#SingleMomLife

~Kim Libertini

I’m sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on the way home from work,”Pick up boys’ suits. Drug store to pick up prescription.  Shoe store. Groceries. Lawn fertilizer…crap I forgot the return for Home Depot on the counter. Get gas. Do the boys have practice at 5:45 or 6 tonight?….Ugghh, I forgot to call the orthodontist…” and the list rolls on in my head.   This is single motherhood. To say it is tough would be a gross understatement. I’ll openly admit there are days, I am simply not good at it. Oh yea, I’ve …. sent kids to school with lunch boxes left on the kitchen counter, showed up at birthday parties on the wrong day, forgotten to wash the dirty uniform in time for game day, thrown together the strangest pot luck dinners because there was simply nothing left in the fridge and the list goes on.

But I have learned to forgive myself for those mom moments.   Because…practices, games, loads of laundry, lunches and snacks, caring for sick kids, homemade dinners, doctors appointments, night time stories, bandaids on wounds, school projects, catch in the backyard, fun and educational activities, ….that is ALL me. That doesn’t even factor in the yard work, house maintenance, and all of the other things that I don’t get to divide and conquer with a partner. I do it alone.

Although this wasn’t in the plan. What I do know is that I am not the only one. There are so many other single parents out there performing this same juggling act. Each desperately trying to knock off the items on the list in their head and not drop the ball.

The truth is, at the end of each day when I tuck my kids into bed, I realize that every bit of the exhaustion, stress, and frustration I feel is worth it.  So if this is you, give yourself a standing ovation. You are getting it done. It shows. Be proud.