Freeing Ourselves from Superwoman

 Ok, ladies.  We need a new hero.  Seriously.

My mom calls me Superwoman on a distressingly regular basis.  When she calls me Superwoman, she means she admires me for shouldering the work of taking care of the kids, the husband, the house, working a job (back when I got paid to work), taking care of the big dog, the decrepit cat . . . y'know.  The usual mom type stuff.  The stuff for which we get called saints.

YIKES!  No one's told my mom that saints live short lives without sex and then die horrible deaths.  And, frankly (forgive me Lord, for what I'm about to say), saints are boring.  (Pause to duck from possible lightning strike).

I have commiserated with other moms on Everything We Do that goes unnoticed and unappreciated.  Sometimes it feels like spending time on made from scratch meals, clean houses (so they say), and school activities is time wasted.  Sally Forth was a comic strip about a mom, a dad and their daughter.  The recurring joke: Mom whining about Dad being the fun parent while she was the responsible, caring, boring parent.  I don't want to be the responsible, caring, boring one.  I want OUT!   I need a new saint, a new hero, a new model.  A hip, sassy, modern, fabulous superhero.

Super Sass would be everything I want to be:

• the hip mom, whose kids are powerless to resist her orders to make their beds
• the woman with fabulous fashion sense, from her superhero cape, all the way down to her sassy boots
• the super sexy wife  . . . did I mention her sassy boots?
• the hilarious and clever and brilliant life of the party
• able to destroy messes with her laser vision - and detect lies with her bionic hearing
• super dancer/runner/singer/yogi - simultaneously
• .
• oh, and super healthy
• and really good at cooking delicious meals
• and telling bedtime stories

The joke on Sally Forth, of course, is that, even when everyone in the family agrees that for one day, Sally will be the designated fun, irresponsible parent, she can't help herself.  She'll suggest a fun game of Clean the House or Name the State Capitals.

I think I'm like Sally.  I can't escape from Superwoman, no matter how hard I try.

But I'll continue to dream of Super Sass.  She's my girl.