Planning on becoming a single mother by choice?  Kathy Tuite will give you a reality check.  She’ll tell you how hard it is and how expensive it will be, going it alone.  And once you understand how involved she was in the transformation of Nettelhorst Elementary in Chicago, from a run-down school into an example of what is possible – not only for the state, but for the country – you’ll take her word for it.  But know that if you do decide to go ahead with your plan, Tuite’s example is the one you want to follow.

How do you describe your work? “I do promotional marketing and so that is what I could bring to the table – getting the donations, getting the logo done, giving tours and spreading the word. For me as a single mom, the afterschool programs were what was so important.  I can’t end my day at 2:30.  This school has a phenomenal after school program and the pre-school, you could leave them as late as 5:30 with afterschool programs that go as late as 6:00.”

What three adjectives best describe you? “Intense.  Organized.  Passionate.”

Cats, dogs, birds … describe your pets? “I have a pet. I have a dog. I have a 14-year-old Sheppard mix who is my first child.”

Favorite season? “My favorite season is summer.”

Name a city you’d love to visit.  Why? “New York, just because I love the energy.”

What’s the best thing about being single? “Having my independence.”

Describe your ideal “Girls’ Night Out.” “A wine bar with no kids menu!”

What’s the nicest thing a friend (or friends) have done for you? “I had an injury last fall and the moms at school put together a schedule where they brought me dinner every night.”

What do you do for “Kathy” time? “Yoga and that’s about it.  I don’t get much Kathy time.”

What’s the best advice you ever received? “The best advice I ever received was from my mother telling me that credit cards are for convenience and if you can’t afford to pay for what buy the next day, then you can’t afford it.  I subsequently never carried a balance on a credit card in my whole life.”

What quality do you admire most in a man? “Kindness.  Genuine love of children and somebody who is very witty, funny.”

Jacqueline Edelberg lead the Roscoe Park Eight, including supermom Kathy Tuite in their neighborhood school renaissance.

What quality do you admire most in a woman? “Independence, someone who is well-read and who has a great sense of humor.”

Who are your real life heroes? “My mom.”

What is your guilty pleasure? “Wow I wish I had one.  Sneaking in a nap?”

What is your biggest fear? “My biggest fear is outliving my money.  I always think if only we knew when we were going to die.  It’s a scary thing but I don’t want to save so much that I don’t live and enjoy, but I’ve got my son to think about and college and it’s a little overwhelming.”

If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be? “I’m going to take this from the mom-hood angle.  I wish I had moved into a larger apartment and gotten a live-in nanny.  My life would have been remarkably different. There isn’t any spontaneity. I can’t go and meet for coffee or a drink.”

Other than your own talents, what talent would you most like to have? “I would like to be able to sing.”

What is your motto? Or what words do you live by? “What goes around comes around. Those are the words I live by.  If you treat people well they will end up treating you well and if someone is really nasty and awful, it will come back to them, just the whole karmic circle.”