We all try our best to be good at parenting and when you are a single parent it seems like there is even more pressure to get it right. You don’t have another influence on your child, it’s just you so you better be doing a good job. No one says that but that’s how you feel. Every day I think, how can I be a better mother?
I think the best thing I can do for my child is give her a family and a community of support. Her family may not be the one she is born into but it’s important that she is surrounded by people who love her and support her dreams.
I am fortunate to have wonderful friends who have been so supportive of Hailey. Some of them talk to Hailey online, just keeping in touch to let her know that they are they. Many of them have been the people Hailey turns to when she feels that she can’t talk to me.
All of these women are different and they bring different things to Hailey’s life. It’s hard as a mother to see outside of the box when it comes to your children, but these women, although they love Hailey and want the best for her, are able to help her think outside the box and guide her to solutions I would have never thought of.
This community is important to raising a well rounded child. Hailey is used to listening to differing opinions. As friends our value structure is the same but we still view things and face problems differently. I think this helps Hailey to become a better problem solver because she is not just learning from my thought processes but from the thought processes of others who hold the same values.
Find your community and make your family, if you need to. I have two wonderful sisters but sometimes they are too close to the situation and Hailey and I both need that community of women who love and support us and don’t hesitate to tell us that we need to shape up!