Super Mom
I'm not sure how it happens but I am now convinced that when you have a child you take on super powers. I read an article about it one time and thought it silly but now I am beginning to believe that I may have some unusual super powers that I never had pre-mom. I am also convinced that these super powers become stronger with each child you have. A gross tale of these powers in action: <warning>- kind of yucky story and not for the weak stomach. </warning>.
My daughter recently came down with a 24-hour stomach virus. It was the vomiting/diarrhea kind. (btw being able to spell diarrhea along with other weird child ailments I think is another super power...) In the middle of the night she woke up crying saying she was choking. As I held her and tried to decipher if she was really choking or just had a dry throat she threw up on me.
Now all my friends without kids just went 'ew'. My friends with kids thought 'oh no'. Both were right. This is super power number one that you get when your first child is born. It's called "Nothing Grosses Me Out" super power. Years ago when my friends with babies would tell me their stories I would be amazed at their resilience and ability to not barf. As I sat there with my daughter crying and now realizing why she was choking, covered in vomit, I didn't think 'oh gross I'm covered in vomit' but I kept thinking 'she needs to throw up more, whatever bad is in her system needs to come out' and so I kept rubbing her back and telling her it was okay and asking her if she feels like getting sick again. She threw up in succession two more times and by that time my husband figured something was up with all her crying and came into the room asking what was wrong.
Another super power you get "Don't flip out on your husband during obvious duress". Okay that's a long name for it, and quite frankly it's not a super power that lasts- I think that one is temporary.
But I tried to be calm and informative since I realize that is how he handles these kind of situations best. I tell him "she has thrown up three times, I need you to change the sheets and get her and me some new pajamas." I don't believe I said please though, and honestly at 3am I think I am allowed to not have pleasantries.
The next phase of the 24-hour bug is what I call the Endless Cleanup. She gets sick, I clean up. It's exhausting for an OCD personality. I gave her a trashcan and she didn't actually eat anything. But I feared dehydration so I had her drinking water and gatorade. All of which she would not keep down. However, she stayed hydrated. This Endless Cleanup phase brings out the biggest super power that moms develop in the first weeks of having a baby - Anti-Exhaustion super power. No matter how tired we are, or how many times we have cleaned up something foul, how many times they wake up for a feeding, or need medicine we somehow do it. An attributing factor to the exhaustion is that she does not want me to leave her side. I barely can use the loo without her losing it so she is glued to my hip during the entire day.
At 9pm that night my daughter finally came around. A fever that only got up to 101 I think helped to kill the virus that ailed her. She asked for some crackers and I let her have them in bed, going against all OCD rules :-). I prepared for another night of throwing up of crackers but she slept peacefully and the 24-hour virus ended. It was over.
I realized after the whole thing also, that the power of "Nothing Grosses Me Out" gets stronger. She now is fighting a small cough and runny nose and the non-stop sneezing. Let's just say there is snot everywhere, it's not nice. But I keep thinking 'at least she is not vomiting.'
As a Super Mom it's important that I stay grounded and always find the Zen in it all. And luckily it is always there- I realize through all my super powers that the most prevailing thing is the connection I have with my daughter. The force of nature she is that makes me be in each moment and not think too far ahead. She ensures that my zen practice is always there even when I don't get a chance to sit. What a wonderful lesson on Christmas Eve.
My daughter recently came down with a 24-hour stomach virus. It was the vomiting/diarrhea kind. (btw being able to spell diarrhea along with other weird child ailments I think is another super power...) In the middle of the night she woke up crying saying she was choking. As I held her and tried to decipher if she was really choking or just had a dry throat she threw up on me.
Now all my friends without kids just went 'ew'. My friends with kids thought 'oh no'. Both were right. This is super power number one that you get when your first child is born. It's called "Nothing Grosses Me Out" super power. Years ago when my friends with babies would tell me their stories I would be amazed at their resilience and ability to not barf. As I sat there with my daughter crying and now realizing why she was choking, covered in vomit, I didn't think 'oh gross I'm covered in vomit' but I kept thinking 'she needs to throw up more, whatever bad is in her system needs to come out' and so I kept rubbing her back and telling her it was okay and asking her if she feels like getting sick again. She threw up in succession two more times and by that time my husband figured something was up with all her crying and came into the room asking what was wrong.
Another super power you get "Don't flip out on your husband during obvious duress". Okay that's a long name for it, and quite frankly it's not a super power that lasts- I think that one is temporary.
But I tried to be calm and informative since I realize that is how he handles these kind of situations best. I tell him "she has thrown up three times, I need you to change the sheets and get her and me some new pajamas." I don't believe I said please though, and honestly at 3am I think I am allowed to not have pleasantries.
The next phase of the 24-hour bug is what I call the Endless Cleanup. She gets sick, I clean up. It's exhausting for an OCD personality. I gave her a trashcan and she didn't actually eat anything. But I feared dehydration so I had her drinking water and gatorade. All of which she would not keep down. However, she stayed hydrated. This Endless Cleanup phase brings out the biggest super power that moms develop in the first weeks of having a baby - Anti-Exhaustion super power. No matter how tired we are, or how many times we have cleaned up something foul, how many times they wake up for a feeding, or need medicine we somehow do it. An attributing factor to the exhaustion is that she does not want me to leave her side. I barely can use the loo without her losing it so she is glued to my hip during the entire day.
At 9pm that night my daughter finally came around. A fever that only got up to 101 I think helped to kill the virus that ailed her. She asked for some crackers and I let her have them in bed, going against all OCD rules :-). I prepared for another night of throwing up of crackers but she slept peacefully and the 24-hour virus ended. It was over.
I realized after the whole thing also, that the power of "Nothing Grosses Me Out" gets stronger. She now is fighting a small cough and runny nose and the non-stop sneezing. Let's just say there is snot everywhere, it's not nice. But I keep thinking 'at least she is not vomiting.'
As a Super Mom it's important that I stay grounded and always find the Zen in it all. And luckily it is always there- I realize through all my super powers that the most prevailing thing is the connection I have with my daughter. The force of nature she is that makes me be in each moment and not think too far ahead. She ensures that my zen practice is always there even when I don't get a chance to sit. What a wonderful lesson on Christmas Eve.
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