I didn’t start here.
Single momKitchen tableOne list of what I could build
Independence isn’t a brand value I picked off a list. I’ve been stubborn about it since I was a kid, the one who had to do it herself, her own way, no matter how long it took. So when I found myself a single mom raising my oldest son, in situations that weren’t working, I did what I’ve always done. I looked for the next plan, the next door, the next way to build something stable for us, on our own terms.
Then my youngest was born, and everything sharpened. He came home with health problems and an oxygen tank, in and out of the hospital constantly. Every option in front of me ended the same way: handing my fragile baby to somebody else. Daycare meant every illness that kept putting him in a hospital bed. Working from home meant taking calls over his crying because he needed me and I was on someone else’s clock. An office meant leaving constantly for a sick baby who wouldn’t even take a bottle. I tried them all. Every one asked me to choose work over protecting my child.
And I’d already lived that choice once. My oldest spent most of his early years in daycare, raised by other people while I worked. Maternity leave gave me time with my boys I’d never had, and the thought of handing it back was unbearable. All I wanted was to protect my child. But there was nobody to catch me. Nobody to watch my kids while I figured something out. No safety net at all. So there was no other option.