January 16, 2023 • 27 mins
Part 2 - The continuation of last week's episode with Shirlene!
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Episode Transcript
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Shirlene (00:00):
You were using an alarm, you were waking yourself
up, and now I'm having to callyou again.
Do you understand that I won'talways be here, like this is
something you're gonna have todo on your own.
Demetrius (00:13):
Welcome back to the Single Parent Conflict Podcast,
and back to a now ongoing seriescalled The Single Mother
Conflict.
Just wanna get some housekeepingitems outta the way first before
we get to our guest.
If this is your first timelistening in, I'm your host,
Demetrius, a former singleparent who at the time had no
idea what direction I will besteering towards to overcome the
(00:33):
challenges of well being afather.
After gaining a lot of insight,education, and a ton of
patience, I now want to givethat information back to you,
the parent.
Whether you're single or not, tostay motivated and inspired
during your parenting journey.
This episode is part two, acontinuation of last week's
conversation with Charlene.
So if you haven't listened to ityet, pause this episode and come
(00:56):
back to it when you're donelistening to part one.
Now, for those of you who havelistened already, Welcome back.
Let's continue on with our talkwith Charlene.
Yeah, I was gonna say, you werejust telling me, you know,
before, was it yesterday orearly today?
Um, just about kind of all thestruggles you guys are going
through just to get the secondtruck.
(01:16):
Um, so can you talk about that alittle bit there?
Like what are, what are some ofstruggles you guys are going
through with, with, you know,this owner operator, you know,
business he's doing
Shirlene (01:26):
well, it's his, um, his, so his, so his truck.
Um, obviously he needed to geta, he, he needed to get a second
truck because his, I mean, heneeded it for his, for his job.
The contract that he has, heneeded two trucks to be running.
Mm-hmm.
So he temporarily started torent one truck and we started
(01:47):
shopping right away for a secondtruck.
Unfortunately.
Trucks are, the prices of trucksare just crazy, right?
Um, the, our first truck that wehave, he only paid$16,000 and
change for that truck.
And now like the average truckis running like$70,000, you
know, for a truck.
(02:07):
So it put us in this position ofkind of like, all right, what
are we gonna do?
Because we also are looking tomove mm-hmm.
and purchase, um, our first hometogether.
Next year.
Mm-hmm.
So, you know, we've gotta watchhow we invest, you know what I
mean?
So, um, with that being said,because of how expensive, you
(02:28):
know, trucks are, he made adecision to kind of go.
Out, out of the co He waslooking at one specific company.
Yeah.
Doing business with this onecompany.
He decided to kind of go outsideof that mm-hmm.
and he ended up findingsomething for half the price and
he and, um, down in Atlanta.
And unfortunately, I, like I hadmentioned to you, um, when he,
(02:52):
he had to obviously travel to goand get the truck, and the truck
ended up breaking down on theway.
On the way
Demetrius (02:59):
home.
Oh, I don't think I knew.
Maybe I didn't write that wrong.
I didn't know that.
So he's driving it from Georgiaup and then it broke
Shirlene (03:06):
down.
Right.
So, so he, so we bought, so theyhad an option where we could
pay, I think, like$1,500 andhave someone bring the truck up.
Yeah.
Well, we never, my husbandnever, like, had seen the truck
and, mm-hmm.
um, the finance company, theywere like, you know, You know,
everyone, like the dealer waslike, normally we have you come,
(03:28):
you look at the vehicle andthat's when you put down the
rest of your deposit andfinalize the deal.
Mm-hmm.
So he just thought it was bettercuz they were like, you can pay
a mechanic to come and look atit if you want us to then bring
the truck up.
So what he decided to do was, Hewas like, I'm gonna fly down
there.
I'm gonna check the truck outmyself.
(03:48):
Mm-hmm.
and then I'm going to bring thetruck up.
So that's exactly what we did.
Everything was going, you know,smooth.
There were some things on thetruck that he, he recognized
right away, like the AC wasn'tworking.
Mm-hmm.
um, the box had like a hole init.
So he found some things and hetold them, and they were like,
(04:09):
okay.
They fixed everything.
He got there on a Wednesday.
The truck was ready by aThursday.
Um, like Thursday afternoon.
Okay.
Evening or early evening.
Demetrius (04:20):
This is probably helpful not to cut you off, but
helpful that he went down versussomebody driving up.
Cause then he would've to, itwould've made what days probably
for him to like, oh, now I gotthis truck.
Now I got all these problems.
Shirlene (04:31):
Exactly.
Exactly.
So it worked out well.
It, it, um, in that aspect.
But then unfortunately, like, Heleft from Georgia, he only got
as far as Tennessee, literallyin the middle of nowhere.
And, um, and the truck basicallybroke down, like it started
having some serious problems.
(04:53):
Wow.
But the thing is, is that me andmy husband, We, um, our faith,
we, we, we walk, we walk and werun and we gallop, you know,
with, with on our faith.
Mm-hmm.
and, um, I just feel like it'samazing how I feel God was
working because his truck brbreaks down in Tennessee and it
(05:17):
breaks down four miles from afreight line dealership.
Oh, wow.
A freight, a freight line.
He has a freight line.
And it breaks down and it breaksdown four miles from a freight
line truck.
So my husband, the truck wasn't,the truck was not work, it was
like done.
Mm-hmm.
But he pushed it.
(05:37):
He like, he was able to get itto like keep going.
Yeah.
It took him an hour and a halfand he drove those four miles to
get it to that.
Wow.
He, he, he gets it, you know,so, so that was one area.
I'm like, this is God, becauselike yeah, outta all the places
you could break down.
You're in the middle of nowherein Tennessee and there's a
(05:58):
Freightliner dealership mechanicshop four miles away.
Then, um, I had to figure outhow to get him out of there.
Basically this happened on, thiswas a Friday.
Mm-hmm.
So guess what?
We can't tell you what's wrongwith this truck until Monday.
Ooh.
You know what I mean?
Because it was, it was Fridayovernight this happened.
(06:21):
Mm-hmm.
So he slept in the truck untilsix in the morning when they
opened on Friday.
And he was hoping that theywould be able to like look at
the truck right away.
Yeah.
And they were like, you know,we're backed.
They ended up not looking at thetruck until like four o'clock in
the evening on Wow.
Friday, and they were hooking itup running.
(06:42):
So they were like, the truck iscoming back with like two, three
different codes.
Mm-hmm.
we're not really gonna know tillMonday.
So now guess what?
