“Mommy, Jake spilled the whole carton of chocolate milk on the carpet!” This is what Allie exclaimed as she ran into our room today. It had been a great morning, including snuggle time and reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Jake’s new bed that my dad made him in his workshop. But, this he had my husband and I running in to see what will most likely be a huge stain on our light carpet. Looking down at the mess beneath our feet we both sprung into action. Jake had to go to his room and we started to clean… blotting… “Resolving”… and some words of frustration were expressed. The whole scene made images of the hilarious book Sh*t My Kids Ruined: A-Z Celebration of Kid-Destruction by Julie Haas Brophy spring to my mind.
One of the other times that this photo packed book came to mind was when 2-year-old Jake put his toy golf club through the TV. I am trying to work on learning balancing and equilibrating experiences by recognizing both the up and down sides to all situations. I struggled to think of the good part about having a potentially ruined carpet.
Because of my work with the homeless kids, the answer was so obvious. We HAVE a carpet. My family has a safe and comfortable home. I have two little kiddos that are adorable and healthy enough to run, play, and yes… even destroy. No crying over spilled milk today!
Superman changed in a telephone booth. Now we now all have cell phones and there are no booths or any private space in sight. Many of the women I know seem to shove their capes into diaper bags hidden under the wipes or into the bottoms of their purses edged in between their favorite lip gloss and crumpled old post-it notes. We don’t even whip them out to turn into super heroes for our families, co-workers, and charities we support… we just make it happen. Day-after-day... Well, Batman had his fabulous bat cave he could retire to after a long day and he had a fabulous sidekick Robin.
That’s what we all need. Not the gadgets and gizmos… or even the ability to leap buildings in a single bound. Instead we need a personal space where we can relax and be ourselves and friends to support us in our journey while we “Save the day!” I want this blog to be a space for comfortable discussions and reflection, together.
Lately, I have been doing multiple interviews, keynote addresses, and promotional events around my 5th book Ordinary People Extraordinary Planet based on Ray Leonard's radio show heard in 75 countries. How was I to know I would meet so many Superwomen (and some awesome male super heroes like Roy Juarez, Jr. of the Homeless by Choice Tour) as I zipped around between my multiple jobs? My full time career as a professor at Robert Morris University, years of volunteer work for the Homeless Children’s Education Fund, book promotion, consulting work, public speaking, and being mommy to two children I adore… how did I connect with these awesome people? Sometimes it was networking (as my co-author Dr. Bavaro and I taught in Mentoring Magic: Pick the Card for Your Success) and other times it was simply fate or friendships that have stood the test of time. I feel incredibly blessed that I have such amazing people in my life.
If you are one of my dear friends or would like to be… I want to say THANK YOU and invite you to check back here to my new blog to see where our hidden capes can take us. I want to hear about you. Your hopes, missions, obstacles, and how you rise above them to help others. Together, like Superman we will go, “Up… up… and away!”
