Watch me prove you wrong.

"Most single moms are very poor, uneducated, can’t get a job and if it weren’t for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death and never have health care."

This is just one of many quotes regarding single mothers that have come out in the media lately. This particular one is from the politician, Mike Huckabee. I'm not offended because I'm not naive - I do understand and am fully aware that there are single mothers in this world that fit that discription. But there are also single fathers that fall into that category, as well as married couples.

Stereotypes are always frustrating - but they are, and will continue to be, a part of life. The only thing that I can do that is within my control is to be the exception. Everyone can sit back and watch me prove them wrong.

I'm not going to post my resume up here and brag about my professional accomplishments. I'm not going to talk about my education, my salary, or my career.

Instead, I'll show you this.

See that on her little face? That's pride. This was after we finished eating a healthy, homemade dinner together. Ruby had just finished planting her little basil plant. She did it all by herself. She picked out the seeds, watered the soil very carefully, showed me where to set her pot on the window sill, and then explained to me that if she watered it and loved it enough it would grow up to be big and tall like Ruby.

I'm a working single mom. I'm nowhere near perfect. But Ruby gives me the motivation every day to try to get there.

If you know someone who is a single parent, drop them a word of encouragement every now and then. It gets tough and lonely and overwhelming sometimes, and it can be encouraging to know that the entire world isn't just sitting around waiting for you to fail.

But don't EVER suggest that we can't do something. Because then you'll have to sit back and wait while we prove you wrong.