"It had been three years that we'd been saying hi, and neither of us knew that the other was a single parent." Zoe found herself at the beginning of her new life as a single parent. Single parenting is even harder. “We know that single parents face a particular risk of loneliness. Shortly before the planned date, Zoe, who co-parents with her son's father, launched the Frolo Instagram account, @frolo_app.
“When I was little, I dreamed of having my own little family unit, so I was crushed when it didn’t work out.” Zoe, who was living in London at the time remembered feeling lost; “I just felt like an alien. The app has messaging and chat functions, a newsfeed, advice, and recommendations. It really hit me like a tonne of bricks,” she says.
When my daughter was three weeks old, I took her to my best friend’s house for dinner with some other friends – none of whom had children. One single mother has set out to change thatI want to say my decision to have my daughter was firm from the beginning, but that would be a lie. Nearly all the users are mothers, which is no surprise considering that nine out of 10 single-parent families are headed by women. I was going through the fallout of a painful breakup (we are Ruby Abbiss … ‘My experience of isolation is more than a shared hobby.’ "It proved that there is still a stigma attached to [being a single parent], there ARE lonely parents out there who need support.”So, the 38-year-old created Frolo; a way to connect with other like-minded single parents in your area. I had a naive and fantastical outlook on parenting. On Peanut, Desmond was inspired by her own experiences after the breakdown of her relationship. While she assures me that subscribing will be cheaper than the monthly cost of Netflix, I am worried that the payment may exclude those who need the app the most. “I joined Peanut, I joined Mush and I couldn’t do what I was trying to do, which was to find other single parents in my area.”I had very few single-parent friends, but they were my saving grace. Zoe took this as a sign. ... Frolo’s Instagram community.
It's not done lightly," Zoe says. When my daughter was three weeks old, I … So isolated and like an utter failure," says the mum-of-one.Originally from Dublin, Zoe never thought this was where life would lead her. It made me sad for me; sad for Billy.
“Typically anyone leaving a relationship with children involved has given that decision more thought than any other move they have made in life. There is also a Frolo Instagram account, @frolo_app.It's just like … I was in the pits of depression and just knowing there was someone else out there gave me a bit of hope.”“No one really understands what it is like unless they are in our situation,” Desmond says. What is so refreshing and comforting to me about Frolo – even the Instagram page – is that I relate to everybody so much.”Gingerbread, a charity that works with single-parent families, has found that being part of a single-parent community can really help in difficult times. "We've grown up in a time where it was a case of you stay together, and that's what you do, no matter what. “So that is something I want to look at … to see if there is a solution that can be worked out.”In the meantime, I am desperate to download Frolo. Is this what my weekends will be like, walking around by myself?'" "I thought, 'there have to be other single parents around'. And sometimes it was physically painful seeing another family together. “When I became a single parent, even though I have lots of friends and family where I live in London, I couldn’t quite get over how hard I found the loneliness. Mcilhone’s relationship with her partner broke down when their son was eight months old. It took me a few days to realise that being a mother was something I wanted, and just because it wasn’t how I imagined – meet “perfect” man, marry said man, procreate on a predetermined schedule – it didn’t mean it wouldn’t still be fine.I often find myself looking back wistfully on my pregnancy with my daughter, who is now 18 months old.
1,919 Followers, 1,004 Following, 218 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from ZD (@zoedesmond) I moved house this year from a busy town in Hertfordshire to a small village in Buckinghamshire, and have lost easy access to my single-parent support network. Zoe Desmond tells Siliconrepublic.com about her app Frolo – a community for single parents in the UK and Ireland, which launches this month. “It's about making friends with other parents, and feeling that sense of community." Some of them I knew from school, some I met via Instagram and all of them I cherish completely. "Because of this, Zoe saw a gap in the market for a mutual support group, but unable to find that she created one herself. “Especially when there's a child involved, after the break up I felt lonely. Zoe Desmond wants to change that. There is also a Frolo Instagram account, "Launching Frolo has completely transformed my personal experience," she says, reflecting on the Frolo community she has created. We would cram our days with breastfeeding, singing, dancing, cooking and playing.I never imagined that the first year of her life would be the loneliest of mine. As a community creator, it will match each person according to where they live, shared interests, and their children's ages. Topics on Frolo vary day-to-day, from navigating co-parenting to drop-off tantrums and finding fellow single parents in your area who would like to share a house.Sally Mcilhone, a single mother with a 14-month-old boy, has been a part of the community since November. It was this feeling that inspired Zoe to launch a new app for single parents, calling it Frolo - a clever merge of ‘friend’ and ‘solo’.Zoe recalls how that even though she had friends, they were happily married, not in the same situation as her and she didn’t want to impose; “I didn't want to feel like I was a burden on anyone.