Super Charlene, super wife,super sure has to figure out how
to get my husband because my,yeah, like, it's like I'm the
designated like ad admin of thisnew upcoming business.
(07:02):
Right.
So now I have to figure out howto get my husband, you know, out
of Mr.
C e o.
Yes.
Yeah, exactly.
I have, I have to get him outtathis predicament out of, you
know, Tennessee.
Yeah.
So, But this is how God works.
Again, I'm like, now I'msearching for airports because
he's in the middle of nowhere.
(07:24):
I'm like the F.
There's two internationalairports in Tennessee.
He was seven and a half hoursaway from one.
and he was four and a half hoursaway from another.
Okay.
So I continued to search andsearch and search and all of a
sudden I find this littleairport called Tri-Cities
Airport.
Hmm.
(07:44):
That was 12 miles away from him.
And we were able to, we wereable to rent a car there.
Mm-hmm.
And he had to drive back, but hegot back.
And I just feel like, alright.
Like, come on.
Like, and then the truck, thewarranty on the truck only was
for a certain amount of miles.
(08:04):
So if, if he would've maybe evendripping the truck all the way
home Yeah.
And then had a problem with it.
Yep.
It might have been out of thewarranty by the time he got
home.
Demetrius (08:13):
It's funny.
Miles, not like timeline, like30 days or 60.
That's interesting.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Wow.
So too many, too manycoincidences.
Right?
It's, it's more than acoincidence, right?
Yeah.
Shirlene (08:25):
So it's so, so, you know, so it's, so it's tough
when you're, when you're, youknow, you're running a business
and you're trying to grow it,you know?
Wow.
So now we have, you know, fastforward, it was hard, it was
difficult, it was stressful, butthe truck got fixed and the
truck just came home on Sunday.
Demetrius (08:48):
Wow.
And, and this might not be theonly time too, especially when
you're dealing with trucks, it'slike they're, they're gonna
break down, right?
So now you got that experienceof like, all right, we did, we
dealt this before.
Let's go ahead and figure thisout.
And, you know, so now you gotthat experience on your belt,
right?
So, right.
So, yeah.
Oh man.
But I still, whew, that's gottabe that F word we used before,
right?
Frustrating
Shirlene (09:09):
Yeah.
Especially, I mean, after youjust spent your, you know, you
just spent your money onsomething, right?
And you know, and.
You're just kind of like what?
You know.
And then, um, the original quotethat they had given one day on
Monday, they were like, um, it's$7,000 in parts to fix it.
Wow.
(09:30):
So, you know, not just, youknow, you know, trucks are
expensive.
Yeah.
You know, so, yeah.
Demetrius (09:36):
So, man, so now dealing with the business
struggle, now going back to likethe, the parenting struggle.
So you have your teenage likeson now.
So now this is the time rightof.
Like school, uh, you know,focusing on if, if they're going
to school, what they'reinterested in.
Um, and I know recently, um,your son just found an interest,
(09:57):
uh, in a certain subject, whichsounds great, but what was, how,
what do you think sparked thatinterest in him?
Like what, what are thestruggles that have you felt
with like, ah, should he go toschool?
Should he not?
How do I spark his interests?
Like, talk about that a littlebit.
So,
Shirlene (10:12):
um, So as far as, as far as my son mm-hmm.
and I don't know if this is, uh,like a new, I don't know if
it's, I mean, alright, let's bereal.
The times are different, right.
Kids are interested in, indifferent things.
So he, he started talking to meabout being a influencer.
(10:33):
Mm-hmm.
So that's where this all camefrom.
He, um, he wanted to be aninfluencer, and my thing was,
all right, great.
Like, you know, you can dowhatever it is you wanna do.
I don't wanna shoot downanyone's, you know, dreams, but
how can we, how can you get aneducation and still, and, and,
and basically still be aninfluencer mm-hmm.
(10:55):
but have a degree with that.
Right.
You know, so, um, you.
Being 16, you know, he's onlyable, he doesn't really
understand living yet.
Mm-hmm.
and, you know, struggle yet.
And, and money.
And to him, to him, when someonesays they're making$25 an hour,
(11:15):
he thinks that's money, youknow?
Yeah.
But in, in this day and age,that's not.
That's not money.
Money.
You're, you know,$25 an hour isnot, is not cutting it anymore,
especially if you live in, ifyou're single and you're by
yourself.
You know what I mean?
Right.
So, um, he has, he always had astrong interest just in
(11:36):
technology.
He's, he's, you know, he's a, amore of a tech person and he
wants, you know, he'sinteresting in, in podcasting
and, and doing all that stuff.
So he came to me and he told methat, you know, that's the
program that he was interested
Demetrius (11:55):
in.
Right.
Okay.
And just to go back to, cause$25an hour, depending on where you
are in the United States,$25 anhour is a, is a huge chunk of
chain that some people may neverget.
But also, like you were saying,depending on where you are,$25
an hour, like New York, otherplaces, that's nothing like, you
know, like that.
That's nothing at all.
And the, and the
Shirlene (12:14):
thing is, in those places, yeah.
Many times they don't even payyou$25 an hour.
Nope.
Because the cost of living islower.
So they, the pay is usually alsolower as well.
Lower right as well.
You know what I mean?
So, so that's where you stillare then having a struggle
because you're still not, youknow what I mean?
But like, yeah.
(12:35):
So you're not gonna be somewhereor making$25 an hour probably,
where you know, Where a mortgageis$257 a month.
Demetrius (12:49):
Oh, money, I tell you.
And then so, so now, yes.
I feel like
Shirlene (12:54):
his struggle.
Yeah.
I was just gonna say, I feellike, you know, I feel like his
struggle, his personal strugglewith not wanting for a, for a
while, it was kind of like, Idon't wanna go to school.
I don't wanna go to school, Idon't wanna go to school.
I wanna go to school.
Because he was, he wasconnecting college as being.
Like high school.
Mm-hmm.
or where you're, you know, fromeight o'clock in the morning
(13:16):
until two 50 or three o'clock inthe evening.
Mm-hmm.
you're in a building.
You're like, you know what Imean?
And I explained to him like, no,it's not like that at all.
It's completely different.
You know what I mean?
So that concept alone was, youknow, and then my son also has a
D H D.
Mm-hmm.
So the focus.
(13:38):
Is is another thing, likesometimes he can just become
very overwhelmed.
Mm-hmm.
when you know, like too muchwork right.
He can just become veryoverwhelmed with like having too
many assignments and too manythings to get done in a certain
amount of pain, like timeframe.
Demetrius (13:56):
So yeah.
And the assignments are stillthere.
