Bailey: The biggest lesson is taking care of
yourself and having the emotional stability
and wherewithal to be present as a parent,
which, I think it takes some maturity, and
it can take even going to counseling just to
make sure that you are able to be a present
parent. Because you only get one chance to
parent, and it goes by very, very fast. I’m
more fi nancially stable now, which also is
a big part of it. And possibly because I’m
more fi nancially stable, I’m able to be more
present because I’m not in that fi guring-
out stage.

Bailey: It would be from my aunt, who I
look up to, and she’s a divorcee (and she
raised two kids on her own after getting a
divorce), and [it] is: Don’t stop your life. If
you have passions, if you have goals, don’t
stop your life. You have to fi gure out how
to still do what you want to do in your
life.…You have to fi gure out how to be a
parent and be yourself.

What’s a piece of advice you’ve
gott en from anoth er single
moth er?
Yamoah-Manuh: Take time for your-
self. Although you’re a mom, and a single
mom, you do have to take time for yourself
because if you’re not good, then the kids
can’t be good.

Yamoah-Manuh: Just the juggle of life-
work balance. I talked to Yana all the time,
and she’s like, ‘We have to, of course, make
money for the kids. We have to be able to
take care of them. We have to provide, but
we also have to make time to be fun and to
make time for the kids where they’re actu-
ally allowed to be kids. We can’t always be
in parent mode.’
What advice would you give a
single moth er?
Bailey: You have to practice self-
care, like, what can you do to
get your mind off of today’s
stresses? Or what’s going to
help you get up in the morning
to get them ready, to get through
school on time? 2
“ You have to practice self-care,
like, what can you do to get your mind
off of today’s stress es? ”
— Yana Bailey
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