I've always felt a sense of admiration
to my sister, Kayla. I suppose my
admiration increased during this last weekend when her family came out to
Oregon to visit our family.
Wonder Women flies in an invisible
plane. She can ward off bullets with her
bracelets. But we have never seen her
clean up after a two year old hurricane or try to reason with a four year old
or change diapers.
Sue Storm can turn invisible and sneak
up on criminals. She fights for justice
along with her pals from the fantastic four.
It's impossible for Kayla to even try to become invisible as her
children are always calling, "MOMMY!"
She is the leader of the fabulous five.
Supergirl can fly through the air to
catch falling victims. She defends the
innocent. We never see her wipe the
table or sweep the floor just to have to do again. The only time it stays clean
is when ALL the children are asleep.
Mothers don't often get or take credit
for being superheroes - but many of them are.
It takes a superhero to keep up with a two year old who doesn't have all
the words but does his best to communicate (for example, he may hand you his
sippy cup so that you can test it to see the straw is not working properly) and
gets frustrated when you don't understand - just as surely as a mother gets
frustrated when she doesn't understand why her child is crying though most of
the times she can figure it out . . . eventually.
It takes a superhero to keep up with a
four year old who wants to explore the great outdoors - and hey, if mom is busy
with brother and/or sister, that's okay.
The four-year-old has feet and he knows how to work a door knob by
himself. He'll go outside without
leaving his itinerary. Often, little
brother will follow. But that is no guarantee
that they will actually stick together once they are outside. More than not, they will each go in a
different direction.
The superhero mom has many obstacles
and challenges. Some change from day to
day. Some don't ever seem to change for
her. One of the examples of the non-changing obstacle (or seemingly so) is
having to constantly climb over the long six year old and her toys that are
always in the hall, no matter how many times she is told to move herself and
the toys.
The superhero mom often has to wrestle
at least one of her children to eat a proper meal. Sometimes the bribes that worked yesterday
won't work today. Of course the rules
are different for every child and as they don't come with instruction books,
supermom has to figure them out.
In Kayla's case, she also has her
husband to deal with. For the most part,
Bill is very supportive. He will change
diapers, run errands, take off work to be with family. Bill is also a clown. Endless kidding, major teasing. He doesn't always know when to quit. It's most annoying, especially when it feels
like he is undermining her method of discipline. Anybody who knows my sister and
brother-in-law and family would agree that Bill is Kayla's toughest "child"
to break.
Daddy is fun, and he will seriously do
anything for his children. But mommy is
definitely the one to comfort. The
children are unaware of her super powers.
They just know that mom will protect them and love any of the hurt
away. Daddy's jokes don't always get rid
of the "bad guys" like mommy's super powers do.
Moms may not be able to ward off
bullets with their incredible bracelets.
They might not have capes that assist them in strength. Their superpowers are far greater than those
of the comic book world. So many mothers
operate on so little or no sleep.
Kayla and Bill use a "time
out" as a method of discipline.
Each child has to sit in a corner or by the wall for a minute for every
year of age. I know several mothers who
wish they could have a "time-out" just to get in a power nap.
I don't know if Jenna has ever thought
of me as a super hero. I don't think I
am. But maybe. I don't think I have the same superpowers as Kayla. I figured that out before this last
week.
Mothers (well, mommies) are
superheroes. That's all there is to it.
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