My Inspiration As A Single Parent

Let me start the year by looking back at my life and struggles as a single parent. I opted for this post because I am thankful for the past year for God giving me a relatively easy life despite the problems. I also dedicate this post to all the single parents out there who, just like me, are also trying to make ends meet. 

As a single parent, there are lots of things that I never imagined I’d do but I did anyway  and I am quite proud of myself for doing them. Being a single parent is difficult because I have do everything with twice the effort.  This includes earning money, raising my child and also doing household chores. Being a single parent can be hair-raising but I have my own inspirations to help me get by. 

I have accepted some of the responsibilities of a single parent but there were things that I never did during the past years because I had help from the greatest single parent that I knew- my mother. Aside from my daughter, my mother served as my greatest inspiration as a single parent. 

When nanay was still alive, she would be the one to take care of everything from work to domestic affairs. For instance, she would deal with  house repairs either by mending whatever it is that's broken on  her own or by finding the right able-bodied guy to do the job. Although we still have her old contacts to do major repairs in the  house, I did all  simple house repairs on our home this time. I have learned how to hold the screw driver properly and fix broken cabinets. I can also do simple plumbing solutions and do carpentry works now. I have also climbed the  roof of our outdoor kitchen to do the repairs after bagyong Pablo claimed on of the galvanized iron sheets.  I repainted old furniture, climb the rafters, fix broken light bulbs and even pruned trees. The list just goes on.

In a way, I fulfilled the role of both parents thanks to the example displayed by my mother. My pampered life when my mother was still alive ended and somehow I value this new-found independence and I enjoy this versatility so much because I  felt that not everyone is capable of doing these things. I revere her capability as a single parent and I would like to follow her footsteps to the grave. 

And with this new-found independence, I began interested in doing crafts and DIY repairs. Although there are still a lot of things that I need to learn like how to fix broken appliances and how to operate industrial tools like the drill, I am still glad that I was able to do these things and say “hey, I did that!”. It is just too gratifying and I hope that other single moms out there do not rely on other people to make their lives better... house repairs or not. 

Aside from teaching me indirectly with household chores, she also taught me other valuable things. The reason why I also included financial tips in this blog because my mother is the most money-wise person I know. She may not be interested so much in business but she was the one who taught us how to invest and save money. When we were growing up, I often wondered how she was able to send all three of us to good schools even if her salary was merely enough for everybody. She had our future planned. 

At 27 and a single parent, I find my situation relatively okay compared with other people. For all single moms out there, I hope you find inspirations to make your lives as single parents more meaningful for both you and your children. Happy New Year by the way.