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STRENGTH AND GRACE

“The women whom I love and admire for their strength and grace did not get that way because stuff worked out. They got that way because stuff went wrong, and they handled it. They handled it in a thousand different ways on a thousand different days, but they handled it. Those women are my superheroes.”- Elizabeth Gilbert

Thanks, Elizabeth.

Yes. Stuff went wrong, and they handled it. That is you. Every single day, you tackle the unthinkable and you manage it all. Can we just celebrate that for a moment?

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE

There’s a movement taking place and I need your help to make it happen.

Here’s what it is. Whenever someone says, “Single parent,” I want the reaction to be something along these lines:
“Yes! Let’s hire her!”
“Oh, by default, that person is a hard worker. We need them to join us.”
“I look up to her so much! Look at what she’s done!”

All too often there seems to be a negative connotation with the phrase “single parent.” I can’t pinpoint it or describe where it came from. I do, however, think that it exists in some (not all) spaces. And I don’t think it’s healthy.

I’m changing the way people in my life view myself and other single parents by never using it as an excuse. I can think of a million times when it would have been easy to tell my boss, “Well. I’m a single parent, so you’re going to need to find someone else to do it.” Or, “Well, I should get a free pass on that because I’m the only one who can watch my child.” Why do I care? Because I want to slaughter stereotypes about single parents that do not serve the single parent community. And the best way I know how to do this is by proving through my actions that being a single parent makes me better at EVERYTHING I do.

This stage, the stage of thriving, is the stage where you say “Hey everyone. Yeah, I’m a single parent. And look how awesome I am at it!”

Ok, that sounds a little self-centered, but you get the point.

I know I’m in the thriving stage because of the following goalposts:
1. I am out of debt.
2. I am saving and investing for my future and my child’s future.
3. I am financially secure between my job as a teacher and my income from this website.
3. I no longer have to say “no,” because I don’t have the money.
4. I accept my family (my little) as a whole family, in need of no additional person to be “complete” (thanks to “The Kicka$$ Single Mom” for this concept)
5. I celebrate life by experiencing it to the fullest.

I hope you’re here with me in the thriving stage.

Did I miss any element of this stage? How else do you know you’re thriving in your single parent journey?