Definitely.
But like you were saying, likeit's not.
It's not the same.
Like you got that separation,like you may have you maybe just
two classes that day.
It's not like 8:00 AM 9:00 AMall the way to 2:00 PM Right?
Like, so you get more of that,but you also have more
responsibility to get a lot ofyour work done too.
So it's that balance.
Right, right.
So, so, but it's finally comingaround it sounds like.
(14:18):
Now, how do you deal with thebalance of like, cause I know
there's some parents that, um,you took the approach of, okay,
this is what you're interestedin.
Let's look at the majors outthere college-wise that will
help you enjoy your interest andput a degree behind it.
Um, so not like certain parentsthat are like, yeah, I know you
like that, but I ain't makingany money.
You're gonna be a doctor, you'regonna be this.
(14:38):
Uh, so that's a great approach.
But what, but how do you feellike now that you know he's
interested in something, howmuch are you trying to kind of.
Put your hands on it a littlebit now.
Cause you know, as parents youlike to like, Ooh, okay, let me,
let me help you with this, letme help you with this.
But how do you balance that andhaving him, you know, be
responsible as well?
Shirlene (14:58):
Actually, I don't feel like I'm putting my hands really
on it at all.
Okay.
The only, I, I just kinda like,only thing I'm gonna do is I'm
gonna fill out that financialaid to see what the going hands
on it that I really need is thefinancial aspect of things.
Cuz that's gonna fall, you know,on my plate because he is only,
you know, 16 years old.
Mm-hmm.
um, and from, and, and fromthere.
(15:22):
It's kind of like, this is, thisis your thing, right?
You know, this is, this is, youknow, your thing.
And, um, you know, just like Iwas, I would say just like, just
like high school, you know, Iwill be, I will be here to try
to give you advice and guide youand, you know, do those things,
but I don't really, like, I'mnot looking up to see.
(15:44):
Like what different fields this,this profession is gonna put him
in.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm not doing any of that.
Demetrius (15:53):
Got you.
No, it's understandable.
Okay.
All right.
So.
Now I just wanna jump forwardand see, so you, you've given
some, you know, great thingsabout your own life.
Hopefully anybody's listeningcould kind of take from that and
help them in their own lives.
But there are some questions Iactually pulled.
Uh, I'm a follower of thewebsite, core.com.
core.com is kind of like Reddit,and, uh, if you haven't heard of
(16:16):
Reddit, it's basically like a, awebsite.
They have different communitypages.
This page I'm a part of is likea parenting page and people will
throw.
Questions out there, like, youknow, I, I don't know how to
deal with this with my kid.
Or, or kids would even put stuffout there like, Hey, I don't
know how to deal with this withmy parents.
Can you?
Right.
I'm gonna ask some questionshere.
I pulled and I think we wannathink you don't mind helping
(16:37):
some people out here.
No problem.
The Single Mother ConflictSeries is brought to you by the
single parent conflict.com.
If you are a parent and have aquestion that you feel you would
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Head over to the single parentconflict.com and have your
questions submited there.
Awesome.
So here's the first question Ipulled here.
(16:58):
Um, my 27 year old, oh, he isstepson.
My 24 7 year old stepson won'tleave our home.
What can I do to show him thathe is too old to be depending on
us for survival?
If you even feel that way.
Shirlene (17:15):
So you wanna know what I would do in that situation?
Yeah.
What would you do?
Yeah.
Well, first of all, I would justhave to say is a 27 year old
still living at home?
Oh wait, they want, they wannaget him out.
Right.
But
Demetrius (17:31):
it doesn't stay.
Yeah.
So just looking like, so yeah,look at it again.
He won't leave, basically.
Sounds
Shirlene (17:36):
like,
Demetrius (17:36):
yeah.
Won't leave our home.
What should we do to show himthat he's too old to depending
on us?
Shirlene (17:41):
Yeah.
So I feel like, first of all, Ifeel like as a parent mm-hmm.
that starts from when they'reyounger, kind of getting them
ready for their, getting themready for.
Independence.
Mm-hmm.
and not having them rely on youand kind of building them up.
So like this morning as anexample, I, my, I had called my
(18:03):
son to wake him up and mm-hmm.
I was like, you know, this islike, you know, we're reverting
backwards.
Like you were doing good.
You were using an alarm, youwere waking yourself up, and now
I'm having to call you again.
Mm-hmm.
do you understand that I won'talways be, Like this is
something you're gonna have todo on your own.
So I feel like a 27, a 27 yearold living at home, I don't
(18:30):
think there's anything wrongwith your 27 year old living at
home.
Mm-hmm.
But if you are wanting toactually.
Like actually get rid of yourson like a victim.
I mean, like, I don'tunderstand.
Like, I mean, how else do youget rid of somebody?
(18:50):
Like, I mean, um, obviously this27 year old is, is feeling like
they're entitled to be stillliving there.
Mm-hmm.
after, I'm sure they've been.
That they would like them toleave and live on their own and
maybe, you know, have their ownplace.
You know what I mean?
(19:10):
Right.
So I think what, what would youdo with anybody living somewhere
where you're not wanting them tobe there anymore?
I would've true.
I would've, I would just evictthem.
They're 27 years old, like,wait.
Demetrius (19:25):
Like if they're not listening or maybe there's not a
game plan, it's like, all right,well here's a game plan.
Oh, you're not following a gameplan.
We'll, maybe step three.
And the game plan is like, allright, well you're not
listening.
You gotta, you gotta get outsooner or later, right?
Shirlene (19:37):
So, yeah, come on.
They're 27.
So like you, they've probablyhad numerous conversations
right?
With them already about needing.
You know, move out.
I'm assuming, I don't know ifthis person works, doesn't work.
There's not much information.
Right.
Exactly.
But I would, I would say if, ifI need my 27 year old out of my
house mm-hmm.
(19:57):
I'm evicting them out of myhouse.
I don't think that sounds mean,but that's what I would have to
Demetrius (20:03):
do.
Sometimes you gotta do what yougotta do, you gotta do what you
gotta do, So that was questionone, question two.
Out of the three here, um, myparents allow me, uh, a person
who was 13 years of age, twohours of gave me a week.
On weekends only.
I get high grades and I'mwell-behaved.
(20:23):
Any conversation with him aboutweekdays or longer than two
hours a week to play games isinstantly shut down.
What do I do?
Shirlene (20:34):
Ooh, so this is a kid asking the
Demetrius (20:37):
question.
He's a, yeah, his 13 year old.
He has good grades.
He says.
He says he is wellbe behaved, noissues.
