I’m still here… Just more than a little snowed under!

And since today is the International Day Of Awesomeness, there’s no better day to come out of hiding!

I am decreeing that today you are obliged to tell someone you admire that they are awesome, so go out and spread the awesomeness.

I’m starting with you. My ever loyal readers.

I reckon that any blogger, no matter how famous they get, remains more than a little pleased and occasionally surprised that people keep coming back to read. Okay, maybe not every blogger… but I often am. Thank you. Yes- I’m talking to YOU! You are awesome indeed!

Holy crapperpoodle! I have been quite blown away, bunnies!

I have always said that I cringe a little inside when people tell me they admire me, or they think I’m a role model of some kind… I think I understand why they say it, but I honestly don’t feel like I should get recognition for what I have always seen as just being a mom, or being myself.

I don’t do anything I do for recognition, especially not when it comes to ADHD support. I do it because I know what it feels like to go through the process alone. I do it because I know I have the ability to help.

What am I getting at? Well, let’s start here shall we.

On January 13^th, I got an email with this subject:

You have been nominated as a remarkable woman!

Bunnies, I came THIS close to ignoring it, lemme tell you that!

I didn’t, and when I opened it I found the most incredible nomination motivation.

I didn’t know who nominated me, but I have since found out that my mommy darling got a random email asking for nominations for the Female Tribe and 1st For Women Phenomenal Woman Award, and she nominated me for the work I do in creating ADHD awareness and supporting parents of ADHDers. She then forwarded it to a whole lot of people, who also nominated me!

How mind-blowingly flattering is that!?!

Anyhoodle. To accept the nomination in the “Heroine” category, I had to send in a headshot and I had to write my own nomination motivation. Now that was hard!

It’s exceptionally difficult to write something about yourself- toot your own horn in essence- without sounding completely vain!

Anyhoodle, I sent off my nomination motivation and my headshot, and I blogged about it too, but thought nothing more of it.

On February 9^th, I got another email congratulating me on being a semi-finalist! I was stunned and beyond excited! I started wondering if I could win it and how cool it would be! Then I went and read the other nominees and I was convinced that I had gone as far in the competition as I would be going.

I then had to answer another set of questions, which were far from easy to answer properly! They sent me questions like “What’s your inspiration?”, “What are your greatest strengths?”, “What are the challenges faced by South African women and how would you advise them?” and “How do you balance home and work life?”

Hectic!

I answered all the questions to the best of my ability, and then found that all the questions and answers were posted on the Feather Awards website for all to see- along with my picture!! Talk about daunting. This was also when I found out there’s a Facebook page for the awards too, and after I tweeted it and mentioned it on Facebook, several people went to the site and left a message there for me. Talk about an ego boost!

On February 23^rd, I got an email notifying me that I was one of the finalists in my category. Me! A finalist in the heroine category!

Lemme tell you bunnies, this makes the high school beauty pageant that I so wished I’d been nominated for, pale in insignificance!

The gala event- uber larny- is on March 25^th 2010, which is when I’ll find out whether I’ve won my category or not. I have some hectic competition lemme tell you- but it’s so cool and so very humbling!

And then there’s this!

At the beginning of February, Female2Female announced the launch of their Phenomenal Woman Award search, and called for nominations.

I blogged about it, but I didn’t get to nominating anyone myself despite the many incredible and deserving women I know. And then last week, I got an email from Laura telling me that the judges had decided I was the winner! Me! Wow!

The nominations sent in on my behalf gave me such a lump in my throat when I read them. I REALLY do not feel like I deserve such an award… it’s very humbling. And then I read the nominations for other women, and I felt even less deserving!

There are some truly amazing women out there, bunnies.

I think I need to post some more about them so you can see what I mean.

This week’s Female2Female blog challenge is another photo one, this week with the theme “LOVE”.

I think most people know I had my Damien when I was 17 years old? Well, because of this, supporting young moms is something I try to do whenever I get the chance- especially if they’re single- which they usually are in their teens. I was a teen mom, I was a single mom, and I know how long and hard that road is.

Now, before any of you get your soapboxes out from under the bed- I KNOW teen moms are not suffering from an illness or disorder, and that teen pregnancies can be prevented- I’m not going to debate that here.

The truth is that teenage girls are having babies despite people trying to educate them about sex and the dangers of STDs.

I found out recently- through a contact who also was a single mom- that a wonderful woman named Laura (how’s that for a coincidence, eh) is starting a support group at a high school for the many teen moms and the girls who are currently pregnant in the school! This is the first time I’ve heard of something like this being done, since most people are still determined to hide this issue, and I think its fargin fantastic!!

I know a LOT of single moms, in fact I think I could name 10 off the top of my head- some of whom are technically and gloriously no longer single - but thats besides the point. As someone once said to me, its a club you never lose your membership to, its a title you never lose.

As single moms, we support each other. We’re there at the drop of a hat if one of us calls for help. We fetch and carry when we can, bring wine when its needed, make phone calls, send text messages checking up on each other, and call in the troops when it’s necessary.

What I want to do with this here post is call on the single mothers I know in the blogosphere for advice and support on issues that single moms face.

Laura would like to have topics to discuss with these teen moms, to try and help them through parenting. Perhaps you have suggestions on issues single moms face, and how these young moms can get around them or deal with them?

I’ll give you an example. Something I could never get used to as a teen mom- and a young mom- was that people never took me seriously as a mother. They always asked where Damien’s father was, and often assumed I was his big sister and asked where his parents were! And something else I battled with as a single mom was allowing a romantic interest “in”…

What suggestions do you have that Laura can turn into a “lesson” of sorts for these young moms?

Its about talking to teachers about your ADHDer’s meds- you can read it here!