Mommy and Me

I am the Mom of a beautiful three year old. I was a single Mom for quite of bit of that time. Nothing is more taxing or trying than trying to raise a child by yourself. Children truly are a blessing, but raising them by yourself can sometimes seem like hell. My son happens to be super energetic, and crazy, and more than a handful. I wouldn't trade my time with him for anything in the world, but being a parent alone can be very scary.

When I found out that I was pregnant almost four years ago, all I could think was my parents are going to be so mad at me. I didn't know then how supportive they actually would be. However, as great as my family has been , they couldn't raise the baby for me. I spent many late nights trying to get my son to sleep, by myself. There was never anyone to help out. It was just me. I worked while I was pregnant and after I had my little boy, and that was even tougher. I had to find someone to baby sit, I had to get them to their house, and after work I had to pick my son up. Monday through Friday I didn't get home until 10 o'clock at night, by the time I ate dinner and fed my son it was midnight before I got to sleep. Every morning my son would wake me up at 7a.m. Needless to say my days were long.

When my son was six months old her got R.S.V. and was hospitalized because he wasn't getting an adequate amount of oxygen. I sat in that hospital room for almost a week, by myself. I slept in the hospital crib with my son, and cried by myself. I talked to doctors and nurses my myself. And when they finally released my son, I took him home by myself.

I've never received a dime of child support from my sons' biological father, so all the diapers, formula, clothes, blankets, medicine, baby shampoo, bottles, and much, much more, I paid for. I paid my rent, my electric, bought my groceries, and lived on a small amount of money. The constant fear that an unexpected expense would arise, kept me up some nights.

Not everything about being a single parent is hard, there are some great things about doing absolutely everything by yourself. I never had to ask anyone their opinion, all the decisions were mine to make. I never had to work out a schedule with someone else, all my free time I was able to spend with my son.