"You’re divorced, huh mom?" my five year old asked recently. "Yes Jaimi, I’m divorced." I answered, wondering where this might go next. Silence filled the car for a brief moment. "What’s a single mom? . . . Oh, I know what it is mom." she answered knowingly. "What is a single mom Jaimi, do you want to tell me?" I encouraged, curious as to how much her five-year-old mind understood. "A single mom is someone who doesn’t have a dad." she answered. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement and my five-year-old was satisfied at that point with the conversation.

What is a single mom? What a complex question, I thought. It’s a woman who’s a mom AND a dad. She’s someone who has most likely mastered multiple professions. She’s a teacher, nurse, doctor and a counselor. An accountant and chief financial officer. She’s the police guarding and protecting her offspring desperately trying to keep them safe and out of trouble. A single mom is a playmate. Always dressing Barbie exactly as instructed. She’s the perfect outfielder that never tires of chasing those "almost" home run balls. She’s a Coach, encouraging good sportsmanship and ability in her children.

A single mom is a subsidiary of the transit system, forever solely responsible for the transportation and delivery of her child. She’s an economist, stretching her dollar to provide the necessities. She’s a mechanic who with only a few odd and end tools puts together multiple toys with hundreds of nuts and bolts. Never showing tears of frustration or a thought of giving up.

She’s fast and she’s creative. She’s loving and patient.... but most off all she’s tired. There is no one to help at the end of the day. No one to shoulder the responsibility. Being a single mom is a job that many, to many, do single handedly or with little help at all. It’s a job that many think they will not survive. Although they will. It’s an isolated job, often cutting her off from the rest of world. She’s a woman who has cried herself to sleep at night because she’s not superwoman and she feel short that day in courage or endurance. Exhaustion is constantly present in her life but she can’t stop. Who would take over?

Dreams of a Caribbean island vacation, a place where all she would do is relax and be pampered, keep her going. Will it happen, probably not? Or, at least not for many years to come.

I pull into the driveway and look over at my daughter. "I love you Jaimi.... More than anything in the whole universe!" I tell her and turn the ignition key off. "I love you more mom!" she answers with a huge smile on her beautiful face. I smile back, realizing that being a single mom may be the most difficult challenge I have ever faced...but it is by far the most rewarding.