Single with a slew…of kids. There, I said it. I have a slew of children. Six to be exact. And I’m single. Single with a slew…of worries, of headaches, of bills, of things to do, of places to go, of boo boos to kiss, of diapers to change (yep, still in diapers), of homework to be done, of lunches to pack and dinners to cook, of laundry to be washed, of dishes to be cleaned, of groceries to buy, of field trip forms to fill out and carpools to manage, of prayers….

Single with a slew…of hope, of goals and aspirations, of plans for the future, of blessings of today, of support, of family that loves us, of positivity, of inner peace and happiness, of gratefulness, of courage, of faith, of trust in a higher power, of strength, of tenacity, of patience (LOTS and lots of patience)….

Single with a slew…of laughter, of smiles, of hugs and kisses, of bedtime stories, of height measurements on the hallway wall, of memories, of pictures and videos, of first times, of bittersweet last times, of “Mommy! Look what I made yous”, of hand print cards and hand prints on the walls, of hands to hold, of midnight snuggles…

Single…with a SLEW of love!

I was born and raised and still live in South Florida. I had dreams and aspirations and a Congressional Nomination to the Air Force Academy to be a fighter pilot and instead, have been an elementary and middle school teacher for the past decade. It took me 15 years to attain my college degree, I have been a step away from homelessness, and at one time or another, I have lost everything that has mattered the most to me. My children, as I write this, are two girls ages 24 and 15, and four boys, ages 12, 11, 4 and soon to be 3. My grandson (I’m Nona) is also soon to be 3. Yep. My grandson is six days older than my son. God had jokes that year. If you ever want a good laugh, just tell God your plans. We now live in a quaint 3 bedroom duplex, with my oldest daughter, grandson and my daughter’s best friend living on the other side. I’ve grown my own branches of the family tree and I am beginning to see the leaves sprout and grow and thrive. And I wouldn’t change one, single thing about my life. Not one.

When people find out I am single and I have six children, the next thing I hear, almost without fail, is “I don’t know how you do it.” I love hearing that because it validates the fact that a long time ago, I didn’t know how I did it 99% of the time, either. Now, after years of reinventing myself from the inside out, I know exactly how I do it…correction – exactly how I try to do it. And I want to share everything I mentioned at the top of this page with all of you. It doesn’t take a village, it takes a slew of villagers.

So, thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy this ride of life with us. I can’t promise what the future holds but I can promise the journey will be filled with a lot of sarcasm and laughs, tears and triumphs and most of all, love. Please feel free to comment as much as possible, email, ask questions, have your friends and family ask questions, follow and share. I can’t wait to hear from all of you and to help each other through the next season of parenting.

Sincerely,

Donna