moosh in indy.

July 6, 2008

To those of you without children, and to those of you with a newborn.

The day is coming that parenting will become second nature. Hell, it will pretty much become first nature.

Promise.

The memories of leaving a house with a newborn/infant still frighten me. The toys, the nursing pads, the bottles, the burp cloths, the change of clothes, the binkies, the blankets, the nursing cover, the bibs, the spoons, the baby food, the high chair cover, the holycowhowdidIevermakeitpastthisstagewithoutdrinking.

There will come a day (remember I only have one…) that you will switch over to a big girl purse and find that even without that artillery of a diaper bag you are just as prepared for anything a small human can throw at you (or fall in) than you were with it.

Take the pootastrophe on Friday. Cody watched her fall in and just stared with his mouth open grunting “EW EW EW”. I however was taken over, wipes appeared as if from no where (seriously, I had just packed them in my purse that day.) Plastic bags were found. Poo was cleaned off, no help from Cody who hid behind the car making stink faces.

I have seen moms catch balls thrown at their heads without missing a beat in their conversation. I have seen moms clean muddy shorts with nothing more than a sippy cup and a steel fence. I can carry a conversation in the car with the moosh about Pinnocchio and one with Cody about Rodger Clemens at the same time.

Someday the cries of a baby will no longer pull you from your warm bed at night and you will be able to fall asleep without thinking every squeak of a tire outside may be the squeak of a baby trying to wake up. However there will still by cries, cries of sick little kids with fevers or scared little kids with nightmares.

But this time it will be your heart that wakes you up, not your ears.

It will be your heart that will pull you into the other room because the little body lying in that little bed is a piece of your heart walking around on the outside of your body. There will be no referencing of parenting books at one a.m. There will be no googling of Croup symptoms at two a.m.

You will just know.

And you will fix it. Whether it’s a warm compress on little chubby legs suffering from growing pains or a cold washcloth across a sweaty fevered forehead. You will be able to fix it. Because you are the mom. And moms are superheroes.

Even if you never realized it before.

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I fall into the “no kids yet” camp, and all I can say is I surely hope I get to get there. It does sound lovely.

Casey- that was really lovely. I love to read yr funny crazy stuff about life and I laugh a lot here- but my favorite is when you break it down to China town and pull at my little soft heart. Well done. Well said. Kiss Kiss

amys last blog post..Try to set the night on fire/yeah

Aw - that was so sweet!

SuzyQs last blog post..Friday Foto Fiesta

There is nothing quite so lovely as the truth, as you have spoken it here. Great post.

mrs. chickens last blog post..Ain’t No Cure For The Summertime Blues

Sniff, darn you, SNIFF!!!

kristis last blog post..Why, hello there

Beautifully said! And so true. It’s nice to have the reminder of how far we’ve (moms) have come in such a short time!

Nette @ Smiling Moms last blog post..Today you are four.

Amen!

Kristins last blog post..I survived Barforama!

well said!

Caseys last blog post..title? got nothing

This is really pretty. Really good. I worry for the growing pain thing…almost daily…hoping my Joth doesn’t suffer from them as badly as I did. Love you.

Kims last blog post..Dear Scale:

Thank you Casey! Motherhood is a bizarre and wonderful trip. You express it so beautifully!
Come see me at the market one of these days (we’re doing Carmel starting next weekend!)

Erins last blog post..MORE NEW LOCATIONS!!!!!

It’s amazing what hidden strengths you find - ones you didn’t realize you had - when you’re a mother and this wondrous creature relies on you. Great post!

Mary Beths last blog post..

why thank you! i AM a super hero
love this! so so so very true!

Thanks, now that the kids are grown and don’t need my super powers anymore, it’s nice to remember that they once did.

Adriennes last blog post..See ya Later Caterpillar

As a survivor of my daughter’s first year, thanks for the post. Sometimes we forget all that we do when it starts to become just “what we do.” Back at’cha.

drowningindoghairs last blog post..A Banner Day

Even though I wouldn’t be afeared of cleaning poo off Jessie or Ben I gotta agree that moms have some other instinct or whatever when it comes to their children.

love this, casey.

so , so true.

love it.

erins last blog post..the wedding of the century.

That was so poignant! I need to print this out and staple it to my forehead for those days when it all feels like it’s a little too much!

Heidis last blog post..I don’t want to write this post

True that…true that!!

The power of carrying on simultaneous conversations with children and husband. My favorite superpower.

