Super Mom. Ha. What exactly is a Super Mom anyway?
3:30am. I woke up a half hour before my alarm was supposed to go off. I barely had enough energy to pick my phone up and turn the set alarm off, but I did. I sat up in my bed, with my feet on the floor, and thought for a second…just 5 more minutes.
Why I decided to lay back down for 5 minutes, I will never know. It is not something I would normally do, I guess staying up til 1am that night was probably not a good idea.
5:30am. My eyes flew open, my eyes went straight to my clock. SHIT! What the heck, how could 5 minutes turn into 2 hours? I was supposed to have Eli (my 10-year-old son) at his school by 5:30am to get on a bus for his first over night field trip. He had been waiting for this moment for the entire school year. He was so excited the night before he could barely sleep, we actually had to do about 20 minutes of stretching and yoga before bed, because he just could not settle down.
5:30am and 1 millisecond. I popped out of bed, ran to Eli’s room, turned on the light and yelled, ‘Eli, we are sooo late.’ He jumped up and with a slight pitch of terror in his voice he says, ‘Oh no…we missed it.’ as he looks at the clock. I turned back and took a glance at his face. At that moment my heart filled with disgust for myself, how on earth could I have messed up like this? I had taken so much time reassuring him the night before that we would get up on time, and get to his school with time to spare. And yes, HERE WE WERE.
My heart raced, but I tried to show no signs of worry. I told him calmly to get dressed, and that I would figure it out, even if I had to drive him there myself. I called the school about a dozen times, frantically trying to get through (Apparently there is no one at the school answering the phone at 5:30am…PFffft) I looked through my phone, emailing, texting and calling every number I could find.
5:41am. I was just about to bribe him with an amazing day at the beach to make up for it, just then my phone rang. I knew it was the school. His teacher, on the other end, inquired where we were, and at that moment I realized just how upset I was, I blurted out with tears forming in my eyes, ‘We are running so late, what do I do? Eli is so upset.’ I was almost choking on my words. She paused, probably half surprised that a mom could be so irresponsible, I mean come on now, the kids have been anticipating this for the entire school year. She asked me to hold a moment, I could only imagine the thoughts going through her head. What kind of mother does something like this? Obviously, NOT a Super Mom.
5:41am and 30 seconds. Teacher: ‘I am sorry, we are leaving now. There is no way. I’m sorry.’ Me: ‘I will drive him all the way up there if I have to. Please. Let me meet you there.’ Teacher: *Pause —I am sure she was possibly confused by the statement. You might be confused yourself while reading this, what is the big deal? Well, you see. We live 4 hours from where the field trip is, St. Augustine, FL. Yes. 4 Hours. I am only hoping at this moment she was thinking, WOW… what a GREAT Super Mom (see how I added the GREAT in there?)
5:41am and 42 seconds. Teacher: ‘Sure that will be fine. Do you have the address?’ Me: ‘YES. YES. I have the address. Thank You so much, see you soon!!’
5:42am. A calm sets in, and I am seriously overjoyed!!!
5:42am and 2 seconds. *a sudden thought. I just agreed to drive four hours to drop my little guy off at his field trip on three hours of sleep.
5:42 and 12 seconds. I explain to Eli his options, we can either stay home and hang out, go to the beach/movie, or I can drive him 4 hours to St. Augustine. His answer? Drive. And that is exactly what this mommy did.
It is amazing to me the things we do for our children. Crazy. I was so happy to spend my entire day (literally) driving him there, and driving myself back just to make sure my little man was a happy camper. We packed up some movies, my laptop, some healthy snacks (of course!) and we were on our way. How I managed to get there in one piece (on 3 hours of sleep) I will never know. I guess I was running off Super Mommy Juice or something.
Apparently, the bus wound up breaking down on the way up, which was great because Eli and I got to hang out and do some shopping together. It is crazy when you have kids, there is literally NO one I would rather hang out with than my kid. I look forward to every minute I get to just be in his presence. It is sort of weird balancing that, without looking or acting like an overbearing, over protective parent. I try my best to give space where space is needed, and I think he gets that. But I still get so happy when he insists on my attention. He will come over and hug me, or take my arm and wrap it around his shoulder. These are the sort of things I LOVE, and I pray will still be there in years to come. I know they will be, they have to be.
_______
It poured around 1pm in St. Augustine. I got soaked! But because of the rain I sought cover in a small restuarant…and the following story unraveled…
Candice Hoyes. I insist you check out her blog. She is actually the reason I am writing this blog entry today. She is an amazing, gorgeous and brilliant mommy who also happens to be a Super Mom…and blogger! I met her on a whim at a small little restaurant in downtown St. Augustine. I loved her look and sat down right next to her, surprised to see another woman my age sitting on her own, I was intrigued and HAD to start a conversation with her. I looked at the menu…glanced at her and asked…’What is good on the menu?’
Immediately sparks flew.
Is it not crazy how we meet? It always amazes me how sometimes you meet people and it’s just ‘eh’ and other times you meet people and it’s like ‘WHOA!’… We opened up and shared stories, about work and kids and the changes in friends once a baby comes in to the picture. We laughed and smiled and connected so well.
I told her my story, explaining how I did not win the ‘Mother of the Year Award’ this morning…she got a bit teary eyed as I explained my story from that morning. Her reaction surprised me for a second, but then, I realized that her reaction is EXACTLY what makes a Super Mom, a Super Mom. She explained how wonderful it was to hear such an incredible story. Tears grew in her eyes and I could feel her heart and soul glow as she explained what a great and inspiring story that was, she made my eyes tear up. And that my friends is a Super Mom. Super Moms don’t put other Moms down for making mistakes. They embrace the story that comes with the struggles of trying to be perfect, and they always encourage and uplift other Moms. I loved how open she was to hearing how I messed up and how much gratitude she had for me as a mom who went WAY out of her way for her child. She made me feel amazing for the small feat I accomplished today. I love meeting and being surrounded by moms like her. I need more of those in my life! They are the BEST! If you are a Super Mom, find and follow me, I am always willing to connect!
Moms that are rooting for each other.
I consider myself lucky to have found her, I consider her a friend already. And this is why I gave her a HUGE hug when she left. You see Moms (and Dads), no one can be perfect, not even Super Moms. But by golly, we will endeavour to try our darndest!
Us mommies…we need to stick together.
Xo!
