Your Batmobile might be a minivan, and maybe your cape is the cute cardigan you got on sale last week but there's no denying your heroic powers are endless. Here are 5 reasons why you and every other mom should be considered a real-life wonder woman.
You’re faster than a sprinting 4-year-old, more powerful than a toddler having a tantrum.
It doesn’t matter if the last time you jogged was high school gym class. When you see your tot wobbling toward a busy road, you leap over people in a single bound. When your little one breaks a bone, you can move faster then a speeding bullet to get him to the hospital—and still make sure everyone is wearing seatbelts. With your speed comes super strength, proven in your ability to carry a baby, a diaper bag and five bags of groceries up a flight of stairs. Plus there’s the whole “I survived giving birth” thing. But a mom’s strength comes in many forms: the ability to say no when she needs to; the capacity to power through a day on three hours of sleep; the emotional strength to go back to work or the courage to stay home. You know what you have to do, and you are strong enough to make it happen.
You have super senses!
Superman can see through walls and Spiderman can sense danger across town, but you’ve got all that — and more! Being a mom puts yours senses on overdrive: You can see your toddler getting into trouble even when he’s in a different room; you can smell a dirty diaper from 10 feet away; you can hear a soft whimper from down the hall when you’re dead asleep at 3 a.m.; you can tell your child has a fever just by touching his forehead. Yet it’s the intangible senses that really make you mighty: Your stern look can speak louder than any words; your hug can heal a boo-boo; and your eyes can see right into your child’s heart. Now that’s power!
You’re a multi-tasking wonder woman
Your superhero name might be as well be Octomom (no, not that one!) because you could use eight hands to get it all done — yet you somehow manage to do with two. Your multitasking skills include: preparing dinner from the barest of pantries while holding a crying baby; simultaneously breastfeeding, eating lunch and sending a text; showering while entertaining a toddler (and wondering to yourself how your shower time became a naked Wheels on the Bus entertainment act). Phew! Just because you can accomplish more during naptime than you used to accomplish in a full day doesn’t mean you always should. Consider this your permission to give yourself the occasional naptime break to go back to multitasking the way you once knew it best: watching TV, checking Facebook and savouring a cup of coffee in peace.
You have the stomach of Ironwoman
No one tells you before you have a baby that being a mom is well, gross (and we’re not even talking about labour). Things that once seriously grossed you out or could even make you woozy — projectile vomit, the sight of blood, diaper explosions — no longer have a kryptonite affect on you. You’ve transformed into a woman who can pull a booger out of her kid’s nose or happily squash a spider to quell the screams of her scared daughter. You’ve gone out in public with puke on your shirt, and sometimes your eau de toilette is...well...just that. Your diaper bag is your weapon, filled with all the tools you need to cover any mess: baby wipes, scented poop bags, a change of clothes (for baby and you!) and an endless supply of hand sanitizer. Bring on the gross stuff!
You protect against all bad things
Your ability to decipher what is dangerous for your baby started the second you read the positive pregnancy test (avocados and walking = good; sushi and wine = bad). When the doctor placed your baby in your arms, you knew you’d stop at nothing to make sure she was safe. You removed all blankets and stuffed animals from your newborn’s crib; when he started totting around, you plugged every outlet and baby proofed every cabinet. You put a woman at the park in her place when she made a snide remark about your rambunctious toddler; you even followed the bus on the first day of kindergarten until it arrived safely at school. And though you know there’s a limit to how much you can watch over your kids (seriously, why don’t college dorms come with a guest bed for moms?), your role as number one protector lasts from when your kids get picked on at school to when they get they first get their heart broken — and beyond. No matter what, no one makes them feel as safe and loved as you do.
5 superhero powers we wish we had (a mom can dream!)
- Invisibility. You could check on a napping baby without accidentally waking him up.
- Time travel. Can’t we just fast forward through that public meltdown and be done with it?
- Telepathy. A fussy newborn would be way more consolable if only you could read her mind.
- The ability to create force fields. As in “Sorry nagging mother-in-law/know it all parents/other nosey-bodies, I can’t hear you through this powerful force field.”
- Magic. With one breath, all bottles would clean themselves and toys scattered on the floor would return to their appropriate play.