Channeling Inspiration...

Shirley Partridge was my idol growing up. Of all the TV moms, she was the one who most represented the "type" of mom I saw in myself. Strange that when I was a kid, I didn't think too hard on the fact that she was a single mom! When I look back now, I can't help thinking "Of course..."

I always imagined I would have a half-dozen unique kids and I admit that it has been many years since I have thought of myself as anything but a solo parent. To be honest, as the years slip past and I get older and older, it is tougher and tougher for me to imagine anything else! I'm fine with it. Occasionally, I wonder what it would have been like if things had been different in my life but it is a wondering I shake off quickly--what is the point in fussing over things that never were?

So, what was it about Shirley Partridge as the quintessential fictional mom that worked for me? I think the fact that she was tough and feminine, completely independent, and seemed to be both mom and friend to her kids. She definitely wasn't the "my mom's my best friend type" and seemed to always be the one in charge. But her teenagers DID sit down at the breakfast table and talk about current events and dating. Shirley worked from home and built up the "family business" with her kids and, darn, she was hip while being completely age-appropriate. She was cool but not skanky; lovely but not too thin or suburban. In fact, there was something much more urban out Shirley Partridge than most other TV moms.

So, when times get rugged and I wonder what exactly I am trying to accomplish, I imagine myself standing face-to-face with Shirley Partridge. Whether it is trying to stretch a limited income, generate some extra cash flow, support and encourage my kids, or negotiate the dating scene as a forty-something single mom, I come back again and again to asking: What would Shirley do?