What Do Superheros Really Look Like?

Yesterday the rain was pelting hard and cold and the kids and I had a long way to go to get home on bicycle. It was the kind of night where you really feel like you’re braving the elements–banding together like warriors to overcome the odds. It took real determination and courage to keep walking, keep pedaling, keep pushing for the finish line when their tired bodies had already had a very big day.

It’s amazing how responsible a mother is for the general well-being of her group.

In situations like the one last night, where my kids were tired, cold, wet and wanted to go home (but still had 40 minutes of tough pedaling to do) I realize that the ONLY way we’re going to make it through the ordeal is if I keep a positive attitude.

I would tell them again and again how brave they were–how strong and courageous. If I gave up even a little bit myself, because I was tired, impatient or just frustrated, I could feel their courage waning. I could feel the elements and fatigue moving in on them faster than I could lift them up.

And so I persisted by validating them until I was hoarse.

“You can do it!”

“You’re amazing!”

“You’re so strong, so courageous! Look at you go!”

These should be uttered as part of every Mother’s Code of Honor. Some days I think that if we only said words like these, it would be enough to get them through the day. Put your attention on the things you want to grow. Lay off the corrections and criticisms that slow them down and cause them to lose hope and confidence.

They were AMAZING. True heros. Mika was limping a bit by the time we got home, and so Sebastian stepped up to the opportunity to help her by pushing her bike. Mika, who really didn’t need help, pretended that it was so much easier for her to push his bike and said how appreciative she was.

He beamed with pride.

Then I blissed out while they started telling each other how much they loved each other. They hugged with helmets bumping while the rain kept pelting down on them.

I yelled out to the stars that I was the luckiest mom in the whole universe, and of course, they beamed again and just started helping each other even more. The compliments flowed faster than rain and offers of assistance pelted me harder, so I stopped noticing the cold.

It’s easy to get distracted by life.

We get pulled down by the drama, the bills the to do lists. But these are the moments that remind me life is what we make it. All manner of odds that stand against you cannot crush your determinism, your will to persist and to thrive.

Once we got inside, warmed up and dried off, Sebastian told me I was “beautiful like a raw food colored rainbow.”

Can it get better than that? I don’t think so.

Who knew that these would be the glory moments of my life? It’s not some sweaty beach day or starlit night sky that will stay etched in my mind as the pleasure moments that marked my days. It’s the gut-wrenching trials and tribulations of life as a superhero.

The moments that I predict will be the toughest… the moments where there’ a fine line to cross between giving up and “giving ‘er all I’ve got”… those have been my glory moments.

I cannot often find words to express my gratitude to the two remarkable people with whom I have had the privilege and honor of sharing these moments.

And so I come here, to bask in the serenity of being…

The serenity of “Mom”.

Tera