He just wants a little more gametime, you know, so it's like,
do, how do you, how would youdeal with something like,
Shirlene (20:50):
Yeah, that's, that's tough.
You know what I mean?
Because as far as me as aparent, um, I don't put those
stipulations on my child.
Um, I mean, those things don't,I, you know, doctors always ask
if the doctor's appointmentabout screen time ever since he
was.
Two.
(21:11):
Mm-hmm.
you know, but I don't, I don'thave a problem with, um, with,
with, with screen time, as longas there's a, a, a balance
mm-hmm.
So as, as the, it, this is kindof hard because a 13, as a 13
year old, um, I would say tohave that, have a conversation
(21:31):
with your parents.
Yeah.
You know, and I would say to letthem know that, you know, Like
he expressed in the letter that,you know, I'm doing well
academically and, um, I wouldmaybe make, like, I would
probably make some type of, um,agreement with them.
Right.
Why don't you, can you guys giveme, how about this?
(21:54):
Give me one month, one month of,you know, increased gaming.
They could come up with like aplan together.
Mm-hmm.
maybe that would be from twohours on the weekend to maybe.
Four hours on a Saturday, youknow what I mean?
Two hours on a, you know, justmake up some type of plan.
(22:15):
Mm-hmm.
and then if, if there's by likethe next rating period or
something like that, if there'sany changes in my grades, if
there's any changes in mychores, if I'm not doing my
chores, if there's any changes,then we can go.
to like what you guys said.
So I would say like somethinglike that, but it's kind of hard
(22:38):
cause a 13 year old wouldn'tnormally know how to do
something like that.
Right.
Demetrius (22:44):
But, uh, it's a good suggestion though.
And that's all they're askingfor are suggestions that the
worst gets narrow, false fails,like up, sorry, they're your
parents and I guess you justhave to wait till you're 18 or
ordering.
Exactly.
You'll be able to make your ownrules when you leave,
Shirlene (22:57):
and that's always so tough.
But yeah, I would say that totry to go to them with a, like a
plan and see.
Demetrius (23:05):
Oh man.
But that's a good idea though,the plan.
Um, so the last question of thepeople that ask questions here,
my three-year-old is refusing tolet us cut his hair.
We've tried everything.
Bribery, I don't know whatthey're bribing him with light
ups, but bribery, taking awaytreats, et cetera.
But he is too stubborn.
What should we do?
Shirlene (23:25):
Not cut his hair.
Demetrius (23:27):
Hmm.
That's it.
Just don't
Shirlene (23:29):
cut it.
Not cut his, not cut his.
Let it grow, put it in aponytail.
Why does, why does, why does aboy, well, I don't know if it's
a boy or a girl.
Demetrius (23:40):
True.
Yeah.
They didn't say, they saidthree-year-old.
Yeah.
Shirlene (23:43):
Gender.
Yeah.
But why, why, why does, why doesa child need a haircut?
You know what I mean?
Is, is that that three, thatsounds like that's a demand that
we're putting on the child.
Cause we want their haircut.
But if the child doesn't wanttheir haircut, I don't feel that
we.
Just pull it back in a ponytailuntil they're four or six months
(24:06):
down the line, you could try itagain.
Right.
But a three-year-old has rights.
Demetrius (24:11):
a three.
Yearold
Shirlene (24:12):
has rights.
A three-year old has rights.
I don't, yep.
I don't feel that we shouldforce, I don't feel like, like
you should, if your kid doesn'twanna sit still to get a
haircut.
Mm-hmm.
maybe they're too young.
They're three, maybe they're notready for it.
It's like, it's like, Mythree-year-old is going to the
dentist.
Mm-hmm.
And they won't sit through theappointment.
(24:33):
Well, that means they can't goto the dentist yet.
Yeah.
They're not ready.
You know what I mean?
Demetrius (24:39):
Yeah.
That's difficult though with thedentist part cause it's like, I
don't even know.
Cause it's like how importantthose cleanings are, especially
when there's teeth are comingin.
Um, well there's,
Shirlene (24:48):
there's, there's, um, I mean there's, there's children
that have trouble.
Dentist.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
And, um, I mean, I don't knowwhat the workaround is for that,
but obviously a dentist can't doanything if a kid is screaming.
Oh yeah, definitely.
Right?
Demetrius (25:06):
So you hurt
Shirlene (25:07):
the child.
Yeah, right.
Exactly.
So
Demetrius (25:09):
mm-hmm.
even with the haircut, now thatI think about it.
Yeah.
But go ahead.
See, even with the haircut, nowthat I think about it with the
kids moving, that's also, it canbe
Shirlene (25:16):
dangerous, right?
Yeah.
So, so your safety of your childis number one.
So at those young ages,Sometimes it could be fair, it
could be just maturity.
So I think sometimes we gottakind of revisit things and slow
down and just be like, allright, Susie or Jimmy isn't
wanting this right now.
(25:37):
Let's try another approach.
Demetrius (25:39):
Well, that's it for those questions, but I do have
one more question to ask you.
Um, and I asked this for all theguests I talked to, so if you
can go back in time and justtell your past self, just like
one thing, and when I say pastself, it could be maybe your
early twenties or maybe rightbefore you had your kid, you
know, it could be anything.
But if you could tell your pastself one thing that you know now
(26:01):
in your current state, like whatwould it be?
What would be that one thing youwould tell your past self?
Shirlene (26:06):
Hmm.
The one thing I would tell mypast self, I would tell my past
self, always walk with love.
Awesome.
That's what I would tell my pastself.
Demetrius (26:22):
All right.
Awesome.
Okay.
So I just wanna thank you forjoining in.
It's been one of the, I thinkit's probably been one of my
logger, uh, ones, but hey, wehad a lot to say and a lot to
talk about, so we can't, youknow, we don't wanna shorten
that.
Right.
So I just wanna thank you for,uh, coming on, and I appreciate
it.
Thank you for having me.
I just wanna thank you forjoining us on this journey
(26:42):
through the second season of theSingle Mother Conflict podcast
series.
Now this is the last episode ofthe season, and we hope that
you've gained valuable.
Into the unique challenges thatsingle mothers face.
We'll be providing additionalcontent throughout the year.
So make sure you stay tuned.
Now, if you are a parent or knowsomeone who is a parent, please
consider subscribing and leavingus a review to help us reach
(27:03):
more people like you.
Now, we know that being a parentcan sometimes be difficult, but
we hope that by sharing ourstories and experiences, we can
help make things a littleeasier.
