Beyoncé called out all the single ladies..today I’m calling out all the “single” mamas. Thank the universe for cyber space because it allows us a forum to speak our minds and say our peace but there is one piece of information that has been floating around cyber space and social media that really grinds my gears and it reads a little something like this:

Ladies if your child’s father is emotionally, physically or financially available to their child, you are not a single mother, you are a single woman.

I would venture to say that if a woman received all of these elements consistently from the child’s father a better term might be co-parent but if any of them are missing at any time..I’m calling BULLSHIT.

If you were to sit down and compare the daily, weekly, monthly duties of a single mom to a single woman there would be no comparison. I can tell you from experience that being a single mom is by far one of the hardest jobs that one can ever add to their resume. It’s thankless at times, lonely, trying, and down right dirty.

My kids dad is great and he takes her every other weekend no problem…(do the math people…I get a whopping 48 hours to myself to do laundry, food shop and clean my house every two weeks..WHOA..I’m living large!) The very idea of downplaying a mama that is doing the majority of the work is just down right wrong and people should learn to walk a mile in our 8 year old Nike running shoes-that we should have replaced 7 years ago-but we had to buy our kids the latest “kicks” for school and couldn’t afford to- before passing judgement.

Every situation is different, so there may never be a clear cut answer BUT if a Mama defines herself as a “single mama” it shouldn’t be up for anyone else to decide if that’s an accurate description of her life..let’s respect each other, lift each other up and recognize this shit isn’t easy and it’s probably been a hot minute since the single mama next to you has had a moment to herself.

Cheers!