Teris last blog post..T. Casts On

Well said! I have a newborn (and a 2, 4, and 6 year old). Moms do have super powers!

Jefrilyns last blog post..Sunday Morning

Okay-you totally made me cry! I guess because I am still at the frustrated kids need me all the time daddy’s never home so I do it all stage and I am getting burnt out! Thanks for reminding me how precious they are and how being a mom is who we are supposed to be. I love the part about your heart pulling you out of bed because that is so true! Thanks!

April Barretts last blog post..4-18-08 Strasbourg, France

ah, that was just lovely.

amys last blog post..The Great Pool Disaster of 2008

What a great post! I needed that.

I must be hormonal or something because that totally got me teary eyed. Thanks for a good reminder.

Great post, with a very important message: even if parents (OK I’m taking a little liberty and adding gender-inclusive language… sue me) don’t realize it, to their kids they ARE superheroes.

SciFi Dads last blog post..Daddy-Daughter Time

Love this post. So beautiful!

Skyes last blog post..Flood Photos!

Not having siblings and never really being around children growing up, I was scared silly when I had my first baby (now I have 2) But it’s very true…the “you just know” factor kicks in. It’s really powerful and inspiring. I had a fly solo, supermommy weekend… Now the kiddies are asleep, house is quiet. Super Mommy did it again - woo hoo!

Toast 2 Moms last blog post..Be Nice to the Pregnant Woman, Ignore the Mother

I have been suffering from INeedABabyRightNow Fever and this post just made it worse. But I think a husband and a job are a necessity before a baby… so I will just wait until its my turn.

I hope that I can be that good of a mommy someday.

Ashleys last blog post..Fireworks, Oh My !

I’ll never know how you ladies do it, I can barely keep track of myself!

Martys last blog post..Cleaning

poop, john mayer, and supermoms, huh?

All in a day’s work, I hear ya. You just needed to add EXTREME Blood loss from the nose and mouth due to severing of the ‘frenulum’…. Part of my supermom day…

I am not even dating, let alone a mom … but I adored this post. Thank you.

Perfect, Casey. Just perfect.

pgoodnesss last blog post..Jul. 3

My boys are getting so big. The oldest in Middle school, the youngest in fourth grade. It makes my heart ache.

Loralees last blog post..Sideblog:We’ve all felt like this

So beautiful. I seriously think someday you should publish all your moosh posts in book form. I’d buy two and then buy them for all my mom friends every holiday.

Reeses last blog post..Independence Day!

Oh, yes, I’ve totally got superpowers. I have eyes in the back of my head, I know what they’re going to do before they do it and I can tell when they’re lying. I can swat paper airplanes and bouncy balls, I can sneak up and scare the pants out of them (try it, it’s fun!) and I can run a washing machine, a dishwasher, a video game and give spankings while on the cell phone. hehe I’m the mother of boys.

Awesome post, Casey, and so true. I love the “little bit of your heart walking around” bit the most. :o)

Rheas last blog post..Giveaway Winner & Cracker Jack Award

I had to bust out all my superpowers on our marathon drive home today…a few episodes of projectile vomit in a cramped car and I didn’t even gag. Go me!

Heathers last blog post..A Foot Past Crazy

Can I tell you that the TRULY amazing thing is when life throws a HUGE wrench in your plans (say, like, your kid gets cancer) and you realize that you can’t fix it anymore, you can’t make it all better…but you still find that you are capable of making it all happen. Maybe not as well as you used to, and not as well as you’d like, but as long as those kids never doubt they’re loved and know you’d throw yourself under the bus for them, you’re doing something right!

Great post, you made me feel a little superhero-ish

Anissa @ Hope4Peytons last blog post..Why I talk about my kid

What a great post!

Rachaels last blog post..Rest In Peace

Wow.

I know I’ve told you this before, but I hope you know I really mean it. You are truthfully one of the best moms I’ve ever known in my life. Someday when I have children of my own you’ll be the example I look to.

Olivias last blog post..FYI

Oh so true.

Amandas last blog post..Bunny Beware

[...] Moosh in Indy: The Superpowers of Motherhood [...]

Beautifully written, and so so true. I’m not there yet (she’s 15 months old) but every once in a while I catch a glimpse of what that ‘out of the baby stage’ must be like. It’s so different than the early, ‘I have no freaking clue what I’m doing’ stage. heh.

That made me smile. Thanks Casey!

