During a powerful Father’s Day speech Barack Obama called out dead beat dads and heralded us single moms for all of our hard work. I love this man, I truly do.

Raised by a single mother, I expect Obama will be very passionate on single parent issues if elected. On Friday he announced he would co-sponsor to increase enforcement of child support payments and strengthen domestic violence prevention service.

Here are some highlights from his speech:

We need fathers to recognize their responsibility doesn’t just end at conception…what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child, any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father, it’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.

And to all you mothers out there, you need help! We need to help all of those mothers out there who are raising their kids by themselves. The mothers who drop them off at school and go to work and pick them up in the afternoon and work another shift … protect the family and do all of the things that a parent is supposed to do. So many women in our community are doing this in a heroic fashion.

We are so proud of all of those single moms out there doing such incredible work. But they need support, they need another parent in the home. Their children need another parent in the home. That’s what keeps the foundation of our country strong… I know the toll being a single parent took on my mother, how she struggled sometimes to pay the bills. How she struggled to give us the things that other kids had…she struggled to play all of the roles that a parent is supposed to take.

And he also calls out married fathers who aren’t as active as they should be:

It’s a wonderful thing if you’re married and living with your children but don’t just sit in the house watching Sports Center all day… so many of our children are growing up in front of the television set and playing video games. Turn them off and read a book to your child!

Watch the video here.

Can you believe this? A politician praising single moms on Father’s Day. Feel like I’m hallucinating and am of course, ecstatic about it. He also mentioned extending maternity and paternity leave.

Child support laws vary from state to state … what are the laws like in your state? Do you feel you receive your fair share? If you could pass a law to help us out, what would it be?

Related posts:

1. Single Mamas for Obama!
2. From Doomsday to Hot Single Dads.
3. Dear Senator Obama: Please stop spamming me.

It’s been two weeks now since Benjamin’s father has seen his son.

His car is broken down because he drove it without oil. Sigh.

Coincidentally Benjamin has also been sick, sick, sick. I have missed four days of work and will be missing two more. I am also broke because I’ve had to pay for an extra two days of childcare each week.

I called him today en route to the hospital today. Benjamin had a fever of 104.5 and I thought he should know about it.

“Oh,” he says, “Well, I’m in a meeting, I’ll call you back.” CLICK.

I called him tonight to vent a bit. I know, I know. Should have let it go. He’s completely out of our lives now but when I’m missing days upon days of work and he doesn’t even seem concerned or offer to take a day off from his job I get upset.

“I understand,” he says.

“No you don’t.” I snap. “You don’t understand. How could you understand? You have never, ever had to take a day off from work to take care of your son when he’s sick.”

What he says next blew my mind.

“If we were married I would. But, my boss is not going to give me a day off to take care of my ex-wife’s kid. We are not a family anymore.”

“What?!!! He’s your son. You mean he is less of a son to you because we’re not married? Your boss can’t think that unless you think that.”

I should have hung up at this point but I  didn’t. And then he drops this bomb (not the first time).

“It was your choice to leave me,” he says, “it was your choice and now you have to deal with it.”

Was it really my choice to be a single mom? Yes, in that the idea of actually still being with him, had I stayed, makes my skin crawl. Being a single mom is tough but being with a husband like him was a hell of a lot harder. He was cold, insensitive, hurtful and down right useless.

He’s now on month 9 of a relationship with another single mother. Her son is 6 and they’re now living together. Poor her. Poor kid.

If he would have had it his way, right now he would be sitting on MY couch, drinking MY beer, eating MY groceries and treating me like shit. I just wish he weren’t on another single mom’s couch right now. I wish I could warn her.

Conclusion = It was his choice to give me no choice.

Related posts:

1. Single Mom Dating Tips, Part 1
2. Being a Single Mom With a Glass Half Full
3. When Do You Tell Him You’re a Single Mom?