It’s nothing new these days to hear that moms are superheroes. We live in an age where all we have to do is open our phone to find encouraging mom stories that help us feel normalized, mom podcasts that help us feel organized, and Facebook memes that help us feel recognized. I actually think moms are held in higher regard now more than ever before. Perhaps the awareness and connection that social media has brought to the many facets of motherhood has truly helped us remember how important our job as a mom is and how important we really are to our families.
So, the question becomes, are moms really superheroes? I think our superpowers speak for themselves.
1. The Human Lie Detector Superpower: Don’t even try it kids. We can tell you are lying before you even open your mouth. Did your left eye twitch differently? Did your voice quiver for half a second? That almost invisible bead of sweat on your upper lip? Noted. All noted. We don’t need the other half of the story. We don’t need to call the teacher. We don’t need to watch the camera. We know you are lying. We know you “dropped” your math test on the bus floor because you made a bad grade. We knew it the second you stepped off the bus and made eye contact with us because we know you. It’s a superpower.
2. The Multitasking Superpower: Men don’t have this. You can’t convince me otherwise. This is exclusively ours. This is the equivalent of rubbing your belly and patting your head at the same time except we are doing homework with one kid while cheering in the stands at our other child’s game. We are closing a business deal while tending to a sick child at home. We are making an online grocery order on our lunch break while also calling and scheduling multiple appointments. We run classrooms, summer camps, cheer practice, and our house. We just have this innate ability to take all the separate orbs in our life and, in moments of necessity, combine them for the most productive outcome possible. It’s a superpower.
3. The Attention to Detail Superpower: When your child is looking for the 5-inch cheetah that he got from a birthday party six months ago, you know, the one with the purple spots that he can’t find, who is that child going to go to for help finding it? Dad? Or Mom? Dad can’t find the extra-large jar of Nutella on the middle pantry shelf. But Mom? Mom knows she saw that 5-inch cheetah under the dining room chair cushion three weeks ago but also knows we haven’t sat at the dining room table since that night three weeks ago so, yes, the cheetah with the purple spots that’s been missing for three weeks is indeed under the cushion of the dining room chair. Every time mom vacuums in the dining room, she notices the way the dining room chair cushion bulges at the top right corner, and she spied the little cheetah tail a few weeks ago. Moms see everything. The little fingerprint smudges on the front door glass, the tiny Minion stickers on the side of the TV, the little plastic animals stuck in various plants around the house, the way your child’s shoulders slumped when he felt left out at the park. We see it all. It’s a superpower.
4. The “Something Isn’t Quite Right” Superpower: Perhaps the most important superpower of all, a mom knows when something with her child isn’t quite right. We don’t always know exactly what it is, but we know it’s something. We don’t always know the right questions to ask, but we know to ask them. We don’t always know the perfect thing to say, but we know to say something. We don’t always know what to watch for, but we know to watch extra carefully. Don’t underestimate the power of this superpower. I’ve read stories where it can be lifechanging. It’s a mom sense, a gut feeling, a tingly reaction, a red flag. It’s a superpower.
No matter what stage of motherhood you are in, you still have superpowers. Whether you have children under your roof right now or not doesn’t make you any less of a mother or any less of a superhero. So, yes. Sometimes I do wear a cape, and you do too.
