A Salute To Moms, Our Silent Superheroes
“Making the decision to have a child—it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ”
— Elizabeth Stone
Moms are silent superheroes.
They’re there to pick up the phone, clean a scrape, or lend a helping hand when the going gets tough. For many of us, our mom is the woman we turn to when everyone else has left us out to dry. Growing up, we relied on our moms to help us learn and grow; to teach us how to read and write, help us through our first breakup, and process our first college rejection letter. Moms work tirelessly around the clock to make sure their children have what they need.
Moms Are Shapeshifters
Mothers’ bodies legitimately change shape as they grow and care for us during their pregnancy, but once those first nine months are over, moms don’t stop shifting shape to accommodate our needs. In addition to navigating motherhood, moms are also our personal chefs, nurses, tailors and chauffeurs. They’re our therapists, our cheerleaders, and our sounding board.
Moms Have Superhuman Strength
Of course, giving birth requires an incredible amount of strength, but even if your mother figure didn’t give birth to you, they still had to overcome countless other obstacles that require superhuman strength. Whether rejecting the social norms of motherhood; watching their children stumble, lose their way, or get hurt; or telling us “no” when they badly wanted to say “yes,” moms are undeniably strong.
Moms Have A Sixth Sense
Despite what they may have told you growing up, moms don’t actually have an extra set of eyes on the back of their head. But they do have an uncanny ability to know exactly what we’re up to—especially if it’s something we shouldn’t be doing. To this day, most of my mom’s texts are sent when I’m about to take a shot or sleep in. She just knows.
Moms Have Superhuman Speed
Growing up, any time I fell down, threw up, or even rolled over in my sleep, my mom was at my side in approximately 0.03 seconds. I don’t know how she got to me so quickly—it can only be described as superhuman speed—but she was always there. She spent years driving me to doctor’s visits, violin lessons, and sleepovers, and I was never once late.
Moms Get Sh*t Done
Amidst all this, moms go to work. They leave the little pieces of their heart in the care of someone else in order to go off and do more heavy lifting, solve more problems, and put out more fires. And if your mom is anything like mine, she does it without complaint.
Many modern women operate as executives by day and moms by night—and they rarely get the credit they deserve. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, women are more likely than men to have earned a bachelor’s degree by age 29. They go on to take the workforce by storm, owning more than 10 million businesses nationwide, which account for $1.4 trillion in receipts each year. Of the 47 percent of women participating in the labor force, 70 percent are moms with children under the age of eighteen. Moms are the primary or sole breadwinner for 40 percent of U.S. households. Like I said, they’re superheroes.
So, here’s to moms. Thank you for continually coming to the rescue. For saving us from destruction and certain death time and time again. Thank you for teaching us how to be strong, hardworking, resilient women, and for teaching us how to get shit done, despite working in an industry dominated by men. You are our superheroes.