
My ex doesn’t pay a penny towards our daughter.
Yet Wayne was earning a fortune, and Coleen didn’t need to lift a finger to get the bills paid.
There are definitely perks to having a partner in your corner too. And not just because it gives you flexibility to work late at busy times of year.
Coleen’s experienced big success with her Applied Nutrition supplement line, yet that wouldn’t have been possible if her hubby wasn’t a famous sports star.
Let’s not forget that it was the power couple’s celeb status that led to her reported £5 million deal for her upcoming Disney+ reality TV series.
And who did the parenting while Coleen was in the Australian wilderness on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!
I totally get that being married to a footballer can probably be tough, however, it’s nowhere near the same as parenting solo.
Pretending otherwise does a disservice to those millions of us who do soldier on alone.