Supermom

My house is a mess. The laundry is a week behind. My kid’s closets still contains clothes my children haven’t fit into in over a year. I am frequently sleep deprived and rarely eat a hot meal. It’s no surprise to find me in my pajamas at 2 pm some days.

The other day, the girls and I journeyed out to the grocery store. While we were there, we saw a woman walking up an isle with her 6, count them, 6 children. The oldest couldn't have been older than 7 or 8 years old. They were perfect. They didn't ask for anything. They didn't touch anything. They didn't have to stop at the potty 8 times in 30 minutes. The mom’s hair was styled, her clothes were unwrinkled, she was calm and patient and her make up was painted on perfectly. Clearly, this was some strange creature from another planet...perhaps “Supermom” really does exist.  

Our eyes met. She gave me a kind smile. I smiled and quickly looked away, obviously embarrassed. The girls were tag teaming tantrums and potty breaks. I was still in the yogas I went to bed in. What should have been a 20 minute grocery stop was quickly becoming a two hour escapade. Yup, this is one of many reasons why we rarely leave the house. I am obviously no super mom. We both checked out and went our separate ways.

Only a couple weeks passed when I happened to cross paths with supermom again. However, things looked a little different this time: pajamas were still on 3 of the 6 kids, faces were messy, tantrums were happening, supermom was stressed. I gave her an understanding smile and she said, “some days I seriously think I’m going to lose it!” I replied with, “Oh, I understand! And I only have TWO children!!” 

Once again, we took our carts and parted ways...hopefully, her with a little hope that she was not alone, and me, with a whole new perspective on life.

You see, up until that point, I was under the impression that other moms had it all together. I believed that other mom’s didn't lose their temper or have messy homes, or have kids who sometimes misbehaved in public. I wanted to be more like supermom.

That is, of course, until I realized that during our second meeting, supermom was wanting to be more like me. We were both walking around with these masks– trying to only let the world see our best...our best intentions, our children’s best behaviors, our best, most put together, selves…

But why? Why do we feel the need to hide what is real? Isn't there some beauty in the raw, dirty truth of a child’s messy face, a pile of laundry, and NOT having it all together all the time? To be completely honest, sometimes it feels good to come home, look at my to-do list, ignore it, and sit down with a cup of tea and good book.  I’m not saying we should neglect responsibilities...I’m just saying, none of us are perfect, and we all need downtime...and that is okay.

It is a dirty, messy world, and we are dirty, messy people. When we embrace that, and allow ourselves to be vulnerable with one another, we allow grace, truth, acceptance and forgiveness into our lives.

And I’m pretty sure that’s a beautiful thing.

God is good. All the time.