Super-mom

Yesterday, as #1 and #2 were swimming in the pool happily, with various floatation devices (as neither of them actually “swims” yet), I was walking closely behind #3, weeding the gardens as I went. Suddenly, I hear #1’s worried voice calling her brother's name. I turn to see that his boogie board has flipped and landed upon his blonde little head, and he can’t touch. With reflexes of a mother of three, I turn and bound across the bricks and, at the edge of the pool, leap through the air, over #1 (as if flying), and land next to #2 in time to pull him up enough to take a deep breath and tell him what a marvelous job he was doing swimming toward the edge of the pool. I turn to see my eldest daughter with an amazed look on her gorgeous face, and she belts out, “That was AWESOME!!!” to which I reply, “It’s a good thing I work out!”

Later that day, #3 was pushing something along the floor that was three times her size and #1 confided in me that she thought her little sister might be a superhero. In all seriousness. And that at some future date, when #3 has matured some, we will recognize her specific powers.

That evening, I took #1 out for an ice cream cone after dinner, just the two of us. As we licked and watched the setting sun, my girl began to roll play… “I’m just sitting over here, looking at my flowers [turning around, sharply] Oh, no! Someone's in trouble! [Running and leaping] I’ll save you!”

She wouldn’t be quite so impressed with me if she saw me at the gym this morning. While on the front row of many machines and sweating people, I was working hard on the elliptical. I took a long swig of my water, and unfortunately, it went down the wrong pipe and I choked and a whole mouthful of water spewed across my machine and down my chin. Clumsy as I am, still, I recognize that, well; I was a superhero for a day.