Britts last blog post..upside down

“. . .carry a conversation in the car with the moosh about Pinnocchio and one with Cody about Rodger Clemens at the same time.”

Amen. I never could have pictured my brain working like this before I became a mom.

Fabulous post.

threeundertwos last blog post..Physics 101

Knowing all this is the reason I’m willing to try and have another child. My mom thinks I’m crazy for not loving the infant stage but I don’t do change very well.

I think I should print this out and give it to my cousin at her baby shower. She can pull it out during those middle of the night feedings and screaming marathons and know that one day her super powers will finally show up and save the day.

T with Honeys last blog post..I’m funny, at least in my own mind

yes…moms are totally awesome.

except i NEVER have wipes. which is why i had to throw my three kids - illegally - into a fountain to clean the giant popsicle of them this weekend
alis last blog post..that’s what she said, i don’t like boats, and i have problems

WORD UP! you are obviously a genius.

Fantabulous!!!

Mandys last blog post..Glamour is a scarf

So perfectly said, I almost cried. What a wonderful post!

Jessica @ A Bushel and a Pecks last blog post..Summertime and the Living is Easy

yep, beautifully said.

staciesmadnesss last blog post..*yawn*

So sweet, so true.

natalies last blog post..Fourth of July Photos

I love this.

Jennifer, Playgroups are no place for childrens last blog post..Too Dorothy?

Stinking hormones. This post made me cry. I so very badly wanting into the mommy club. I hope when I finally get in the instincts take over because for every ounce of excitement, I have two more ounces of fear.

Megans last blog post..Completely Unrelated

Thanks. Needed that a lot today.

EMamas last blog post..Chili

This was an amazing post, Casey.

We’ve all done things we never thought we would - and without wincing. I found myself catching vomit in my hands this weekend. Yeah, not fun, but totally necessary.

Shaunas last blog post..Easter Eggs

This sure hit home. I have a newborn baby and I just feel like I’m not a good mother because I can’t seem to get it right. Thanks for the reassurance that it will get better.

Wow! I hope I’m a good mom when our little one arrives this summer. This post has encouraged me.

ashlees last blog post..Just Click Away

Beautiful post. So very perfect and true.

Colleens last blog post..Swimming Lessons

I’m still in the leaving the house with a baby stage, and I sure hope it becomes more of an instinct sometime soon. Beautiful post.

beckys last blog post..What independence day means to me

I’m not a Mom yet but I’ve noticed super powers already emerging. Like the ability to clean throw up off of the living room carpet when your husband is sick, or the thing where when you slam on the breaks and your right hand goes to the side to protect whoever is in the passanger seat.

Jia@ColorMeUntypicals last blog post..Marriage Monday: No Wedding is Perfect

Casey,
Wait til the day your kid calls and says “Mom, can I come over I lost my job”…get …here….now…BUT SAFELY!…and you hate going to work because he’s bummed out but you text message encouraging words ALL DAY..

I was a COMPLETE mess the day he graduated.. you would not believe the amount of sheer pride you feel that day

or the day your daughter turns 13, and when most of her friends are in arguments with their moms, yours turns to you and says… you are the greatest mom ever, and THIS IS THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER! throws her arms around you kisses you IN FRONT OF HER FRIENDS..and runs off to make comments about how hot some singer is…yeah

being a mom is AWESOME!

[...] wrote a post about moms as superheroes. The whole mothering gig DOES become more second nature with time. I would never have [...]

I have two children and it always amazes me just how much still scares me, even the stuff that I have long been done with. What shocks me even more is the stuff that scares the crap out of other, more seasoned, mothers….but that I take in stride. Night terrors? Asthma attacks? Piece of cake. But let my little girl get told that her friend no longer wants to play with her and my fears appear front and center.

We mothers have a hard gig. I think in many ways harder than a father. We feel things more intensely.

Great post! I’ll be back!

MadWoman Megs last blog post..Party Time!!

[...] Motherhood, New Mommas, Pre-Conception — Dana @ 2:51 pm Check out Casey’s post on The Superpowers of Motherhood at her blog Moosh in Indy! [...]

Did you name this post after me?

Just kidding!
CCs last blog post..Marvelous Monday Children’s Books: That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown

Someone shared this in Google Reader (which is why I’m commenting on an almost month old post.)

This was amazing - I WISH someone would have said this to me.

Miss Britts last blog post..Not Fine.

Loved this post! So happy I stumbled upon you!
Scary Mommys last blog post..Attention, Walmart Shoppers