A Mommy Superhero

Mom's are Superhero's. There's no other explanation for surviving our children's childhood. We must have some sort of super powers bestowed on us during pregnancy, just to make it through childbirth. I was laying in bed today, fending off children this morning thinking of all of the ways mom's have to have super power.

Super Mom's have super food sense. They can make breakfast out of bottled pears and peanut butter toast. They know what their children will absolutely not eat while still making an effort to expose them to new and different things that some day in the future, they may like. She knows that even when dining at the best family friendly Mexican restaurant in town, her kids will cry if they don't get to order chicken nuggets and french fries, or a grilled cheese sandwich, the small ones standing order at any restaurant. They can come up with a snack out of the bottom of a purse like magic. It may be a breath mint or an old, fuzzy piece of hard candy, but a Super Mom knows it will keep them quiet for at least 20 seconds, and that's all she she needs to recharge.

They have Super hearing. A Super Mom can tell what her child is up to by the sound of the toys falling on the floor, two stories and one wing away. "Domino's", she tells her friend, who nods with agreement. She also knows when something is not right. It's the super sonic hearing that allows her to sneak in the bedroom and watch silently as her toddler sits happily with a pair of scissors and My Pretty Pony with pink pony hair all over the floor. She's able to surprise the toddler into never, never touching scissors to hair again. So far. She can also tell when to check on the kiddos who have found the permanent markers, or precariously perched one step stool on top of another on top of a chair in order to get the piece of candy they somehow know is in the top of the cupboard. She can also hear them plotting in bed, and decode the phone tones to the texts the teens are sending. It's uncanny.

A Super Mom has Super Finding skills. She just knows where things are, probably from the millions of times she has picked up and put away things that her children never touch except when they are deemed unfindable. Where's the shoe? Under the bed on the left hand side behind the teddy bear. Where's your hat? You hate wearing it, so you always put it in the laundry. It's in the bottom of your dirty laundry basket. Where's the Lovey? In the car where you fell asleep with it last. A pencil? You had it in bed last night doing Suduko, so it's probably under the covers somewhere.The channel changer? She knows, but she's not telling you. Go find something else to do.

There are the Super clothes matching skills too. A Super Mom respects her children's desire for individuality, while carrying the understanding that there is only so far you can push fashion without getting laughed and pointed at. The toddler's 4th of July checked shorts are cute, but she just can't wear them with the blue and yellow striped shirt she's chosen. Shorts for big kids that are so tight you can't bend over in them, or conversely so big they fall to your ankles every time you stand up are also unacceptable. As for the husband person, a Super Mom knows to keep the blue socks in a totally different place than the black socks. The Super Power comes not only in recognizing all of this, but being able to kindly and firmly convince the rest of the family of the same.

A Super Mom also has Super Eyesight. Even if she wears glasses, contacts or has an astigmatism. She can spot the potty dance from a quarter mile away. She can find her tricky, fast children as they dart from place to place at a busy park. She can tell a child's mood as they walk in the door instantly. She knows when something is up by the condition of the clothing and backpack the child left in upon their return. She also knows that boys license plate number, even when he didn't come to the door like a proper kid and introduce himself. No date is safe. She can spot a child made hair cut a long way off and knows when an owie is serious or not in an instant.

There are many, many other Super Powers given to Super Mom's; a comforting voice, a healing touch, the ability to make up words to any picture book she comes across, and make 40 cupcakes at 10:00 at night for the school carnival. Story telling, teaching, listening, hoping and praying. The biggest one is love. Even when being awaken with a wet person next to you, even when the bugs somehow get out of the jar and escape into the house, even though the dog or cat got out again, even when there is marker on the wall and pretty pony hair on the floor, even then there is love. Mom's have the super capacity to love, no matter what and even when it's hard. What a blessing to be, or to have a Mom.