I read a gutting statistic this morning.

That 600,000 women left the workforce last month.

...and 43,000 men.

This makes me cry.

The burden on women right now is beyond human. Something has to give. And it is giving. Clearly.

(Please know that I know MANY of the dads reading this are efforting extra, too... it's just THESE NUMBERS ARE STAGGERING.)

My heart hurts because our grandmothers and our mothers (and we) have all worked so hard to make advances in the workplace.

It's hard not to look at this statistic and think that it's going to take a really long time to get back to where we were... which wasn't really far enough.

As a self-employed, single Mama I've counted my blessings more times than I can say that I have two teenagers and not two littles...

And that I get to do my thing without the pressure of corporate expectations. That I created a business which was poised for this moment.

All of these blessings... and there are still many days where I feel like I'm going to break... because there's no break.

To all of the Mama's doing quadruple duty right now... I want to whisper in your ear that you are amazing.

You're doing the best you can with the worst of situations.

Be kind to yourself. Get curious about how you can get help. Let yourself off the hook more. As my love said to me today... "How about just order a pizza?"

I'm working on asking more from my kids (oh how I do love to Mama them... AND...)

So this is what is living on my fridge right now. I can't decide if it makes me the best or worst mom ever???

Truth be told: On any given day, I'm either, or, and both.

This is hard. And we are doing it. Messily. Which is just going to have to be good enough.