Happy Single Parent’s Day!

I completely missed that this was a holiday! (Probably too busy being a single parent) 😉 So in honor of today I am reposting my top 18 list of awesome things about being a single mom.

A heavy burden, and that much more impressive when you hold it…

For the full article click here.

1. I decide what we have for supper. No one (who gets a vote) tells me “that’s not healthy enough” or, “what do you mean you’re too tired? What did you do today?” or my favorite “no, I’m just not in the mood for that”.  Side note, I also get to decide when! 🙂
2. I choose haircuts & if I want my little boy to have longish hair, no one tells me no. Or if I want bangs, I’m not disappointing anyone.
3. I do not have to shave in the winter, unless I want to.
4. No one has more authority than I do in my house.
5. I don’t have to share the remote after 9pm… EVER
6. My parenting philosophy is LAW, no one to compromise with.
7. My house is as clean/dirty as I damn well want it to be.
8. If I want to blow money on something, I don’t have to discuss it with anyone.
9. I can leave clean laundry in a basket unfolded for weeks!
10. Merchants have to talk to me, not “don’t you want me to just explain it to your husband, dear?”
11. My bank account is the exact balance I left it at, always.
12. If I decide we should not get dressed all weekend and watch movies and eat pizza in the living room cause it’s raining, no one judges me.
13. There is no “I’m telling Dad”.
14. If I get the opportunity to move for a promotion there is no one else’s career to consider.
15. I don’t have to be nice to/pretend to like anyone’s lame, annoying friends. (Only my lame, annoying friends show up at my door. Love you guys, lol!)
16. My stuff is always where I left it and organised the way I want it to be.
17. I can decorate however the hell I want to. (there is a pink wall coming, I’ll tell you about that later lol)
18. I get to be proud of what I am doing with no qualifiers, it’s just me, and I AM doing it, thank you.

I also found these cool little bits as well:

20 Reasons to Appreciate Single Parents

10 Single Mom Secrets

30 Reasons All Moms Deserve a Paycheck

So, if you are a single parent, congrats! It’s your day! If you know someone who is doing it alone, take a minute today to tell them what a great job they are doing. I can promise you, having an adult say, “You are doing great, I am proud of you.” means sooo much to those of us who don’t have a partner to say it to us ever.

Oh, and maybe offer to babysit? 😉

However you celebrate, make sure you do. Have a great day all!

Here’s to You on Valentine’s Day: A Toast to My Fellow Singles

I have 3 Valentines, I gave birth to them , so they aren’t exactly romantic Valentines, but we totally exchange gifts, and I love them. If you, like me, are single this Valentine’s Day, don’t sit around being sad about it, there are tons of things great about being single, there are also tons of reasons to enjoy Valentines Day with the people you love (and who love you too) and just enjoy the day. It’s a holiday, for cripes sake! Why not love a holiday?! Now that I have offended weeded out all the VDay haters…

The real reason for this post? Beverages that are Valentine’s Day themed to have with your platonic friends (or alone, no judging here) on Thursday, or this weekend, or hell, anytime you need a froufrou beverage.

*Small disclaimer here: I will not be drinking these with my “little” Valentines. Duh, no need to call CPS, jeez. *

girlfriends sharing a beverage (or 2)

Cheers my friends!

The Red Queen: (Named for its similarity to a Royal Flush)

Mix in shaker: 1 part Crown Royal, 1 part raspberry Liqueur, 2 parts Cranberry Juice.

Serve over ice.

Rx Love

Pour over ice: 2 oz Vanilla Rum (I really like Cruzan, as I said before), Splash Grenadine (Optional, but makes a nice red tint), 1 can Diet Dr Pepper. Stir. Mmmmmm

Little Red Dress

Mix in shaker w/ ice: 1 1/2 oz Mixed Berry Vodka, 1/2 oz Strawberry Pucker, 1/2 oz Granadine. Shake. Strain into Martini glass.

Chocolate Covered Cherry

Mix in shaker: 2 oz Creme de Cocao liqueur, 2 oz Whipped Vodka, 1 oz Black Cherry Rum.  Pour 1/4 oz (just enough to see) Grenadine in the bottom of the glass. Fill glass with ice. Slide 2 oz half n half on top.  Slide mix on the very top for your 3rd layer. (This looks cool all layered, but I would recommend stirring before drinking. You can also eliminate the ice, reduce the half n half to a 1/4 oz and create a shot it you want to go truly crazy…)

Do you have any VDay themed drink suggestions? It’s gotta be something you actually tried and liked, but let me know, preferably before 9 tomarrow when the ABC store closes… 😉

And some other Valentines to make you smile…

Texting and the Single Mom

You all know that I am having a love affair with my phone. What you don’t realize is that it’s only the second cellphone I’ve ever had. I was totally one of those people, the people who are all “I don’t want everyone to be able to get up with me all the time” or even more so for me “I’m never anywhere but work, home, grocery store, or driving between the three. Why do I need another way to be contacted?” Obviously, I changed my mind (although I still don’t answer the phone if I’m driving, you will have to be patient), I think a lot of that change had to do with the kids getting older and therefor actually going places without me (other than school). I have also discovered I would rather text than make a phone call, I would rather get a text than a call as well. I was about 16 or 17 the last time I was excited to talk on the phone, but I can text while I’m doing the nine thousand things per day that I do and still actually get them done. (If you are a Mom you know that the moment you put a phone to your ear children you didn’t even know you have will suddenly be dying of malnurisment or some other such emergency and you cannot actually have a conversation with any children present and conscious)

I have also previously shared that I have been on a relationship hideous since 2009. I have spent the last couple of years recovering from a relationship, getting to know me, raising my kids, accomplishing personal goals, blah, blah self-affirming psychobabble here. (I really have been doing those things, but I am as always, aware of what it sounds like when I say it out loud)In the last month or so I have begun to consider (not the gun-shy indecision) pursuing or being pursued by members of the opposite sex. I have obviously not fully committed to that idea yet, but I have started noticing male people and how attractive/unattractive they are, so that’s a start, right? Right.