So with that being said, I justwanna thank you again and we
look forward to hearing fromyou.
You were using an alarm, you were waking yourself
up, and now I'm having to callyou again.
Do you understand that I won'talways be here, like this is
something you're gonna have todo on your own.
Demetrius (00:13):
Welcome back to the Single Parent Conflict Podcast,
and back to a now ongoing seriescalled The Single Mother
Conflict.
Just wanna get some housekeepingitems outta the way first before
we get to our guest.
If this is your first timelistening in, I'm your host,
Demetrius, a former singleparent who at the time had no
idea what direction I will besteering towards to overcome the
(00:33):
challenges of well being afather.
After gaining a lot of insight,education, and a ton of
patience, I now want to givethat information back to you,
the parent.
Whether you're single or not, tostay motivated and inspired
during your parenting journey.
This episode is part two, acontinuation of last week's
conversation with Charlene.
So if you haven't listened to ityet, pause this episode and come
(00:56):
back to it when you're donelistening to part one.
Now, for those of you who havelistened already, Welcome back.
Let's continue on with our talkwith Charlene.
Yeah, I was gonna say, you werejust telling me, you know,
before, was it yesterday orearly today?
Um, just about kind of all thestruggles you guys are going
through just to get the secondtruck.
(01:16):
Um, so can you talk about that alittle bit there?
Like what are, what are some ofstruggles you guys are going
through with, with, you know,this owner operator, you know,
business he's doing
Shirlene (01:26):
well, it's his, um, his, so his, so his truck.
Um, obviously he needed to geta, he, he needed to get a second
truck because his, I mean, heneeded it for his, for his job.
The contract that he has, heneeded two trucks to be running.
Mm-hmm.
So he temporarily started torent one truck and we started
(01:47):
shopping right away for a secondtruck.
Unfortunately.
Trucks are, the prices of trucksare just crazy, right?
Um, the, our first truck that wehave, he only paid$16,000 and
change for that truck.
And now like the average truckis running like$70,000, you
know, for a truck.
(02:07):
So it put us in this position ofkind of like, all right, what
are we gonna do?
Because we also are looking tomove mm-hmm.
and purchase, um, our first hometogether.
Next year.
Mm-hmm.
So, you know, we've gotta watchhow we invest, you know what I
mean?
So, um, with that being said,because of how expensive, you
(02:28):
know, trucks are, he made adecision to kind of go.
Out, out of the co He waslooking at one specific company.
Yeah.
Doing business with this onecompany.
He decided to kind of go outsideof that mm-hmm.
and he ended up findingsomething for half the price and
he and, um, down in Atlanta.
And unfortunately, I, like I hadmentioned to you, um, when he,
(02:52):
he had to obviously travel to goand get the truck, and the truck
ended up breaking down on theway.
On the way
Demetrius (02:59):
home.
Oh, I don't think I knew.
Maybe I didn't write that wrong.
I didn't know that.
So he's driving it from Georgiaup and then it broke
Shirlene (03:06):
down.
Right.
So, so he, so we bought, so theyhad an option where we could
pay, I think, like$1,500 andhave someone bring the truck up.
Yeah.
Well, we never, my husbandnever, like, had seen the truck
and, mm-hmm.
um, the finance company, theywere like, you know, You know,
everyone, like the dealer waslike, normally we have you come,
(03:28):
you look at the vehicle andthat's when you put down the
rest of your deposit andfinalize the deal.
Mm-hmm.
So he just thought it was bettercuz they were like, you can pay
a mechanic to come and look atit if you want us to then bring
the truck up.
So what he decided to do was, Hewas like, I'm gonna fly down
there.
I'm gonna check the truck outmyself.
(03:48):
Mm-hmm.
and then I'm going to bring thetruck up.
So that's exactly what we did.
Everything was going, you know,smooth.
There were some things on thetruck that he, he recognized
right away, like the AC wasn'tworking.
Mm-hmm.
um, the box had like a hole init.
So he found some things and hetold them, and they were like,
(04:09):
okay.
They fixed everything.
He got there on a Wednesday.
The truck was ready by aThursday.
Um, like Thursday afternoon.
Okay.
Evening or early evening.
Demetrius (04:20):
This is probably helpful not to cut you off, but
helpful that he went down versussomebody driving up.
Cause then he would've to, itwould've made what days probably
for him to like, oh, now I gotthis truck.
Now I got all these problems.
Shirlene (04:31):
Exactly.
Exactly.
So it worked out well.
It, it, um, in that aspect.
But then unfortunately, like, Heleft from Georgia, he only got
as far as Tennessee, literallyin the middle of nowhere.
And, um, and the truck basicallybroke down, like it started
having some serious problems.
(04:53):
Wow.
But the thing is, is that me andmy husband, We, um, our faith,
we, we, we walk, we walk and werun and we gallop, you know,
with, with on our faith.
Mm-hmm.
and, um, I just feel like it'samazing how I feel God was
working because his truck brbreaks down in Tennessee and it
(05:17):
breaks down four miles from afreight line dealership.
Oh, wow.
A freight, a freight line.
He has a freight line.
And it breaks down and it breaksdown four miles from a freight
line truck.
So my husband, the truck wasn't,the truck was not work, it was
like done.
Mm-hmm.
But he pushed it.
(05:37):
He like, he was able to get itto like keep going.
Yeah.
It took him an hour and a halfand he drove those four miles to
get it to that.
Wow.
He, he, he gets it, you know,so, so that was one area.
I'm like, this is God, becauselike yeah, outta all the places
you could break down.
You're in the middle of nowherein Tennessee and there's a
(05:58):
Freightliner dealership mechanicshop four miles away.
Then, um, I had to figure outhow to get him out of there.
Basically this happened on, thiswas a Friday.
Mm-hmm.
So guess what?
We can't tell you what's wrongwith this truck until Monday.
Ooh.
You know what I mean?
Because it was, it was Fridayovernight this happened.
(06:21):
Mm-hmm.
So he slept in the truck untilsix in the morning when they
opened on Friday.
And he was hoping that theywould be able to like look at
the truck right away.
Yeah.
And they were like, you know,we're backed.
They ended up not looking at thetruck until like four o'clock in
the evening on Wow.
Friday, and they were hooking itup running.
(06:42):
So they were like, the truck iscoming back with like two, three
different codes.
Mm-hmm.
we're not really gonna know tillMonday.
So now guess what?
Super Charlene, super wife,super sure has to figure out how
to get my husband because my,yeah, like, it's like I'm the
designated like ad admin of thisnew upcoming business.
(07:02):
Right.
