We have all innocently joked about it; when one spouse is away on a business trip, we state we are going to be single-parenting for the time being. The reality of being the sole provider is something two-parent couples will never fully understand. Everything from making breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, to driving the kids to school, extra-curricular activities, and parties, to doing the homework with them, reading to them at night, all while holding down a job, is just part of life. The United States Census Bureau reveals that 80.6 percent of single parents are mothers. Today, approximately 17.4 million kids under the age of 18, are being raised without a father. Still, schools across the country hold “father and son/daughter” days where treats are served for the dads and kids to enjoy. While it’s a great idea in theory, there are millions of boys and girls who cannot partake in this activity.Her first and foremost goal has been to ensure her kids know they are loved unconditionally.
Her pledge means she has taken trips with just the three of them, taught her son how to play catch, and just about anything to create “countless memories.”
Arrowhead Elementary School in Santa Clara, Utah, was hosting a “Dads and Doughnuts Day” event. Kittrell said she felt her heart sink.
She sat down with her son and offered to have his grandfather take him to the activity. To Kittrell’s surprise, he turned down her offer.
His explanation was simple and wiser beyond his years. “I want you to go. You’re my mom and dad,” Lucas told her.
“I was so embarrassed but I couldn’t help but smile when he introduced me to his little friends saying ‘this is my mom… she’s my dad too so I brought her,'” Kittrell shared on her Facebook post.
“When I went to leave he ran after me and hugged me tight around my neck and whispered ‘mom… I know that you’ll always be there and do anything for me. Thank you. I love you,’ kissed my cheek and ran off,” she said.
“You are for sure doing it right! Those words he said sum up how awesome you are doing. Way to step out and make him feel special!” one user wrote.
“It’s been very overwhelming seeing the response,” Kittrell told ABC News.
“I’ve had kids that were raised by single parents reach out and thank me to let me know that (we) are not alone,” she revealled.
The school also held the “Moms and Muffins Day,” but the single mom couldn’t attend the event as she is studying to become a respiratory therapist.
“I’ve heard of other moms going and not necessarily wearing a beard but dressing up like a guy and going so I said, ‘That’d be funny why not?'”
“I didn’t do it for the attention of dressing up like that. I knew it would make him laugh,” she explained. “I knew it was something he would think is funny. He helped me pick the paint out for the beard and it was really fun.”
“I came out of the bathroom and he just started dying laughing, saying, ‘You look like a daddy!'” she remembers.
“I think as parents in general, we need to stop being so hard on ourselves– do your best and that’s all you can ask,” she told InsideEdition.com. She advices that kids are “going to love you no matter what.”
