its official -- I AM SUPERMOM!

Monday April 03, 2006 12:25pm

To set the scene: it is pouring rain, so much that the drops hitting the roof of my car are near deafening from inside.. my daughter has fallen asleep -- how she could with the noise, I'm not sure, but it was only slight rain and took a gradual course to the massive volume it is now, during our drive home, conveniently only reaching its full strength as I pull into my parking spot!

I sit for a moment, gather things up that need to come into the house, consolidating what can be, and then sit again, listening to the down-pour and wondering if it will let up any time soon. It seems to dim down the intensity for a moment, but then picks up again. The thoughts race through my head -- I _do_ have a large umbrella .. in the "boot" of the car, I am in the front (its a Ford Explorer, I have access to the "boot") .. can I manage two bags, an umbrella and a sleeping child -- not only TO the door, but also through locked doors requiring key-turn access and up three flights of stairs...... Sure, why not! :)

I climb up the back of my seat and brace myself across the front and back seats (I'm 5'10" .. I have a pretty long figure and reach!) and search the rear section for the well-hidden, deeply ensnared umbrella, extricate it from the confines and huff and puff my way back to my seat -- if she could sleep through the noise the rain was making, the small grunts and slight shaking of the car certainly didn't faze my sleeping child.

I again ponder the actuality of this next maneuver, as well as the sanity of it, but the rain just doesn't seem like its going anywhere, and when it sounds to taper off a bit, I open my door, instantly wet from the top down, and open the umbrella. I gather my belongings, ensuring my keys are easily accessible through an open pocket on my left and go to head around the car... the rear way walk around is flooded with puddles, so I turn and go around the front.

Now for the tricky part! Thank goodness the rain is coming mostly straight down, without much of a wind and I am able to open my daughter's passenger-side rear door to balance the umbrella between the door and the roof, anchored against my shoulder. I also shoulder the bags and gingerly extract my sleeping child from her car-seat, breathing words of reassurance to her that it is alllll okay. She makes it to my free shoulder and snuggles in.

I lock the door, grasp the umbrella and head up the pathway towards that apartment entry-way. Half-way there, of course, one of her rubber boots falls from her slumber-slack foot. Now what? Well, now there's only one option. I get a better hold on her sleeping form, cradle the umbrella with my other arm, pinning my elbow against my side so the bags wont fall from my shoulder, and drop to one suddenly very wet knee on the pavement. I scoop up the lost boot and remove the other one so as not to have to repeat the process a second time, lift us all back up to my feet and head, again, towards the front door.

We make it and I feel a moment of panic (but only a moment, folks! The words "Don't Panic" are engraved deeply on my soul!) as I wonder how exactly I'm going to take this very large umbrella through the front door with me, without any free hands? (I am now, of course, carrying a sleeping child over my right shoulder, supporting her with my right hand, two uselessly zippered-closed bags over my left shoulder, carrying rubber boots and an umbrella in my left hand.) I use the fingers of my left hand to open the door and attempt a short-lived moment of brute force entry, but not wanting to cause any actual damage to the umbrella, I give this up and instead let go of the handle, walking my body through the doorway and am amazed that the umbrella is sturdy enough to hold the heavy door open as it is caught in the entrance, and relieved, as well, that it doesn't fall back towards the outside of the building or blow away.

I walk into the space between the two front doors (as an aside, I've always thought of this space akin to Purgatory .. feel free to ask me about this at a later date if you like!) and set the bags and boots on a conveniently placed newspaper stand, and turn to deal with the act of re-angling the umbrella through the doorway to bring it in with me, and then close the device, all with one hand, then remove my keys from the previously planned out easy-access pocket, open the inner door, re-pocket the keys, reassume my load and pass through with my still-sleeping daughter. Phewf!

I climb the three flights of stairs, dump my load outside my apartment door (my belongings! not my daughter! c'mon guys!!) I access the keys again, letting myself into my sanctuary, leave the door slightly ajar and the articles on the floor as I carry my daughter inside, discarding my wet shoes at the entrance, and lovingly place her into her bed, removing her still-dry coat and soothing her under a blanket.

I head back to gather my things, remove my slightly-wet coat and close and lock the front door.

I cannot tell you how incredibly empowering it feels, as a single mother, with so many awkward moments of living in an apartment (oooh, for example, say.. how does one carry multiple bags of groceries and a sleeping child through the same routine?? -- answer: one doesn't!) to be able to achieve this seemingly simple task of bringing my daughter in, still sleeping, through the pouring rain.

Spring has arrived! Please bring me some flowers mistah mistah rain-clouds!

Reviews

[Jamie Raintree]

This story rocks! You had me laughing out loud! I remember a similar time when I had to get my daughter out to the car in the pouring rain without an umbrella, only to discover once I had her buckled in that I couldn't find my keys! I ran back and forth from the shop to my car, shoeless and soaking wet. After the second trip, I found them under the dirty diaper I had just changed. I did NOT feel like Super Mom that day.

Thank you for sharing this piece!

[alyssa]

you really are super mom!!