Just recently, I went to a superhero themed birthday party for my best friend’s daughter. The party was adorable, complete with a Wonder Woman cake made by a friend, who is additionally, a mother.
As my dear friend and I sported our favorite superhero t-shirts (ok, confession, I wore one of her shirts, I didn’t own one), I admired HER shirt. She wore a Wonder Woman shirt and it was at that time that I realized.
All moms are Wonder Women.
True story. Don’t let anyone tell y’all otherwise. I mean, look at the list of super powers we all have:
We can grow and incubate a human being for up to 10 months, all while living our daily lives, albeit often times feeling like we are going to barf or fall asleep at any given moment.
We can push said human being out of an opening that is the size of a lemon; or endure a major surgery to ensure a safe delivery.
We can create milk and feed our child from our bodies if we choose to.
Some of us can’t carry children, but we adopt and accept a child as if they came from our womb immediately upon welcoming them into our arms without hesitation. It is really quite amazing.
We can manage a work conference call while simultaneously planning an epic Lightning McQueen birthday party; we can order cupcakes online, design the invitations, and buy the favors all while maintaining a meeting OR completing our TPS reports.
Somehow, we have an amazing ability to make sure the house is ALWAYS stocked with necessities. Toilet paper, Check. Easy Mac, Check. Diapers, Check. Ever notice that these items are never missing? That’s because MOM, the WONDER WOMAN, refills them without even being asked.
When it comes to school, we have it covered. Moms are well equipped with all of the school stuff from holiday parties to test days. Mom takes care of the nap mat, packing the lunch, filling out permission slips, writing that tuition check, covering teacher appreciation gifts, and knowing when and where the school events are going to happen.
Ever notice how moms have sonar ears? I know I have the amazing ability to be in a deep sleep but STILL hear my son crying down the hall. It’s that mom intuition, you just KNOW.
On that same note, ever notice how we can identify our child’s cry out of a crowd? I was in Target recently and heard a cry across the store, and I said “that sounds like my kid” and the lady next to me (another mom) said, “yeah, definitely not mine.” A few moments later, I see my husband carrying my tantrum-crying child down the walkway out of the store. At first, I was embarrassed. Then I was kind of impressed with myself.
We have the innate ability to identify said cries and know when to take them seriously. There is the sick cry, the hungry cry, the tired cry, and my favorite (not really) the tantrum cry. Of course, the worst is the “I’m sick” cry, which is never ignored.
Let’s also mention that we just KNOW when our kid poops on themselves. It’s like we have super senses. Also, we have the art of the one handed poop check that we have all managed to master.
Perhaps the one that stands out the most is our ability to put our family’s needs above our own. Mom is sick? She is still mom and will keep cooking dinner, bathing the kids, or playing cars even if her head is pounding with a sinus headache. We will go without washing our hair for a few days or even without buying new clothes or treating ourselves to a haircut so we can help pay for school tuition, a field trip, or maybe a special dinner out for our kid. We will use up our paid leave at work to care for our kids when they are sick or take them to appointments and make the most out of the situation, even if it means spending the whole day cuddled on our sofa watching the same episode of Paw Patrol for the 100th time.
So true! Purchasing super hero shirt is now on my immediate to do list.