I live with my parents too, and I'm single as well, and I often feel like telling my mum to leave the bl&*dy kids alone to play themselves for a while! She seems to think that they need CONSTANT attention, ie I shouldn't be leaving the room... which is a little annoying. However she did manage to raise four of us, so I shouldn't complain...

But I keep thinking of how it will be different when I have my own place - I won't be giving them attention 100% of the time, because I'll have to do housework and things, so they should be left to their own devices a fair part of the time, just to get used to it.

Having said that, I don't think your son, at 18 months, is overly demanding. Perhaps a day a week of childcare or occasional care to help with interacting with kids instead of adults? Mine have been in daycare since they were 13 weeks old, as I had to go back to work, so they've always had other kids as well as adults to interact with.

Thinking of you. Come and join us in the single parent threads - we're friendly!