Wonder Mom

Question: What makes someone a hero?

Answer: It’s the firefighters, police and military risking their lives to keep us safe.

No doubt, but who else? Who is someone in your life that you look up to, that you think of as a hero? Not necessarily in the ‘they pulled me from a burning building’ way but maybe they still saved you. You can probably easily name a handful of people, but have you ever thought that maybe you’re on someone else’s list for the same reason?

I have a confession, I wanted to be Wonder Woman growing up. It’s true, I had the costume (ok so it was actually just Underoos) but I would spin around in circles until I got dizzy then run off to conquer the world! (Yes, in my underwear).

I’m not Wonder Woman (and sadly for Craig I don’t have the costume), I am just a mom of three adults who I am sure don’t see me as a hero and that’s okay because most days I’m not.

There was one day though, almost 20 years ago when I was a hero in the eyes of my children.

I don’t like bugs, but with kids you pretend, so I pointed out long squiggly worms on the driveway and called their attention to the tree frogs stuck on our back windows and the geckos hanging by our front porch. Even a superhero loses their cool sometimes though, so when it comes to snakes and roaches, I am anything but super.

One day while getting my children dressed to run out the door, my oldest came in whining that there was a roach in their bedroom. With false bravado I grabbed the first can of aerosol I could find and ran to conquer the beast. As I sprayed this very determined bug, I realized that Lysol was not going to kill him, though he did smell fresh. I went back to the cabinet and grabbed a different can, climbed up on the bed and aimed the nozzle toward the roach wishing the spray would go farther.

In the background I heard chanting. They were saying something, something I recognized, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!”

It’s my name! The crowd was chanting my name! All of a sudden, I was in a coliseum full of people with my red cape held out before me battling a huge snarling bull. I saw the bull scratch his foot back sending dust flying making me cough (or was that the smell of the Off?). I heard the excitement, and I raised my fist in triumph!

Okay, so maybe it didn’t happen like that, but the roach rolled belly up and my three little fans cheered.

After dinner and baths, I went to my closet and donned my warm robe, as my freckled face babies laid their weary heads against the worn-out fabric that had been through pregnancies, all-night nursing and various illnesses, they looked up at me with sleepy eyes and said, “Thanks for getting the roach out of our room Mama.”

So maybe I’m not Wonder Woman but for a brief shining moment I was a hero in the eyes of my children.