Ok, so as promised, every Tuesday from now on, I will be posting my thoughts, challenges, struggles and joys of being a single parent. Lets get into it.

Firstly, I became a single parent the second I found out I was pregnant. I carried the pregnancy without the father in the picture. That’s actually the moment I became a parent even though my baby was not yet born. I felt it was important for me to point that out because people think that parenting starts when the baby is born which is downright false. This journey starts the second you find out there’s a bun in the oven. It should be a happy moment, exciting, but it wasn’t like that for me.

I was terrified. I was scared down to my marrow. Not only because it was an unexpected pregnancy, but because I got left in the cold by the father with no explanation. I will not start bashing him or anything because there is no point in doing that. I’m just pointing out how I felt. I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was to go to the doctor and do everything I was told. I started reading book after book on babies and parenting. I watched hours and hours of videos. In other words, I literally devoured every piece of information I could possibly get on pregnancy, child birth and parenting. It made me feel like I was progressing, like I was doing something for this baby.

Then I started shopping like crazy and I bought insane amounts of baby stuff and I ended up giving half of those away because I didn’t need all of them. To sum up, I became a maniac. Everything I was doing had a fear base. I was scared, I was emotionally stressed, I was struggling to maintain a facade in front of my family and friends, but inside I was going nuts.

Let me tell you this, everything I did was utterly useless because, the day my baby was born, everything I had read about didn’t apply. I realized I had bought stuff I didn’t need. I also realized that I GOT THIS. I instinctively knew what to do and ending each day with her sleeping peacefully, changed, fed and loved made me feel victorious. Sounds cheesy but it’s true.

My daughter doesn’t need a perfect mom. She needs a sane mom. My daughter needs to be loved and nurtured. She needs to know that I will always be there for her. She needs ME and I am enough for her.

That’s what our kids need. They need us as flawed as we are. Yes we will fuck up – royally at times – but as long as it comes from a place of love – everything can be repaired. Each day is a new start. Treat things like that and you’ll see a major difference in your parenting. And in those insanely frustrating moments when you have no idea what to do to get your baby to stop crying, when things seem like they’re falling apart and your entire world in crumbling – I want you to know this – NOTHING IS PERMANENT! Add “right now” to each sentence and you’ll understand what I’m saying. For example – “My baby is crying RIGHT NOW!”, “My house is messy RIGHT NOW!”, “Everything seems to be falling apart RIGHT NOW!” See what I mean? Circumstances are always changing which makes everything impossible to stand still. Therefor nothing is permanent so stop treating everything like it’s going to last forever. Trust me, your life will become much easier and you will be able to find joy again. That’s what’s important at the end of the day!

So love fiercely and remember that you too matter and everything will fall into place.

Till next Tuesday!