So now I have to figure out howto get my husband, you know, out
of Mr.
C e o.
Yes.
Yeah, exactly.
I have, I have to get him outtathis predicament out of, you
know, Tennessee.
Yeah.
So, But this is how God works.
Again, I'm like, now I'msearching for airports because
he's in the middle of nowhere.
(07:24):
I'm like the F.
There's two internationalairports in Tennessee.
He was seven and a half hoursaway from one.
and he was four and a half hoursaway from another.
Okay.
So I continued to search andsearch and search and all of a
sudden I find this littleairport called Tri-Cities
Airport.
Hmm.
(07:44):
That was 12 miles away from him.
And we were able to, we wereable to rent a car there.
Mm-hmm.
And he had to drive back, but hegot back.
And I just feel like, alright.
Like, come on.
Like, and then the truck, thewarranty on the truck only was
for a certain amount of miles.
(08:04):
So if, if he would've maybe evendripping the truck all the way
home Yeah.
And then had a problem with it.
Yep.
It might have been out of thewarranty by the time he got
home.
Demetrius (08:13):
It's funny.
Miles, not like timeline, like30 days or 60.
That's interesting.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Wow.
So too many, too manycoincidences.
Right?
It's, it's more than acoincidence, right?
Yeah.
Shirlene (08:25):
So it's so, so, you know, so it's, so it's tough
when you're, when you're, youknow, you're running a business
and you're trying to grow it,you know?
Wow.
So now we have, you know, fastforward, it was hard, it was
difficult, it was stressful, butthe truck got fixed and the
truck just came home on Sunday.
Demetrius (08:48):
Wow.
And, and this might not be theonly time too, especially when
you're dealing with trucks, it'slike they're, they're gonna
break down, right?
So now you got that experienceof like, all right, we did, we
dealt this before.
Let's go ahead and figure thisout.
And, you know, so now you gotthat experience on your belt,
right?
So, right.
So, yeah.
Oh man.
But I still, whew, that's gottabe that F word we used before,
right?
Frustrating
Shirlene (09:09):
Yeah.
Especially, I mean, after youjust spent your, you know, you
just spent your money onsomething, right?
And you know, and.
You're just kind of like what?
You know.
And then, um, the original quotethat they had given one day on
Monday, they were like, um, it's$7,000 in parts to fix it.
Wow.
(09:30):
So, you know, not just, youknow, you know, trucks are
expensive.
Yeah.
You know, so, yeah.
Demetrius (09:36):
So, man, so now dealing with the business
struggle, now going back to likethe, the parenting struggle.
So you have your teenage likeson now.
So now this is the time rightof.
Like school, uh, you know,focusing on if, if they're going
to school, what they'reinterested in.
Um, and I know recently, um,your son just found an interest,
(09:57):
uh, in a certain subject, whichsounds great, but what was, how,
what do you think sparked thatinterest in him?
Like what, what are thestruggles that have you felt
with like, ah, should he go toschool?
Should he not?
How do I spark his interests?
Like, talk about that a littlebit.
So,
Shirlene (10:12):
um, So as far as, as far as my son mm-hmm.
and I don't know if this is, uh,like a new, I don't know if
it's, I mean, alright, let's bereal.
The times are different, right.
Kids are interested in, indifferent things.
So he, he started talking to meabout being a influencer.
(10:33):
Mm-hmm.
So that's where this all camefrom.
He, um, he wanted to be aninfluencer, and my thing was,
all right, great.
Like, you know, you can dowhatever it is you wanna do.
I don't wanna shoot downanyone's, you know, dreams, but
how can we, how can you get aneducation and still, and, and,
and basically still be aninfluencer mm-hmm.
(10:55):
but have a degree with that.
Right.
You know, so, um, you.
Being 16, you know, he's onlyable, he doesn't really
understand living yet.
Mm-hmm.
and, you know, struggle yet.
And, and money.
And to him, to him, when someonesays they're making$25 an hour,
(11:15):
he thinks that's money, youknow?
Yeah.
But in, in this day and age,that's not.
That's not money.
Money.
You're, you know,$25 an hour isnot, is not cutting it anymore,
especially if you live in, ifyou're single and you're by
yourself.
You know what I mean?
Right.
So, um, he has, he always had astrong interest just in
(11:36):
technology.
He's, he's, you know, he's a, amore of a tech person and he
wants, you know, he'sinteresting in, in podcasting
and, and doing all that stuff.
So he came to me and he told methat, you know, that's the
program that he was interested
Demetrius (11:55):
in.
Right.
Okay.
And just to go back to, cause$25an hour, depending on where you
are in the United States,$25 anhour is a, is a huge chunk of
chain that some people may neverget.
But also, like you were saying,depending on where you are,$25
an hour, like New York, otherplaces, that's nothing like, you
know, like that.
That's nothing at all.
And the, and the
Shirlene (12:14):
thing is, in those places, yeah.
Many times they don't even payyou$25 an hour.
Nope.
Because the cost of living islower.
So they, the pay is usually alsolower as well.
Lower right as well.
You know what I mean?
So, so that's where you stillare then having a struggle
because you're still not, youknow what I mean?
But like, yeah.
(12:35):
So you're not gonna be somewhereor making$25 an hour probably,
where you know, Where a mortgageis$257 a month.
Demetrius (12:49):
Oh, money, I tell you.
And then so, so now, yes.
I feel like
Shirlene (12:54):
his struggle.
Yeah.
I was just gonna say, I feellike, you know, I feel like his
struggle, his personal strugglewith not wanting for a, for a
while, it was kind of like, Idon't wanna go to school.
I don't wanna go to school, Idon't wanna go to school.
I wanna go to school.
Because he was, he wasconnecting college as being.
Like high school.
Mm-hmm.
or where you're, you know, fromeight o'clock in the morning
(13:16):
until two 50 or three o'clock inthe evening.
Mm-hmm.
you're in a building.
You're like, you know what Imean?
And I explained to him like, no,it's not like that at all.
It's completely different.
You know what I mean?
So that concept alone was, youknow, and then my son also has a
D H D.
Mm-hmm.
So the focus.
(13:38):
Is is another thing, likesometimes he can just become
very overwhelmed.
Mm-hmm.
when you know, like too muchwork right.
He can just become veryoverwhelmed with like having too
many assignments and too manythings to get done in a certain
amount of pain, like timeframe.
Demetrius (13:56):
So yeah.
And the assignments are stillthere.
Definitely.
But like you were saying, likeit's not.
It's not the same.
Like you got that separation,like you may have you maybe just
two classes that day.
