I knew I would need it today. I grabbed my armor and headed toward the door.

We all need it really. The Superman shirt.

I grabbed the long-sleeved one a year ago. But it’s fire hot here, so I quickly realized the short sleeve version was a necessity.

It spotted me from the rack and screamed my name,

Take me with you! You are going to need me.

Less than ten bucks. You can’t beat that for full armor.

Today became a grocery day. There are only so many times I can hear,

We have noooothing to eat. Nothing.

I opened the pantry and have never seen nothing look so plentiful. But, like every dedicated Supermom, I grabbed the keys and tried to sneak away.

Fat chance.

Kids streamed out the door wailing,

Take me with you!

Because the grocery store is just that awesome. And off we went. Supermom and a handful of Supermoms-to-be.

We skidded through the store with two carts in tow. This rattling train with straggling passengers who seem to spy all the goodies on those low shelves. Brilliant strategy placing those kid magnets at the three-foot eye level. Brilliant. We cruised through the store these helpers and I.

I smiled at their grinning faces and mused,

It’s nice with you here. 

Kids seem to find happy places in the most unlikely locations. Like the grocery store, or the waiting room, or the back of a grocery laden truck.

Kids just seem to find happy places. And I just want to be around them.

We crawled our way to the checkout and in the rush to help mom. help mom. help mom…

The containers dropped. Both of them. And green salsa splattered my jeans, my shoes, and my tear-filled five-year-old,

I’m so sorry, Mommy…

I drew a deep breath as the clerk and bagger eyed me closely. Grinning, the bagger uttered,

Supermom.

I exhaled and put my arm around my sweet teary girl,

Yea, that’s right. Supermom. 

My frazzled nerves whispered in my mind,

More like Surviving Mom. That big S for just plain old Survive.

Times like this are when all the mommy practice is put to the test. And I’ve flunked that test a time or ten. Patience and forgiveness. I looked into those sweet brown eyes and thought,

If I’m going to wear the shirt…

We cleaned the mess, loaded our stash and headed out the door.

After unloading the goods and the exuberant re-entry into our hungry home, my oldest girl smiled at me,

Good thing you wore your Supermom shirt today. You really need the super powers. You know… patience and forgiveness. Moms really need those super powers.

And she’s right. Not just because of spilled salsa or grocery store disasters. Not because the clamoring and whining wreak havoc on our frayed nerves. We need them for ourselves.

Because no one is tougher on a mom, than Mom herself.

So, today, I will use the super powers where the oxygen mask must go first. On myself. We can practice patience and forgiveness on the ones who watch our every move, but we have to start with the one in the mirror.

Carry on SuperMoms. You have done enough for today. You can rest now.

 

Genesis 2:2

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.