According to a recent Pew Research Center report, 34 percent of kids today live with an unmarried parent, up from 9 percent in 1960. Single parenting, whether by choice or not, is increasingly common, but it doesn’t come without its challenges.

Single mom Tara Nash told us about some of the obstacles, and how she overcomes them. “Overcompensating by coaching sports you have never played, going on every field trip, taking them to endless activities, saving up for a year so they can have a birthday party and attempting to make it all look natural to them. Understanding that you don’t have the choice to give up regardless of the daunting void you feel, or the immeasurable odds seemingly against you.”

At the same time, single parenting brings unparalleled joy. “It means the privilege of being the one who always gets to hold her hand,” says mom Bethany Gibson. “All her love belongs to me,” adds Christina Mattheis.

We asked the HuffPost Parents Facebook community to share images that represent single parenting, and to tell us what the experience means to them. Most of the responses we received were from moms. Read their responses below, and then tell all of the single dads you know to send their photos to parents@huffingtonpost.com.

These captions have been edited and condensed.