A Single Mother’s Day

I want to tell you how much I appreciate mothers. I am not just talking about my mother, for whom I owe more than my life. She is an incredible example of Love and Godliness, for which I have never seen in another. Today, however, I am talking about single mothers. This is why single mothers deserve more.

When some mothers are waiting for their shift to end, after a long day with their kids, and hand them off to their husbands, single mothers are rolling up their sleeves for a long night. When some mothers are tapping their tag-team better halves at three in the morning because the crying becomes too much, single mothers are going on 3 weeks napping in the gaps. When the washer breaks down, the pluming is shot, and the water is filling the room, single mothers get it done. They have to get it done. Single mothers don’t have another option.

When three half-pints are pulling on her jeans, after she just made breakfast, lunch, and dinner, after cleaning up the house, after following the kids around to make sure they’re safe…they know, that this day will repeat until they are old enough to crawl, walk, talk, go to school, and finally leave when they are old enough. Single mothers are soldiers, saints, and martyrs. Daily they die to themselves in order to raise a better tomorrow. Their dedicated resolve, unfurled by life’s attempts to destroy them inspires me. They have no calvary coming to fend off a hard day. They know that they need to be strong, because no one else will. They know one of the many true meanings of “life isn’t fair.” Single mothers need a day like today, hell, they need a year. Today I recognize those women, those self-sacrificing warriors for parenting.

If you know a single mother, recognize them today and everything that they do for their children. They deserve it.