Solo Mom: Single Mother's Day

I hope all the moms out there had a fantastic Mother’s Day!

Personally, this year was one of my best, but I can certainly empathize with other single moms who find the day a struggle. On Mother’s Day, we’re supposed to have breakfast in bed, be showered with gifts from the kids, and finish the day with a relaxing bubble bath, right? How is all that supposed to happen without another adult in the house?

My daughter asked, me, prior to Mother’s Day, to teach her how to make coffee. She just turned nine, and truly can cook and bake pretty well on her own – but I never leave her totally unsupervised in the kitchen. I’m not a fan of crumbs in my bed anyway, so we skipped the breakfast in bed, but I appreciate her thoughtfulness (and I told her so).

Both of my kids got up early in the morning (before me) and decorated the downstairs with construction paper banners and glittery garland. It was like Christmas morning, and I wasn’t allowed downstairs until they were ready. I’ve always been more of a “do something” than a “have something” person, but I do really appreciate small, thoughtful gifts.

My kids presented me with a necklace for which my mother had taken them shopping before she went out of town (we hid a gift in Grandma’s suitcase too!). The necklace is definitely very “me,” and I’ve been wearing it since.

I’m not really a relax-in-the-bubble-bath kind of girl either. So, instead of doing nothing alone, I proposed we do something we all enjoy, together. I took the kids to pick strawberries, and then we baked a pound cake and made homemade whipped cream to go with them. Eating dessert for which we had worked together was a way better ending to the day than sitting in a tub alone!

Having a relaxing Mother’s Day as s single mom might be an impossible dream, but it can certainly still be a happy one. After all, it’s a day to celebrate being a mom, not escaping from that (though we can all use a little break sometimes)!