Now, you are wondering what the f-ing h those two paragraphs above have in common, aren’t you? Well, I stumbled across an article today that immediately struck me as something that I wasn’t even aware of text flirting etiquette. Who knew? Apparently there are rules. As I have never flirted with anyone via text, I assumed the post was referring to a younger crowd until I read this:

“…You hated on our generation at first (no hard feelings) because you thought texting was taking away from human interaction and ruining our lives as we know it. Even as everyone around you started getting qwerty keyboards for easier texting, you stood your ground, preferred phone calls, and ignored SMS like the swine flu.

But look at you now. Today you stand white flag in hand, cell in the other, singing a different tune. You send over ten texts a day, pass on leaving voice mails, and have even accepted a date invite over text. If you’re single, you’ve definitely sent a LNBT (Late Night Booty Text) a time or dozen — not realizing there was a term for it. We’re so glad you finally came around, and hope you’re enjoying the endless benefits of easy, accessible and fast, communication 24/7…”

*For the record I have never sent a “LNBT”, but if I did I will certainly now know the name for it.*

That’s when I realized, oh this is intended for me. Hmm, sure I’m game, what are these text flirting rules? Apparently there’s a whole Facebook page dedicated to this. Here are some of the ones it listed:

• “Don’t flirtext anyone you’re too shy to flirt with in person.”
• “Pics are for experienced flirtexters. Stick to the words newbies!”
• “OMG means oh my g-d, not oh my geezers.”
• “Don’t write paragraphs, i.e. 10 messages at once. Keep it short and simple.”
• “Learn the basic acronyms and text phrases like omg, btw, lol, fyi.”
• “Don’t text someone when you’re upset.”
• “It’s called a tweet when you do it. The platform it lives on is Twitter.”

For the record I knew about tweeting, but does that mean people are flirt tweeting too? See, now I was starting to feel overwhelmed. Part of me thinks, sure I could have figured all that out, had it occurred to me to flirt via text, but it just hadn’t (yet). I read the rest of the post where it came off as a bit snotty, but for the most part made me think, maybe I’m still not ready for all this. *reconsidering nun habit* But I did think it was interesting enough to share with all of you.

If you were going to add to this list, what would you add? Are you as overwhelmed with the simple idea of possibly dating again too? As always, let me know…

18 Awesome Things About being a Single Mom

I have always tried, when things look down, to subscribe to the Tinker Bell philosophy. You didn’t know she had a mantra?! Duh, “Think happy thoughts.” Obviously this doesn’t  work every time, but it’ll get you through a bad day. I understand she’s a cartoon character, but I totally wanna be Tinker Bell when I grow up (yes I am aware of the irony there, “and we’re walking…”). She’s tiny, like me, cares passionately about her loved ones (I have a list of people I’d drink poison for), and doesn’t take but so much shit from people. My kinda girl… 🙂 So I have a running list I’d like to share with you all about being a single mom. Now, I feel like I can speak with great authority on this subject, not only because I am a single mom, but because I have also been a married mom, a stay-at-home mom, a working mom, a teen mom, and a cohabitating but not married mom. (don’t feel bad I’ve always been a bit of an overachiever lol) So this is a list (in no particular order) of reasons why, for ME and MY kids (emphasis is on purpose),being a single working mom is the greatest.

1. I decide what we have for supper. No one (who gets a vote) tells me “that’s not healthy enough” or, “what do you mean you’re too tired? What did you do today?” or my favorite “no, I’m just not in the mood for that”.  Side note, I also get to decide when! 🙂
2. I choose haircuts & if I want my little boy to have longish hair, no one tells me no. Or if I want bangs, I’m not disappointing anyone.
3. I do not have to shave in the winter, unless I want to.
4. No one has more authority than I do in my house.
5. I don’t have to share the remote after 9pm… EVER
6. My parenting philosophy is LAW, no one to compromise with.
7. My house is as clean/dirty as I damn well want it to be.
8. If I want to blow money on something, I don’t have to discuss it with anyone.
9. I can leave clean laundry in a basket unfolded for weeks!
10. Merchants have to talk to me, not “don’t you want me to just explain it to your husband, dear?”
11. My bank account is the exact balance I left it at, always.
12. If I decide we should not get dressed all weekend and watch movies and eat pizza in the living room cause it’s raining, no one judges me.
13. There is no “I’m telling Dad”.
14. If I get the opportunity to move for a promotion there is no one else’s career to consider.
15. I don’t have to be nice to/pretend to like anyone’s lame, annoying friends. (Only my lame, annoying friends show up at my door. Love you guys, lol!)
16. My stuff is always where I left it and organised the way I want it to be.
17. I can decorate however the hell I want to. (there is a pink wall coming, I’ll tell you about that later lol)
18. I get to be proud of what I am doing with no qualifiers, it’s just me, and I AM doing it, thank you.

Single moms, got anything to add that’s awesome about being the Lady of the house? (if you are in charge you get capital letters 🙂 )