by Crystal Shimo

Created on: January 23, 2009

Super Mom Syndrome

You work nine hours a day, dealing with customer service issues, which can be very stressful. You come home, you

do the dishes, do a load of laundry, vacuum, make dinner, give your children a bath, play with your children for a

while, or watch a movie with them, and whenever they ask for anything, you know exactly where it is. A lot of

times, you can do two or three of those chores at a time. When the children get to be school age children, you

will be able to help them with thier homework, sometimes having to do thier homework before they do so that you

know how to guide them. You know when they are doing something wrong just by the sounds, or more appropriatly the

non-sounds coming out of their direction, making them think you have eyes in the back of your head. And you still

manage to get a full eight hours of sleep.

A typical day for me as I go to work and come home to my children, one three year old and one four year old.

Though as I think about it, I get several people asking how I manage to do it. One income and two children, and I

still manage to keep organized and sane. I tell them I don't really have to think about it. I just get what needs

to be done, done. My husband stays home with the children because we have the firm belief that at least one parent

should be home with the children until they are at least school age. He helps with the housework occasionally, but

most of his chores include outside work such as mowing the lawn, working on the car when it gets cranky, etc.

In my youth, I always thought that my mother was a super mom, and so did she. She, as I do now, was able to

know when my sister and I were getting into trouble without being in the same room. She worked a full time job and

then went to school full time as well for most of my youth. She had the help of my father for the income, but he

never helped on the housework, more on the outside work. I think it is a guy thing that they prefer to work

outside rather than do housework inside.

Now that I look back, though, I notice that my mother stayed organized, but she really didn't stay sane. She

was commonly stressed to the point where she was rude to everyone she met, including my sister, myself, and my

father. The only times she wouldn't be rude were when she had a few days off of work and school at the same time.

It would take her a full two days to get de-stressed enough that she was actually nice to people.

Since looking back and seeing the differences in how my mother acted when I was growing up and to how I act

with my children, I would still call her a super mom, but I would also bring a condition with that title. Being a

super mom when you don't watch out for your own health as well as the health of your family, could cause more

damage than it helps.

I try my best to learn from my mothers mistakes. I don't consider myself super mom, though other people

might. I try not to do too many things at once. Even though I do need to go back to school and get my college

degree, I am not going to because I noticed what it did to my mother, and I do not want to be that way with my

children, or anyone else for that matter.

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