Why Single Moms ROCK!

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Rocking out with my boys!
Rocking out with my boys!

Wait, you’re not a single mom? That’s okay. You may have one in your life whom you could encourage by reading on or sharing. 😉

If you are a single mom, let’s face it: it can be tough. I won’t lie to you and say it isn’t. One thing I have really been working on in my life lately is focusing my thoughts on the positive. You see, by thinking of uplifting things, the negative can’t take up too much of my time. The benefits I have reaped from doing this have been amazing. When I find myself grumbling about something or other, I have been intentional about stopping myself and thinking about something good that’s happening in my life.

SO, ladies, I present to you a list of things that are super great about being a single mom.

We are some of the strongest women we know.

We do it all because we have to, and little by little, we are getting better at it! Oh, sure, we don’t have it all together all most some any of the time. The kids still have breakdowns because their shoe is not strapped the “right way,” or we are running late for the fifth time… that day. And we don’t have that partner to whom we can say, “Tag, you’re it.” But, the point is, we keep on going and our stamina is next to none.

We really know how to stretch a dollar.

I mean, our budgets are so tight they are ready to snap at any moment. But, you know what? We make them work. We set our priorities and we don’t have to answer to anyone else about them. You remember those arguments about how money was to be spent? POOF! Not an issue anymore. You got this, girl!

We get the WHOLE bed to ourselves!

You heard me! No one snoring, pulling covers, or invading our space. Oh, the bliss of it! That is, unless it’s kid sleepover night and the little monkeys grind their teeth and kick you in the face all night. (How did they get upside down in the bed?!?)

We get free babysitting.

While this is not the case for all single moms (some moms may never see their children’s father or may be widowed), most of us have some sort of joint custody/visitation arrangement that forces us to have some time for ourselves. I have to admit, adjusting to having time to myself was really hard for me, but I have since started enjoying it. We can choose to spend this time however we wish: shopping, writing, sleeping in, meeting friends for coffee, dating… yep! It’s all good, and we don’t have to hire a sitter!

We can just go to bed.

No need for the “I have a headache” excuse.

We have the final say.

While we don’t have any say in how things are done if the kids are at the home of their fathers, we do have the right to be the dictator in all things at our home. Discipline, finance, schedules, moral teaching, these are all the things that we have the ultimate say in at our home. That can be so nice, yet what a great responsibility!

We don’t have to pretend to be perfect.

People tend to cut us some slack. We let our kids pick out their clothes for the day and it shows, we forget to take the library books back on time, and we didn’t make any cute Pinterest treats for our kids’ birthday. People kindly look the other way. They help out when they can. (Shout out to my wonderful parents for all their help!) We know people expect us to be a bit frazzled from time to time, and we are completely okay with that.

We know who our friends are.

Because of the difficulty of going through a divorce, an unplanned pregnancy, or a loss of a loved one, true friends step up to the plate while others retreat to the dugout for various reasons. We can truly appreciate those who are with us through the deepest trenches and help us start to climb out.

We know who we are.

As women, I think one of the things we do the best is taking our experiences and learning from them. When we become a single mom, we are tested beyond what we ever thought was possible. We are struggling, we are redefining our lives, and we have to ask ourselves, “What really matters? What do I need to let go of? What do I need? What am I good at? What can I improve?”

We have amazing kids.

Oh, sure, they’re not perfect by any means, but aren’t they great? What beautiful little lives are here in this world because we are their mom. They adore us and they are the reason we keep trudging through these murky glorious waters of single motherhood.

Jennifer Rocks 2

Love the life you are living, ladies! What other things make single mommas rock?

HUGE thank you to Tommy Doggett and all the staff at Guitar Center in WDM for letting my boys and me come in and check out all their awesome guitars and equipment! These guys ROCK, too! I think there will be some guitar lessons in my boys’ future! Seriously, thanks!

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