It’s the closest word I’ve found to describe one parent being with the children and the other parent being away.
It differs from single parenting because in the case of solo parenting, both parents are still in a relationship with each other. A single parent is either divorced, widowed or no longer in a long term relationship with the other parent.
It’s not the ideal word because it reenforces that the parent with the children at home is doing all the parenting. This may be true for the day to day parenting but should it be true for parenting decisions in general? Often, as the non-travelling parent, we take care of all the parenting without considering whether or not to include the travelling parent. Maybe we assume they don’t want to be involved? Maybe we assume they can’t get involved? And then we exclude them without really meaning to. Little by little this leads down a path where they feel more and more isolated from the family. My personal motto is «is distance a good enough reason for my husband NOT to be involved in this parenting decision?» Very often, he can indeed be involved.