A Full House Moment

We Imperfect Supermoms (and Imperfect Superdads) love our kids. And it's our job to show them that even when they act like they don't love us. We keep trying to show them we love them even in times of desperation, sadness, anger, and all the other negative feelings we encounter. Because they're 2 or 4 or 12 or 16, and we're not. This is one case where "because I'm the parent and you're the child" puts the onus on the parent.

Today, our son (Mas) reminded us to do before-meal prayer. We go to the Konko Church, and, while he loves the people and church itself, I think he's also into prayer because it involves clapping. We clap four times before and four times after prayer. He started reminding us to do before-meal prayer when we forget a few months ago, and he has added saying, "Thank you, Kami" at the end. Sometimes we add things like, "Thank you, Kami, for our family/health/food/friends." Today he said, "Thank you, Kami Baby Fali. Thank you Kami Mas. Thank you Kami Daddy. Thank you Kami M . . . food." So, just to recap, we've got thanks for his baby sister (Shaifali), his Daddy, M . . . no . . . not Mama . . . Food. Yep! All the important things in life!

It cracked us up. Well I love him even when he slights me. He's two, and he doesn't mean to. Had it been this past Friday, I might have cried. But we've had a good couple days, and I have been living up to my commitment to try to be better and better. I've kept my cool many times when I could have gone the other way, and we've been playing a lot together and having a good time. More Supermom and all that.

So now I will steal a friend's stories to share, as her yesterday was not as good as mine.

On the way to a giant playgroup, she was preparing her daughter, saying that there would be a lot of kids there and that she should share and yadayadayada. Her daughter (2 like Mas) said, "I'm going to hit everyone." Grrrrrreat! And not Tony the Tiger Grrrrrrreat. Luckily, she did not make good on that promise. However, as my friend was nursing her baby (3 months old), she went to sit down on a footstool, and someone else's little girl (around 5?) pulled it out from under her. She fell right on her rear and then over; the baby, being attached to her breast, had no choice but to follow. They were both ok, thank goodness! When prompted by all the other parents to apologize, the little girl said, "Why don't you go sit on the couch?" Burn!!!

Even that little girl, nasty-comment-maker that she is, should get some love from her Mama and Daddy.

So, in Full House moral-of-the-story fashion, here's my closing thought: find some way every day (preferably numerous times a day) to show some love. Hang your kid upside down and show them their reflection in the mirror for laughs, run up and down the hallway on their command, talk about shovels and fire engines endlessly, change their underpants a million times while potty-training, read them books, rock them, kiss them, hug them, build towers with blocks, and give them masking tape to cover their gnomes in; tell them you love them. I did all of those things with Mas yesterday, and I gave Ms. Baby Shaifali a ton of love too. Still Imperfect, but still a Supermom.