When I think of a hero…
I don’t think of the the guy in a helmet and a jersey receiving the loud cheers on Sundays.
I don’t think of the beautiful woman in the newest big screen sensation.
I don’t think of the chart topping singer or the current New York Times best seller.
I don’t think of a major world leader or the CEO of a billion dollar company.
I think of the parent doing it alone.
I think of the mom or dad who are parenting children on their own—whether by choice or circumstance.
The moms and dads who are widowed.
The moms and dads who divorced.
The moms and dads who have a spouse deployed.
The moms and dads, who like me, have a spouse who travels for work.
You are my heroes.
This parenting gig, it is hard stuff.
Regardless if you work or stay home (I have done both) it is hard.
Doing it alone, even harder.
Having a partner makes it easier.
What helps is having someone to engage the baby while you make dinner.
Someone to rock one while you tuck in the other.
Someone to stay home with the kids when twenty minutes before bedtime you have to run to the store because you realize you have zero diapers.
Someone to share in the house work, the pick-up and drop-offs, homework, and bath time.
When that someone is missing, this parenting thing, well it becomes a thousand times more challenging.
When my husband is away my days are longer, my load is heavier, my sleep is less, and I feel like I have a thousand plates spinning with no one to catch one if it falls.
I know our generation is a generation of women who say,
“We can do everything and we can do everything on our own.”
I can do everything on my own, but oh my it is easier when I have help.
Dinner time, homework time, bath time, bed time, and preparing for the next day all are easier when you have someone to share the load.
When my husband returns I get my partner back, I get help, I get a chance to take a couple hours to myself and go for a walk, go grab a coffee, or just go to the grocery alone, but so many moms and dads do not get that break.
AND WE ALL NEED A BREAK.
If we don’t get one we get run down.
Everyone needs the ability to take time to recharge and refocus your mind.
So many moms and dads do every dinner, every bath, assist with all the homework, and always do the bed time routine alone, never having help, never getting a break to recharge.
You, moms and dads who do this parenting gig alone, you have to be stronger, more resilient, more adaptive, and more resourceful.
You are doing hard beautiful work.
You are loving, caring, and raising those sweet little ones while spinning a thousand plates…
and you are my heroes.
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