It's not like 8:00 AM 9:00 AMall the way to 2:00 PM Right?
Like, so you get more of that,but you also have more
responsibility to get a lot ofyour work done too.
So it's that balance.
Right, right.
So, so, but it's finally comingaround it sounds like.
(14:18):
Now, how do you deal with thebalance of like, cause I know
there's some parents that, um,you took the approach of, okay,
this is what you're interestedin.
Let's look at the majors outthere college-wise that will
help you enjoy your interest andput a degree behind it.
Um, so not like certain parentsthat are like, yeah, I know you
like that, but I ain't makingany money.
You're gonna be a doctor, you'regonna be this.
(14:38):
Uh, so that's a great approach.
But what, but how do you feellike now that you know he's
interested in something, howmuch are you trying to kind of.
Put your hands on it a littlebit now.
Cause you know, as parents youlike to like, Ooh, okay, let me,
let me help you with this, letme help you with this.
But how do you balance that andhaving him, you know, be
responsible as well?
Shirlene (14:58):
Actually, I don't feel like I'm putting my hands really
on it at all.
Okay.
The only, I, I just kinda like,only thing I'm gonna do is I'm
gonna fill out that financialaid to see what the going hands
on it that I really need is thefinancial aspect of things.
Cuz that's gonna fall, you know,on my plate because he is only,
you know, 16 years old.
Mm-hmm.
um, and from, and, and fromthere.
(15:22):
It's kind of like, this is, thisis your thing, right?
You know, this is, this is, youknow, your thing.
And, um, you know, just like Iwas, I would say just like, just
like high school, you know, Iwill be, I will be here to try
to give you advice and guide youand, you know, do those things,
but I don't really, like, I'mnot looking up to see.
(15:44):
Like what different fields this,this profession is gonna put him
in.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm not doing any of that.
Demetrius (15:53):
Got you.
No, it's understandable.
Okay.
All right.
So.
Now I just wanna jump forwardand see, so you, you've given
some, you know, great thingsabout your own life.
Hopefully anybody's listeningcould kind of take from that and
help them in their own lives.
But there are some questions Iactually pulled.
Uh, I'm a follower of thewebsite, core.com.
core.com is kind of like Reddit,and, uh, if you haven't heard of
(16:16):
Reddit, it's basically like a, awebsite.
They have different communitypages.
This page I'm a part of is likea parenting page and people will
throw.
Questions out there, like, youknow, I, I don't know how to
deal with this with my kid.
Or, or kids would even put stuffout there like, Hey, I don't
know how to deal with this withmy parents.
Can you?
Right.
I'm gonna ask some questionshere.
I pulled and I think we wannathink you don't mind helping
(16:37):
some people out here.
No problem.
The Single Mother ConflictSeries is brought to you by the
single parent conflict.com.
If you are a parent and have aquestion that you feel you would
love to have answered by anotherparent, even if it's anonymous.
Head over to the single parentconflict.com and have your
questions submited there.
Awesome.
So here's the first question Ipulled here.
(16:58):
Um, my 27 year old, oh, he isstepson.
My 24 7 year old stepson won'tleave our home.
What can I do to show him thathe is too old to be depending on
us for survival?
If you even feel that way.
Shirlene (17:15):
So you wanna know what I would do in that situation?
Yeah.
What would you do?
Yeah.
Well, first of all, I would justhave to say is a 27 year old
still living at home?
Oh wait, they want, they wannaget him out.
Right.
But
Demetrius (17:31):
it doesn't stay.
Yeah.
So just looking like, so yeah,look at it again.
He won't leave, basically.
Sounds
Shirlene (17:36):
like,
Demetrius (17:36):
yeah.
Won't leave our home.
What should we do to show himthat he's too old to depending
on us?
Shirlene (17:41):
Yeah.
So I feel like, first of all, Ifeel like as a parent mm-hmm.
that starts from when they'reyounger, kind of getting them
ready for their, getting themready for.
Independence.
Mm-hmm.
and not having them rely on youand kind of building them up.
So like this morning as anexample, I, my, I had called my
(18:03):
son to wake him up and mm-hmm.
I was like, you know, this islike, you know, we're reverting
backwards.
Like you were doing good.
You were using an alarm, youwere waking yourself up, and now
I'm having to call you again.
Mm-hmm.
do you understand that I won'talways be, Like this is
something you're gonna have todo on your own.
So I feel like a 27, a 27 yearold living at home, I don't
(18:30):
think there's anything wrongwith your 27 year old living at
home.
Mm-hmm.
But if you are wanting toactually.
Like actually get rid of yourson like a victim.
I mean, like, I don'tunderstand.
Like, I mean, how else do youget rid of somebody?
(18:50):
Like, I mean, um, obviously this27 year old is, is feeling like
they're entitled to be stillliving there.
Mm-hmm.
after, I'm sure they've been.
That they would like them toleave and live on their own and
maybe, you know, have their ownplace.
You know what I mean?
(19:10):
Right.
So I think what, what would youdo with anybody living somewhere
where you're not wanting them tobe there anymore?
I would've true.
I would've, I would just evictthem.
They're 27 years old, like,wait.
Demetrius (19:25):
Like if they're not listening or maybe there's not a
game plan, it's like, all right,well here's a game plan.
Oh, you're not following a gameplan.
We'll, maybe step three.
And the game plan is like, allright, well you're not
listening.
You gotta, you gotta get outsooner or later, right?
Shirlene (19:37):
So, yeah, come on.
They're 27.
So like you, they've probablyhad numerous conversations
right?
With them already about needing.
You know, move out.
I'm assuming, I don't know ifthis person works, doesn't work.
There's not much information.
Right.
Exactly.
But I would, I would say if, ifI need my 27 year old out of my
house mm-hmm.
(19:57):
I'm evicting them out of myhouse.
I don't think that sounds mean,but that's what I would have to
Demetrius (20:03):
do.
Sometimes you gotta do what yougotta do, you gotta do what you
gotta do, So that was questionone, question two.
Out of the three here, um, myparents allow me, uh, a person
who was 13 years of age, twohours of gave me a week.
On weekends only.
I get high grades and I'mwell-behaved.
(20:23):
Any conversation with him aboutweekdays or longer than two
hours a week to play games isinstantly shut down.
What do I do?
Shirlene (20:34):
Ooh, so this is a kid asking the
Demetrius (20:37):
question.
He's a, yeah, his 13 year old.
He has good grades.
He says.
He says he is wellbe behaved, noissues.
