Super Powers

When we watch The Incredibles around here, sometimes we try to make up our own super hero names and super powers. Kaela is a Super Reader, and Ben resembles Bam-Bam from the Flinstones sometimes (or a little like Jack-Jack from the movie)...but Eric and I have a harder time figuring out what we're good at, then exaggerating it. We're not much fun in this game.

Yesterday, though, I had a big epiphany. I still don't know what my super power is, but I know who my arch-nemesis is. My own personal kyptonite has got to be--paperwork!!

Which just goes to show that God has a sense of humor, because my life is made entirely of paperwork these days.

I've been executrix of my grandmother's estate for the past year. A funny thing, considering the amount of paperwork it entails, and my aversion to the stuff. At any rate, I thought my duties were over and the estate closed a while ago. Long story. Then Mom comes to my school on Thursday, and needs me to fill out a few more papers, then finish the rest on the other side of town on Friday. Which would have been a minor inconvenience, except Ben's birthday was Friday and we were supposed to be somewhere else at the same time.

I was mulling that one over (wait!! My super power should have something to do with being in 2 places at the same time! It's becoming clear now!) while I was chairing a special education meeting yesterday morning. It was a hairy meeting, and I've only begun chairing meetings this year, so I was being really deliberate in my taking of minutes, and being sure forms were filled out sequentially. The meeting had been going on for over an hour, and we were about to wrap it up when a message appeared on the computer screen: "An error has occurred, and SETS must shut down. Send error report?"

Aargh! Kryptonite! All those forms--gone! Paperwork!

This kind of stuff is minor--really nothing to get worked up about. Except that in my mind, I feel like I need to finish one, file it away, then move onto to the next. Too many loose ends (and stacks of half-finished paperwork) frazzle me. Especially when I have a son with a birthday that needs my full attention.

I still don't know what my super power is. Obviously, it's not multi-tasking, or filling out forms, or even signing on the dotted line.

Maybe, though, it's something that can be decided day by day. Maybe today I can be a Super 3rd Birthday Party Hostess! Ben needs that!! Then tomorrow, I can be a Super Show-er Up for Choir Practice and a Super Nap Taker/Child Cuddler! On Monday morning, maybe I'll be a Super Calm Starter-Over With the Papers That Got Screwed Up Yesterday. (One can dream...)

You know what Kaela told me yesterday? She said, "Mommy, even if you were the kind of Mommy who never forgot to pack my snack, I would still choose you to be the only Mommy I've ever wanted or needed."

Wow. I want that to be my super power. Super Grace with others' failings. I'm not ever going to be able to be everywhere at once, and I may never see my desk again--or Ben's floor, for that matter. But I can be gracious. Today. Tomorrow.
Thanks, Kaela. That was super awesome. I am super blessed to be your imperfect Mommy.