Thankful For My Village

Today I'm so very grateful for the community of single mamas by choice across this beautiful country of ours.  Though I've not met any of them I feel like they are part of the village who is helping me raise my sweet Tate.  


This morning at 2am we 'fell back' better known as the end of daylight savings time.  Even as I went to bed last night I dreaded the morning as I felt Tate would probably wake up at his normal time of 530am, but it would now be 430am.  I even put him down a bit later last night in hopes that he would sleep longer.  This rarely works for me as Tate seems to just be programmed for a 530am wakeup.  Ugh.  Sure enough at 4:23 this morning I heard from the crib across the room 'Mommy!  Wake up Mommy!'  I put him in bed with me with the hope that he would at least lay down and doze with me.  No such luck.  He was all over the place, no amount of 'It's still night night Tate' worked.  I gave up at 5:19 and just got up and started our day.


Unable to help myself I decided to go onto Facebook and see how many others with toddlers were up with me.  And there I found several other SMCs posting about their early morning starts!  We were there supporting and commiserating with one another and it was just great.  And I can't quite articulate how or why I felt so much better, but I did.  It's almost akin to those middle of the night feedings I used to have with Tate.  Those feedings could seem so lonely at 2 or 3 or 4 am when you're home all alone except you and your babe.  Those could be some of the loneliest times as an SMC.  But on those nights I would close my eyes with Tate on my breast and feel all the other mothers across the world who were also up rocking, feeding and caring for their babies.  And I would feel such a sense of peace come wash over me.  That solidarity of motherhood.  We women are an amazing species.  Just when the universe has seemingly thrown us the last loop we can jump through another comes our way, and we just stomp all over it.  


So thank you to all my fellow mothers out there.  But most of all thank you to all the wonderful single mothers by choice who are on this journey of motherhood with me.  Hear us roar!!!