Nobody ever called me that, but sometimes I felt it was expected.
Get the kids up, fed and ready for the day, keep the house clean, go to my job, go to church and lead a group or watch the nursery. Is my hair in place? Don't forget choir practice or a kids event at school. What about dinner? Super Mom! To the rescue!
Someone once asked me if I could change my appearance what would I change. I started to describe my ideal woman look...then I saw her picture in my head. I'd be taller with a better figure and long dark hair....Linda Carter! She was superwoman on TV. LOL! I would not look like me or be like me. Linda did not have a husband or kids to distract her from her duties to save the world. In real life, she had some normal challenges. No, being SuperWoman/Linda would not work for me. And I am certainly not Super anyone. But I do have a real super hero in my life. Jesus! He rescues me and gets me back on track, when I stumble and can't keep up. He puts people in my life to help. My husband, David, who is the strong silent type. He is Mr. Mom taking care of all the things I cannot or don't want to do. He keeps the cars running and keeps the house straight. He is a retired chef so I don't need to figure out dinner. My job is keeping the bills straight and showing him appreciation for all his hard work. He also stepped up to deal with the kids and other people when I had a breakdown some years ago due to the illness of both kids. I also have great friends and family who listen well and give good advice. If I mentioned all of them this would be a very long story. I hope they know how much I have appreciated them over the years.
There is a passage in the Bible about Moses. Actually there are 2 places I am thinking about: 1. When he was battle-weary Moses' helpers held up his arms. 2. His father in law told him he needed to delegate his work. (see below)
When I got overwhelmed I had to turn over care of the teens to David. That was very scary, because they were sometimes out of control. When they wanted to go and do, I said "go ask your Dad." Our daughter wanted to go out. Said she would be home early. He let her go. As soon as she was out the door I asked him if he got the definition of "early." I knew her well. She came home at 3 AM! I lost sleep that night, but she never did that to her dad again. He was not as easy to cross or as forgiving as I was. Once I relinquished control and got over how he handled things I began to relax more.
Sometimes we Super Moms need to let others help us. If you get overwhelmed, take it from this former SuperMom. Ask for help. Tell someone you trust you can't do everything by yourself anymore. Learn to say NO once in a while. Take a walk or a bubble bath. Have a ladies night out. Take care of yourself. If a plane is crashing, you must first put on your own oxygen mask before you can assist another passenger or no one survives. Moms often put others first. It is not selfish to take care of you! It is actually the most unselfish act you can do for those you love who may need your full attention at some point. So love yourself.
Couldn't resist sharing this picture. Ironically, my daughter-in-law actually looks like Linda. But with all that beauty does not come naturally come peace and happiness. Some of the most beautiful people can also be very insecure. Pictured below: Lt-Rt: Daughter in Law, Jocelyn(Jo) 5'10" tall, Robin (son) 6' tall, Lily (grand), Carly (Jo's sister). Lily is now a teen and very tall. The next pic is Holly (daughter), Ivy (grand) (then 5, now 8) & yours truly. All my beautiful girls and taller than me or soon will be. :D
P.S. Even the greatest leader of the Old Testament needed a little help sometimes:
Exodus 17:11 As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning. 12 When Moses' arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms, holding them steady until the sun went down.
Exodus 18:17 Then Jethro said, “You are not doing this right. 18 You will wear yourself out and these people as well. This is too much for you to do alone. 19 Now let me give you some good advice, and God will be with you. It is right for you to represent the people before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 You should teach them God's commands and explain to them how they should live and what they should do. 21 But in addition, you should choose some capable men and appoint them as leaders of the people: leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They must be God-fearing men who can be trusted and who cannot be bribed. 22 Let them serve as judges for the people on a permanent basis. They can bring all the difficult cases to you, but they themselves can decide all the smaller disputes. That will make it easier for you, as they share your burden. 23 If you do this, as God commands, you will not wear yourself out, and all these people can go home with their disputes settled.”
24 Moses took Jethro's advice..." And the rest is history! :)