A Day in the Life Of a Solo Parent

My job is beautiful. My job is messy. My job hurts in big ways. My job is poetry. I love my job because my job is for love. I love my job because it is a fast track for spiritual growth. I don't always love my job, but I've come to know my job as my way back to the love that I am and that we all are. It involves burning through a lot of pain. If I want to do what my job is really about it involves the work beyond what is just on the surface. I will provide for my kids what they need to live in this material world. This has and still proves to be a challenge in itself so far. However, I know in my heart my job as a solo parent is my greatest opportunity to learn what I came to Earth to learn. I chose this job so I could grow in love.

I truly believe that it is each of our individual journey of love that will make the biggest difference on this planet now. This is why I feel my job is so important. Even though others may not see it like that. I know it in the deepest part of my heart that it is true. I hope that more people have started to wake up since the pandemic hit us. I hope that more people have started to feel in their heart the reason why they are here and realize that they want their job to be in alignment with that. I know I have.

I wasn't sure if I should write about my job as a solo parent. I thought maybe it wouldn't count in others eyes. I am also a Developmental Service Worker if that means more to you. I could have written a great story on a life in the day of a DSW. This is a beautiful job that I do that makes an amazing impact on the world. This job and the interactions that I have had through it have opened my heart in enormous ways. I hope I have opened and touched the hearts of others through my work as well. For those who don't know, a DSW works with people with disabilities. It could be working with people with physical disabilities, mental challenges, behaviors, or a combination of two or more. DSW's can work in many different settings. I have been working in respite and residential care for the last year. I find it funny how I have been taking care of others kids to allow them a break when I'm in need of that respite myself. However, I can feel so much empathy for those parents when they are getting that much needed break. I know how that bit of time to reset can do wonders for a parent and their kids in turn. This is my first job after graduating. However, after a very challenging year of balancing 12 hour shifts and trying to take care of us, I had to make the decision to cut down my shifts to just Saturday whenever they are available.

My kids were suffering. It's been hard on me too. I know that job is not in alignment for me because it was working against us more than it was working for us. I know now that taking care of my kids and myself is my number one job. Yes, we need money, but there has to be another way that I can provide for us that allows us all to thrive. Being a solo parent is a job in discovering balance. This balance between taking care of yourself as a mom and your kid(s) is always on my mind. It is a big part of my job as a solo mom. The main reason why I cut down my hours at my current job is for my kids. However, it is also for myself. I was also suffering. I have something to say. Going into the Developmental Service work field and doing the job I was doing was my way of saying " Hey! Look at us! We are Worthy! We deserve to be included! We matter! We deserve the same freedoms as everyone else!" Through my involvement and work I felt I was saying this about the people I was working for. That was my intention. I also discovered that many of the people in this field feel badly about themselves. I saw many people who were wonderful with clients and then hurtful towards coworkers. When I felt people being hurtful to me, I had to believe in my own self-worth and tell myself that in fact they felt bad about themselves.

What I have come to realize more clearly is that through my work as a DSW I've been trying to tell the world that I am worthy. I've been trying to say that my kids are worthy. We deserve to be included even though we may not appear to fit in. We deserve to be part of a loving community. We matter! And we also deserve to be free to live the life we want. We deserve the money to live a great life and not have to suffer just to get by. We all do. Through discovering what job in my life is more important now, I've also discovered my purpose and this is why I am grateful for my job as a solo parent. It has led me to knowing my true purpose. Part of this purpose is to protect those that are more vulnerable. The other part is to spread an important message. This is a message about worth, freedom, and love. Through my job as a solo parent, I have chosen to dive deeper into learning about worth. I have chosen to believe that we deserve the freedom to live a great life and am working towards it every day with the help of the Universe. I have also chosen to be in service to love. Love is everything and I choose love as my guide.

I choose to be the best example to my kids, other solo parents, and anyone who needs to know their own worth. I have many things to do and many roles to play as a solo parent. I could go on about all the things I do every day. I take care of my kids and myself. When I'm not taking care of us, I'm taking care of others to make money to take care of us. I'm doing this all with the intention of being present. I know there is more to my job then going through the daily motions. I also know that we are here to live in this physical experience and I want it to be the best experience possible for us. I'm balancing the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual daily. In many people's reality I am raising the future. Maybe others think my kids don't have much future at all, and so my job doesn't really matter. In my reality I'm doing the most important job there is. It is my hope that if no one else sees this that at least my kids do. This is one way I will know I did my job well.