A Mother's Love: 31 Days of Affirmations for Single Mothers

By Catherine H McNeil

As a Single Mother, I fully understand the highs and lows of motherhood. I understand the tireless effort, long days, longer nights, trying to make ends meet and search for support. I understand that there's no joy like being a mom and there's no sacrifice that you're unwilling to make for your children. I wrote t

• Language: English
• Publisher: CHBM Services
• Release date: Mar 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532339851

Catherine H McNeil

Catherine McNeil has earned a Bachelor's of Business Administration with a focus in Management and holds a Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. She excels at new employee training, instruction, supervision and job knowledge in a variety of areas. She has over fifteen years of experience and applied knowledge from management and leadership roles inside a myriad of arenas. As a young parent of two teen daughters and a toddler aged son, Catherine has an equal affinity for developing young adults into our future leaders. Her current role is that of President and Founder of CHBM Services, a career an employee development consultancy. One of her former roles included the design, implementation and administration, of a 90 day Cohort Job Training program that serviced at-risk African American youth ages 18-30. As the Career Development Manager in an Austin Community based not-for-profit on Chicago's West side, Catherine was responsible for training young adults in areas of Job Preparedness, Personal Growth and Development.

Book preview

Day 1

I can’t BUT I have to

Nothing prepares you for motherhood, there’s no text or guidebook that equips you with the knowledge needed to be a great mom. It’s on the job training where you pick up tidbits from your environment. You practice what worked well in your home while you avoid what failed miserably. You look to those who you deem the perfect parent and you hope that your child at least turns out, normal. Not a criminal. Not a sociopath. Not emotionally damaged. Not a dropout. Not a teen parent. Not extremely awkward. Not this. Not that. Just, at bare minimum, normal, whatever that is. With no rule book or direction, you started this journey and all you know is that you must be a great parent. This little person didn’t ask to be here. You made a decision, based on whatever the circumstance to bring life into this world and although you can’t, you absolutely have to be the best parent that you can be. Because you made the decision to follow through and not abort this mission, you can and you will be GREAT, even on those days that you hardly feel like being a woman. There’s no such thing as perfect. Great is subjective. Your children judge you on the love you give and as long as you continually do your best, you’re going to be perfect to them.

Day 2

If it wasn’t for GOD

Parenting is a fulltime, 365 day, 24 hour, 7 day per week job. It’s required with resources, without resources. With sleep, without sleep. Sane or insane. The job must get done. No off days. No sleeping in. Little recognition. Lots of stress and sometimes lots of tears. The plan wasn’t to do it alone. The idea was to have found a career, established great credit, built a home and married the man of your dreams. That was the plan. It didn’t work out that way. There’s no inkling of the dream job, just yet. You’re still trying to figure out your purpose. Credit? There’s debt and lots of it. Your rent is expensive and that Prince Charming... let’s just say, no one is rescuing you from any towers any time soon. It’s okay. Life rarely works out the way we plan. That’s why we have to look to the hills from which cometh our help and absolutely must set our sights on the things above. As you take a look back throughout this journey, identify those times that you absolutely thought there was no way out, yet you’re sitting