Single Moms Run the World

“My mother never gave me any idea that I couldn’t do whatever I wanted to do or be whomever I wanted to be. She filled our house with love and fun and books and music, unflagging in her efforts to give me role models from Jane Austen to Eudora Welty to Patti Smith. As she guided me through these incredible eighteen years, I don’t know if she ever realized that the person I most wanted to be was her.” -Rory Gilmore

I don’t know about other mother-daughter relationships but sometimes I wonder if I’m the adult. Every relationship between a mother and her daughter is different and mine definitely seems to be unconventional.

Well, not necessarily unconventional, but definitely not the norm. Growing up we had pizza parties on Friday nights and spa days every other weekend; and even today she is the only person I let straighten my hair for school or go anywhere near my closet.

To be fair to my dad, I never expected him to know the difference between mascara and eyeliner or understand the importance of getting my hair trimmed every two months; but it sure makes high school easier knowing I have someone who understands me in my corner.

Now that I’m older it seems like I can’t get away from my mom, no matter how hard I try. Sometimes both of us wish we could go back to the time where I would crawl into her bed at five in the morning, turn Full House on, and obsess over how lucky DJ was to be a teenager.

No matter how hard we try, there’s no ignoring the fact that I am a teenager now, getting ready for the ACT and college and whatever else lies ahead; and I know my mom isn’t ready to let her only child go just yet.

Even though my days of running around the house in princess dresses and my mom’s high heels are long gone, I still have many things to learn from her; and even if at times it seems as though I couldn’t care less about what she has to say, my mother is one of the best teachers I have ever had.I’m always the first to tell her how messy our apartment is, how spastic she acts during our vacations, and how lame she is for owning two cats-both of whom she constantly talks to-and sometimes I think I may push her too far. The truth is that even though my mom is first and foremost my mother, she is my best friend second.

In spite of moving about six times within the past eight years and ending up in some pretty strange situations-including living with a heavy metal band (yes, heavy metal)-she has kept me fed, clothed, and under plenty of roofs.

Sometimes it seems like we will forever be stuck in this endless loop of miscommunications and annoying comments; but thirty years from now I will still smile when I think about our Gilmore Girls marathons and how my mom never failed to text me a photo of my cat while I was with my dad.

Yes, she is nagging, bothersome, and just plain weird; but she is the Lorelai to my Rory and I love her.