I Am Legend
This time I opted for a movie title instead of a song title because I Am Woman just didn’t quite say it all. Parenting in any form is not for the fainthearted. For the solo mom it is nothing less than a legendary feat. No disrespect to the solo dads out there but you all have a cheering public fawning over your every youtube video just for combing hair. DO WE NOT COMB HAIR??
In re-organizing my life to accommodate work, grad school and 330+ days of 24/7 parenting, I have discovered how amazing I really am and I’m not alone. Thirty-four percent of all households are headed by single parents and four out of five of those homes are headed by single moms. That’s a marked change when compared to the stats of even one generation ago. While the demise of the traditional nuclear family comes with challenges, there are many of us making it work gloriously in spite of having to get the car serviced, take out the trash and throw a football in work attire–usually simultaneously. Making it work takes chutzpah, moxie and a whole lot of creativity. It also takes a village (mine is so AMAZING!) so if you see a single mom, show her some love, preferably in the form of a casserole or having her car serviced!
Solo parenting is a reality for a lot of us out here and it’s a big job. But as one unnamed single mom said on social media, in each moment “there’s freedom, beauty, bravery, strength and grace”. Moms, for all you do, this post’s for you!
full-time musician, this space was filled with the happenings from my last gig or the eager excitement about my next one. Since going from full-time musician to full-time teacher/mom it’s a space that’s becoming more about navigating the world on my own while raising a boy to become a man. It’s becoming more thoughtful, more reflective, and I hope more honest, in a keep-it-real-but-don’t-overshare kind of way. So…here goes…
That’s my Big Job now, pushing through, modeling responsible citizenship and maintaing a safe space to talk about fear, fairness, freedoms and keeping the faith. Some of that I’ll do here, some at the homework table. Much of it I’ll do in my corner of the world where trust evolves, faith defeats fear and coming together begins. These are difficult times but if we begin to really talk and listen to one another, I know we can all push through.
As you know, there have ben a lot of things in the air. Some balls have dropped, some are still spinning mid-air. One thing’s for sure: THIS season is coming to a championship ending! I played hard, had a lot of wins and I can almost see the view from the mountain top! As with all games, there is a lag time between the season’s end and the championship game. I’m still waiting on that one and when it gets here, I’ll tell ya aaaaallllll about it. Meanwhile, time to enjoy fall’s color concerto. To get you started, here’s my all-time favorite autumn picture.
There are some times in life when it’s full court press time. For those non-sports fans, that’s the time when it’s down to the wire in a basketball game and everybody is working overtime to win. Well, basketball ain’t the only place where games need be be won. Life is one big ole playing field and if you’re in it to win it, sometimes sleep, home cooking and the gym take a back burner because the business of winning the game requires nothing less than full concentration and overtime. It’s those times when you ignore the longing for a shower and massage and get your head completely in the game. Those moments feel like hard times. But, when it’s all over, the final release is oh so sweet. When you shoot your best shot and watch that ball arch, wondering–no, knowing–no, hoping–no, praying– that it will drop just right, it’s an amazing, scary, awesome, scary, powerful, scary feeling. And that hard knock life? Well it turns into…Come back next month. I’m still waiting on the buzzer so cheer me on!
Working with the under 10 set has helped me to see that there are still major lessons to be learned from Disney’s blockbuster Frozen. And seeing some of the nastiness of the social media offerings over the last couple of weeks leaves me no alternative but to remember out loud what my Grandmother taught me, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”. I’m sure there are grandkids all over the country who were taught the same thing. So why have so many of us forgotten?! At the risk of sounding pious: social media musings cloaked in semi-anonymity are not exempt from this rule.
