Buffet for the soul

My daughter really is amazing. Mostly I just think of her as a very adaptable, intelligent, out-going, observant little 2 and a half year old. Every compliment she receives, I usually brush off with a “oh, stop.” I’m the one who needs to stop, because she deserves every bit of praise.

Its hard to stop and appreciate how awesome your kid is. Especially when you’re sharing your free time with another parent and his girlfriend. As a single mom, most of your non-working time is spent bathing, dressing, cooking and driving your child around, without the aid of another adult. You need shark-like focus. Good thing motherhood rewires your brain to accomplish these tasks.

 I once read about a study on virgin rats and mother rats. When put through the little “cheese maze”, the mother rats found the cheese faster and made less mistakes than the virgin rats. After a series of other test, Scientists concluded that the survival instinct in mother rats was significantly higher than rats without babies to feed. They did studies on the rats’ brains and saw radical differences between them when it came to problem solving skills. In other words, mamas get the job done. 

After my whole Planet Earth kick, I became convinced that single motherhood was a thing of nature. That moms are instinctively engineered to make sure their offspring survive, and that the instinct to please a husband just isn’t part of our DNA. Having a partner in parenting is an obvious perk and highly desirable, but as a functioning member of the animal kingdom, single moms aren’t anything out of the ordinary. I guess this would be a natural explanation as to why there are so many deadbeats as well. Ms. Single Mama is right. The dads who stick around should be given medals.

Ok that was a tangent. I’m watching CNN Live while working and blogging. My mind is a little spastic right now. I really just wanted to express how spending an entire day with my daughter was the equivalent of going to an all-you-can-eat buffet for the soul. Being a single parent really is bittersweet.  Its horrible to be separated from your child, but at the same time, you value the time you have with them even more.

My daughter currently likes calling me, “LB” and herself “Mommy.” She then sends me to timeout, cooks food for me and asks if I want to take a bath. When I react too loudly, she is quick to furrow her brows and say “Don’t be angry at me.” She does puzzles at lightning speed and sings

I hope one day I have a job where I can spend more time with my daughter. I’m glad I took the opportunity to play hooky while I still could. Now its all craziness and chaos at my job. Panic is setting in. I’m attending an inaugural party tonight while LB is with her dad. I’m also going to see an apartment in town tomorrow. What are your plans this week? Are you going to keep your sanity?

P.S. Please send your thoughts to my friend North Dakota. She is a young single mom who’s daughter’s father was killed in a car accident this week. She is struggling already, and this is throwing her for a mental loop. Send her your single mom strength if you would.