Don't Drop the Ball

Most every woman with kids has, at one time in her life, tried to play the 'super mom game'.  It's an interesting game with just one rule...DON'T DROP THE BALL.


At first, this seems simple enough.  One little softball lobs your direction, and you scoop it up with ease.  A diaper leaks through, a pacifier comes up missing, that night-night blankie didn't make into the dryer before bedtime...for a beginner, all seem quite serious at the moment.  But the pros know that's all just kids' play.  


By the time they're 4, many kids are already carving out their own space on the family calendar...T-ball, soccer, ballet lessons, vacation Bible school, play dates and birthday parties.  As 'super mom' will soon realize, it's not just a matter of catching the balls thrown her direction.  It's a matter of keeping them all in the air. It's on the job training, learning not only how to catch but how to juggle.  


A truly adept 'super mom' must master multi-tasking.  With her, housework, homework and busy work all manage to get done somehow.  'Super mom' can check a kid's math, bake 24 cupcakes on the fly, get Junior to his game on time and still find a moment to have a semi-rational thought.  


She also knows that it isn't just the schedule and business of living that have to be juggled.  The emotions, fears and personalities of her little darlings threaten the delicate balance she must maintain to keep everything moving smoothly.  But no matter what they throw at her, she just keeps those balls in motion.


She can remove a splinter or a loose tooth with hardly a whimper.  
She can make tangles into French braids with nary a tear being shed.  
She can turn a pound of hamburger and a can of cream of mushroom soup into a meal in thirty minutes or less.  
She loves the games her kids play even if she doesn't know all the rules.  
She will give up the last piece of cake although she really was looking forward to it.  
She will drive to Walmart at 10pm on Sunday to buy poster board for a project due on Monday morning that her kid has known about for two weeks.  
She knows the phone number of the doctor, dentist and school secretary by heart.  
She'll pack a lunch even when she knows for certain her kid absolutely would eat sloppy Joe's before he'd starve to death.
She will host a sleepover for a dozen kids at the end of an insane work week.
She'll sign up for team treats, send cups and napkins for the Valentine's Day party and paint faces at the school carnival.
She will suffer through many a recital or concert with a smile.
She will stay up late to wash a uniform for the game, no matter how big or small.
She'll get up early to iron a special shirt for school pictures even though she knows the photographer won't do a thing if the kid's hair is standing up.
She knows that while it's ok to say "yes", it's also ok to say "no".  
She will put on her brave face when she gives any one of the various 'talks'.
She'll laugh at dumb jokes...
Cry over baby pictures...
Cheer at graduation (even if it's only on the inside because she knows her kid would die of embarrassment if she actually got up and cheered out loud).
She'll love them when it's easy, and she'll love them when it's hard.
She'll fight their battles when she can, and do her best to equip them to fight the battles they must must face on their own.


But the truly advanced 'super mom' also knows when to shout, "Don't you dare throw that ball this way!"  She knows when she's reached her limit, and she can't juggle one more thing.  She understands that while, 'don't drop the ball', is the only rule, it's a rule that will inevitably be broken.  She knows she can't be all things to all people at all times.  She also knows that there is only one way to know what's really important in life...let all the balls hit the floor and sees in what order she picks them back up.  We all need to do that once in a while...JUST DROP THE BALLS!!