Only a Single Mom Can

I read this post this morning. Spoken like a true single momma. What is really funny to me is that single mothers actually have to explain to people what being a single mother is like.

For those of you that are not single parents:
1. Who do you think fixes stuff in our homes?
2. Who do you think stays home from work when the kids are sick?
3. When we have a question, who do we ask?
4. What do we do with our kids when we want to run to the store quick?
5. Who cleans our house?
6. Who washes the clothes?
7. Who makes dinner?
8. Who mows the lawn?
9. Who pays the bills?

Wendy had a great idea. I do not think I have a lot of non-single parents reading my blog but I will pass it on anyways. All my blogging buddies are free to pass it on too. Make a list (do it for just a day) of how many times you talk to your husband/boyfriend, how many times you ask someone is your household for something...ANYTHING, how many times you ask someone a question that you want an answer to (how was your day, what did you do, what do you want for dinner), how many times anyone is your household does ANYTHING (throws something away, put a dish in the sink, turns off the light), how many minutes you get alone without anyone asking you for anything. Tomorrow, take that list an examine it closely. Then ask yourself...could I do all this by myself???? Then, take that list and add to it every day. Look at it after a week and ask yourself the same question...could I do this all by myself??? Take that list and add to it for a month and ask yourself the same question...could I do this all by myself??? Then give your husband and your kids a big hug and thank them. Because no matter how bad YOU think it is, someone has it worse.

Yes, some of us chose this life. Yes, some of us made bad choices. But, some of us chose this life to make our future's better. We left something bad to get something good. And the something good does not happen just because we left. We saved ourselves and our kids. Making this choice does not make ANY of the above easier to deal with. Making this choice was for our future not for our "now". Our "now" is still hard. We still struggle and we still try to be strong.

Single parents are the most responsible people you will ever meet (at least the ones that I personally know and "know" on the internet). They do the job of way more than 2 people. They are responsible for everything that you take for granted. That one time your husband took out the trash? That girls night you had? The movie you saw? The lunch date? The grocery shopping by yourself? The day you spent in bed because you were sick? The night you went to bed early because you had a headache? The arms around you while you slept? The good bye kiss from your husband?

Walk a mile in a single parents' shoes and then ask yourself how judgemental you have been. Ask yourself what you can do better. Ask yourself how much you have really done.