Sure I’d love to buy 100 percent organic and practice yoga three times a week. But most days, I’m thinking about how I’m going to make my car payment or buy groceries or afford after-school activities for my kids. The wellness community often operates on the assumption that simple mind-shifts and affirmations alone will result in a better life, and that’s true—as long as your basic needs are met. After a year here, I found a full-time job. I made $43,000 a year, on which I was supposed to support a family of five. For a while, I received a state child care subsidy, which brought the cost of child care down to about $600 per month from $2,000. But I still had to “rob Peter to pay Paul.” I’d routinely pay bills in part or late in order to afford groceries. (Some nonessentials would simply go unpaid, resulting in my recent filing for Chapter 7 this summer.) At one point, my employer wasn’t required to offer health insurance, but I qualified for Medicaid because of my family size. This coverage allowed my family to receive necessary physicals and needed urgent care without incurring massive amounts of medical debt. In hindsight, social service work may not have been the best career field for a single mom — especially given the demanding positions, fluctuating agency budgets, lower wages, high stress, and job insecurity, but at the time I chose the field I thought I could really make a difference in the lives of the hurting and disenfranchised like myself. Earlier this year, I lost my job (and also my child care subsidy) and I’m now driving cars as a chauffeur as I seek other opportunities. My entire parenting experience, financially speaking, has been a patchwork of government assistance, earned income, and minimal child support. (I need way more space to tell the tales of trying to negotiate child support enforcement without legal counsel.) I currently work while my youngest daughter is in half-day kindergarten. We then run errands and take trips to the library until her siblings are out of school at 3 p.m. I also work evening or weekend shifts, because that’s when other family members are available to care for my children. (Though this is not often.) I continue applying for jobs, with tepid optimism that child support will come through. My children are all strong people and require nearly all of my time. They are all at developmentally different stages and I find myself continually stretching to meet their needs. The sheer volume of homework, school, and activities is overwhelming on a good day. Each child has his or her bad days. For example, they feel socially excluded because I’m not able to afford the trendy clothes and recreational activities their peers get. There are days when I feel like a complete failure at life, let alone motherhood. Yet, after a near complete nervous breakdown one summer, I realized how much my children need me and how much I need me. So as result, I do my best. I work out at my local YMCA and I enroll my children in various activities when I can afford them. My sons enjoy martial arts and basketball and my daughters like gymnastics and rock climbing. I practice guided meditation several times a week and I buy myself $4 roses from a local florist when I can afford them. For a little more than a year, I have been working with a wonderful therapist on a weekly basis. She is one of the few mental health professionals who will accept my Medicaid plan. The work we’ve done has opened the door to me finding my own self-worth and voice. As a result, I feel more complete and valuable as an individual and I don’t pursue unhealthy relationships as a means of fulfillment. Even if my choices and identity fall outside what is considered “socially acceptable,” I’m learning to acknowledge the warrior within me. I’ve had a lot of struggle, but the light and love in my children’s eyes is priceless. I’ll persevere, and I have faith and confidence they will, too.
