young parent

By Ashlin Moreno

It was one sunny afternoon in Mexico when my mom found out she was pregnant with my older brother . My dad was at work when my mom found out . She was only 18 years old . He was also 18 years old so they were pretty young. My mom moved in with my dad when they were both teenagers living in Mexico. It's a normal thing to get married at such a young age in Mexico .

But the difference with my mom was that my grandparents didn't want her to get married at a young age and neither did she but she got pregnant so my dad and her didn't really have any other option.

So i recently interviewed my mom in order to learn about her experience as a young single mother

Ashlin: Qué fue lo más difícil de tener dos trabajos ? [what was the most difficult thing about having two jobs?]

Mom: lo más difícil de tener dos trabajos es que no podía atender mis hijos bien como ellos se lo merecía no poder dormir acostumbrarme a diariamente levantarme y irme a trabajar y regresar hacerles de comer y volverme a ir al otro trabajo para mí todo fue muy difícil pero solamente mis hijos me daban fortaleza para yo salir adelante cuando me sentía muy cansada solamente los recordaba a ellos y era cuando Dios me daba fuerzas para seguir adelante [The most difficult thing about having two jobs is that I couldn't take care of my children as well as they deserved it. I couldn't sleep. I got used to getting up daily and going to work and coming back. Make them eat and go back to the other job. It was all very difficult for me, but only my children gave me strength to move forward when I felt very tired I only remembered them and that was when God gave me the strength to move forward]

Ashlin: awww Gracias por todo mami [awww thank you for everything mom]

Ashlin: cómo te sientes de tener una hija que se va a graduar de High School ? [how do you feel about having a daughter graduating from high school]

Mom: me siento muy orgullosa de tener una hija como tú me siento muy orgullosa de ver lo que yo sola de que no necesite de alguien más para yo sacarlos adelante ante [I feel very proud to have a daughter like you. I feel very proud to see what I can do alone , that I do not need someone else with me to take them forward]

Ashlin: Cuál cosa fue lo más difícil de ser madre soltera con tres hijos ? [What was the hardest thing about being a single mother with three children?]

Mom: Lo más difícil es poder darles un consejo a cada uno tener como esa convivencia con con los tres y ver cómo le daba un consejo a uno y a otro cuando se portaba mal uno saber cómo poderles hablar para que ustedes entendieran

[The most difficult thing is to be able to give advice to each one and to have such a coexistence with the three of them and see how i gave advice to one and the other one misbehaved, and knowing how to be able to speak to them so that you would understand]

Ashlin:yeah

Ashlin:cuál es tu mejor consejo para tus hijos? [what is your best advice for your children? ]

Mom: estudien que le echen ganas para que no ande trabajando como yo desvelándose día a día para salir adelante [study and stay focused so that you don't have to be working like me, unraveling day by day to get ahead]

Ashlin: es más difícil ser madre soltera ya que tus hijos están grandes o era más difícil cuando eran pequeños ? [Is it more difficult to be a single mother since your children are older or was it more difficult when they were little?]

Mom: creo que es más difícil ahorita que están grandes porque la adolescencia es muy dura y a veces no sabes cómo controlarlos en realidad más veces preferiría que estuvieran chiquitos para que me hicieran caso en lo que yo les dijera

[I think it is more difficult right now that they are older because adolescence is very hard and sometimes you do not know how to control them actually I would prefer that they were small so that they would listen to me in what I told them]

Ashlin: Cuando tenías dos trabajos ¿Cuántas horas dormías? [when you had two jobs, how many hours did you sleep?]

Mom: solamente dos horas dormia [i only slept two hours]

Ashlin: wow

Ashlin: fue realmente difícil ser una madre adolescente con dos hijos casi de la misma edad ? [Was it really difficult being a teenage mother with two children almost the same age?]

Mom: si fue muy difícil y es algo que te aconsejo a ti día a día de que no vayas a cometer el error de ser una madre a temprana edad es muy difícil por que llora uno no sé qué hacer y llora el otro no sabes qué hacer es algo muy difícil y muy estresante aparte como no estás preparada para ser madre porque todavía estás muy joven pero gracias a Dios Dios me dio la fortaleza de poderlos educar a los dos y poder con ustedes [ If it was very difficult and it is something that I advise you every day not to make the mistake of being a mother at an early age “it is very difficult because one cries I don't know what to do and the other cries you don't know what to do is something very difficult and very stressful” apart from that you are not ready to be a mother because you are still very young but thank God, God gave me the strength to be able to educate you both ]

Ashlin: esa era la última pregunta y muchas gracias por dejarme entrevistarte y muchas gracias por todo te quiero mucho [That was the last question and thank you very much for letting me interview you and thank you very much for everything I love you so much]

Mom:Gracias a ti por ser una linda hija [Thank you for being a great daughter]

What I learned from interviewing with my mom is that it's really hard to become a young mother when you don't have much support, especially when you’re a single parent. It also showed me that anything is possible, you just have to believe in yourself and never give up even if it's hard. I feel like if I was in her shoes I would already given up because when things in school get hard I already want to give up. But then I remember what my mom has gone through, and it gives me strength not to give up so fast. I see my mom as a really strong person .and Love her with all my heart and I admire her so much.