Not all Super Heroes Wear Capes…

Today I read a sticker at a friend’s facebook page that read:  I am a SUPER MOM: that got me thinking “Not all of us super heroes wear capes!” And that brought me to write about my favourite subject for all times!!! Mothers… and I like to call them Super Moms!

Super heroes have super powers. What super powers do moms have? Can anyone else balance a 6 month old on their hip, hold the hand of an ever wandering 6 year old and still have an interactive conversation with their mum in law on the phone, of what to make for dinner?

Can any super hero face the wrath of a 2 year old who just does not want to get out of the cycle that belongs to the other kid? Most would decide to retire early and play golf the rest of their years.

So while super heroes get time to change into their costume of choice, relax in their mundane non-hero public life, and even manage a relationship or two on the side, the super Mom never gets a minute off duty. She is not a bird, she is not a plane, she is Super Mom!!! Coming to save the world! …..

Home is where the heart is, they say.  Home is not home without a mother! A woman, as a mother, mother-in-law and grandmother is what makes our home worth running back to after a tired day of work (or atleast interesting enough to talk about at work!).

Mothers come in all shapes and sizes.

The sit at home Ones:

I always wonder who coined the expression in the first place.  There is no concept of ‘sit-at-home’ when you are at home.  You are always running around after either the househelp, or the kids, in the kitchen or out to the market! As Maya Angelou very rightly said, a woman’s work is never done!! This is the kind who is always doing all the hard work and is still looked up as the ‘farigh’ (free) type! It’s quite the contrary and increasingly there is research going on in terms of the time women spend on chores that is not accounted for in national labour surveys and other time-use measures.  A woman is the manager of her house and like all projects, the house is one that requires her dedication, commitment, thinking and yep, regular monitoring too! And then ofcourse there are the children who would always come to the mom whether its about being hungry, or fighting with another sibling, or running up to her only to check if ‘she is still there’…quiet time is one blessing this category of mothers does not enjoy!  So for all you home-based moms out there, you definitely make the top slot of super moms!!!

The “working Mom”:

Then ofcourse there is the working mother and the associated woes of always running around too, from one deadline to another! A working mother is the ultimate multi-tasker, tab-browsing her way through life!…when she is at work, she is also managing phone calls from home and in between official meetings, also managing why the maid turned up late, or how the driver needs to deliver something somewhere, etc etc.  The moment she enters the house after a long day of work, she is greeted by excited kids who want to narrate the day’s highlights to her…she also needs to immediately shift gears and turn into the above category…the ‘home based’ mom.  There are days when only my son can make me bake cookies for him after a very tiring day at work, no other super power would ever have convinced me!! Then there are days when you wish you could just run and hide somewhere and not have to deal with so much workload.  That’s when a quote I once read somewhere gives me the courage to go on.  I do not recall where I read it, but it was an advice from an older woman to a younger woman on how priorities in life is like juggling plastic and glass balls…while it is okay to sometimes miss catching the plastic balls, we should focus our energies on not missing the glass balls…and that’s my advice for all the upcoming working moms.  It is okay not to be a super woman at all times.  We’ll still be super moms and family is what should and always come first!!

So while the source of a super hero’s power might be kryptonite or a spider bite, the source of a supermom is a hug from your child when you return home or a wet kiss when he goes to sleep in your arms at night.

The Ultimate Mom:

Then ofcourse, the last but not the least category is your own mother!! No matter how tired you are, and how frustrating life can get, a big warm hug from your own mother is what makes the life worth living for. 

No matter how old we get, we still want our own moms, our own super moms! My mother is an absolute supermom for me, and I know that my naani is a supermom to her! I wonder if super mom powers are passed from one generation to the other, getting stronger by the years? We all recall the most fun moments are the ones when we are sitting with our grandmothers (nani and dadi) surrounded by their daughters (khalas and phupos) and exchanging a lifetime of experience and joy! You can feel the super power and the strong bonding it brings! Why else would cousins and extended family be still closer to each other than all the random acquaintances in our lives? It is all the super mom phenomenon!

At the end of the day, there is nothing better than running back to your own mother, seeking refuge in her arms and believing that everything will be alright after all.  Yep, that’s the Ultimate Mom.

Once upon a memory, someone wiped away a tear.  Held me close and loved me.  Thank you, mother dear!