He just wants a little more gametime, you know, so it's like,
do, how do you, how would youdeal with something like,
Shirlene (20:50):
Yeah, that's, that's tough.
You know what I mean?
Because as far as me as aparent, um, I don't put those
stipulations on my child.
Um, I mean, those things don't,I, you know, doctors always ask
if the doctor's appointmentabout screen time ever since he
was.
Two.
(21:11):
Mm-hmm.
you know, but I don't, I don'thave a problem with, um, with,
with, with screen time, as longas there's a, a, a balance
mm-hmm.
So as, as the, it, this is kindof hard because a 13, as a 13
year old, um, I would say tohave that, have a conversation
(21:31):
with your parents.
Yeah.
You know, and I would say to letthem know that, you know, Like
he expressed in the letter that,you know, I'm doing well
academically and, um, I wouldmaybe make, like, I would
probably make some type of, um,agreement with them.
Right.
Why don't you, can you guys giveme, how about this?
(21:54):
Give me one month, one month of,you know, increased gaming.
They could come up with like aplan together.
Mm-hmm.
maybe that would be from twohours on the weekend to maybe.
Four hours on a Saturday, youknow what I mean?
Two hours on a, you know, justmake up some type of plan.
(22:15):
Mm-hmm.
and then if, if there's by likethe next rating period or
something like that, if there'sany changes in my grades, if
there's any changes in mychores, if I'm not doing my
chores, if there's any changes,then we can go.
to like what you guys said.
So I would say like somethinglike that, but it's kind of hard
(22:38):
cause a 13 year old wouldn'tnormally know how to do
something like that.
Right.
Demetrius (22:44):
But, uh, it's a good suggestion though.
And that's all they're askingfor are suggestions that the
worst gets narrow, false fails,like up, sorry, they're your
parents and I guess you justhave to wait till you're 18 or
ordering.
Exactly.
You'll be able to make your ownrules when you leave,
Shirlene (22:57):
and that's always so tough.
But yeah, I would say that totry to go to them with a, like a
plan and see.
Demetrius (23:05):
Oh man.
But that's a good idea though,the plan.
Um, so the last question of thepeople that ask questions here,
my three-year-old is refusing tolet us cut his hair.
We've tried everything.
Bribery, I don't know whatthey're bribing him with light
ups, but bribery, taking awaytreats, et cetera.
But he is too stubborn.
What should we do?
Shirlene (23:25):
Not cut his hair.
Demetrius (23:27):
Hmm.
That's it.
Just don't
Shirlene (23:29):
cut it.
Not cut his, not cut his.
Let it grow, put it in aponytail.
Why does, why does, why does aboy, well, I don't know if it's
a boy or a girl.
Demetrius (23:40):
True.
Yeah.
They didn't say, they saidthree-year-old.
Yeah.
Shirlene (23:43):
Gender.
Yeah.
But why, why, why does, why doesa child need a haircut?
You know what I mean?
Is, is that that three, thatsounds like that's a demand that
we're putting on the child.
Cause we want their haircut.
But if the child doesn't wanttheir haircut, I don't feel that
we.
Just pull it back in a ponytailuntil they're four or six months
(24:06):
down the line, you could try itagain.
Right.
But a three-year-old has rights.
Demetrius (24:11):
a three.
Yearold
Shirlene (24:12):
has rights.
A three-year old has rights.
I don't, yep.
I don't feel that we shouldforce, I don't feel like, like
you should, if your kid doesn'twanna sit still to get a
haircut.
Mm-hmm.
maybe they're too young.
They're three, maybe they're notready for it.
It's like, it's like, Mythree-year-old is going to the
dentist.
Mm-hmm.
And they won't sit through theappointment.
(24:33):
Well, that means they can't goto the dentist yet.
Yeah.
They're not ready.
You know what I mean?
Demetrius (24:39):
Yeah.
That's difficult though with thedentist part cause it's like, I
don't even know.
Cause it's like how importantthose cleanings are, especially
when there's teeth are comingin.
Um, well there's,
Shirlene (24:48):
there's, there's, um, I mean there's, there's children
that have trouble.
Dentist.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
And, um, I mean, I don't knowwhat the workaround is for that,
but obviously a dentist can't doanything if a kid is screaming.
Oh yeah, definitely.
Right?
Demetrius (25:06):
So you hurt
Shirlene (25:07):
the child.
Yeah, right.
Exactly.
So
Demetrius (25:09):
mm-hmm.
even with the haircut, now thatI think about it.
Yeah.
But go ahead.
See, even with the haircut, nowthat I think about it with the
kids moving, that's also, it canbe
Shirlene (25:16):
dangerous, right?
Yeah.
So, so your safety of your childis number one.
So at those young ages,Sometimes it could be fair, it
could be just maturity.
So I think sometimes we gottakind of revisit things and slow
down and just be like, allright, Susie or Jimmy isn't
wanting this right now.
(25:37):
Let's try another approach.
Demetrius (25:39):
Well, that's it for those questions, but I do have
one more question to ask you.
Um, and I asked this for all theguests I talked to, so if you
can go back in time and justtell your past self, just like
one thing, and when I say pastself, it could be maybe your
early twenties or maybe rightbefore you had your kid, you
know, it could be anything.
But if you could tell your pastself one thing that you know now
(26:01):
in your current state, like whatwould it be?
What would be that one thing youwould tell your past self?
Shirlene (26:06):
Hmm.
The one thing I would tell mypast self, I would tell my past
self, always walk with love.
Awesome.
That's what I would tell my pastself.
Demetrius (26:22):
All right.
Awesome.
Okay.
So I just wanna thank you forjoining in.
It's been one of the, I thinkit's probably been one of my
logger, uh, ones, but hey, wehad a lot to say and a lot to
talk about, so we can't, youknow, we don't wanna shorten
that.
Right.
So I just wanna thank you for,uh, coming on, and I appreciate
it.
Thank you for having me.
I just wanna thank you forjoining us on this journey
(26:42):
through the second season of theSingle Mother Conflict podcast
series.
Now this is the last episode ofthe season, and we hope that
you've gained valuable.
Into the unique challenges thatsingle mothers face.
We'll be providing additionalcontent throughout the year.
So make sure you stay tuned.
Now, if you are a parent or knowsomeone who is a parent, please
consider subscribing and leavingus a review to help us reach
(27:03):
more people like you.
Now, we know that being a parentcan sometimes be difficult, but
we hope that by sharing ourstories and experiences, we can
help make things a littleeasier.
So with that being said, I justwanna thank you again and we
look forward to hearing fromyou.
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