In all of the greeting cards we compare moms to super heroes. In the cold and flu commercials we say that “Moms don’t take sick days,” because it is a well-known fact that moms just don’t stop. Between making lunches, carpools, going to work, science fair projects and so much more, moms don’t have time for a sick day. So they work through their cold, headache, fatigue and everything else that gets them down. Without their diligence and superhuman behavior, everyone else in the household wouldn’t function as easily.
To all of the moms out there, you are a super hero. No one can take that away from you. You made a life and grew it inside of you. That is a miracle. You raised that life and continue to help it grow every day. You are a super hero. But it’s okay to acknowledge your kryptonite. Yes, your organization, parenting and carpool capabilities are superb but your kids know that you are only human and they do not except that you have it all together all the time.
Spiderman wept when Uncle Henry died because despite his Spidey capabilities he felt human emotions, he felt grief. Superman fell in love with Lois Lane and at one point he gave up his powers to be with her. He felt love, a very human emotion, and he let it impact his superhero duties. Were the citizens of Metropolis or Forest Hills ever blame either of these two heroes for what they felt? No. Yes they are superheroes but they have their flaws and their own problems, emotions and feelings that they need to attend to in order to save their cities.
You can’t save the city until you save yourself. You are going to make mistakes. You have made mistakes, but no one blames you for them. You are going to need to take breaks, take time to breathe and collect yourself. You can’t beat yourself up for these things. There is no manual on how to raise kids. There is no book on how to be the perfect wife. There is no right way of doing things or a right thing to do. Perfect is unachievable even for the superhuman.
So if you ever feel like you need forgiveness; for running a couple minutes late in the carpool, accidentally putting peanuts in your kid’s lunch despite one child’s allergy, forgetting to sign the permission slip, burning the cupcakes for the bake sale, you have it. Here is your forgiveness from every child who has looked at their mom and thought “how on earth does she do that?”. If you want forgiveness, you have it. I’m telling you that you don’t need it though. Don’t apologize for not having all the answers. No one gave them to you. Don’t apologize for being imperfect. No one expects you to be. Recognize that you are human. To all of the moms out there, you are superheroes but at the end of the day, Kryptonite could still kill Clark Kent.
