The Fall of Supermom

We have all heard the stories of new moms, especially first time moms getting nervous and doing foolish things regarding their babies. I wasn't going to be one of those moms. First of all, I was 32 years old when I had my first child, so I was by no means a young mother. I had read all the parenting books and subscribed to a number of magazines as well. I was also well educated and had multiple nieces and nephews. In addition, I was a kindergarten teacher, so that naturally made me the perfect mother, right? Well, needless to say, I did not escape unscathed. My baby was just two months old and when he fell asleep while nursing, I had laid him in the middle of the twin bed in my spare room to nap while I worked on sewing his christening outfit. I had a pad of paper nearby to jot down ideas for my school's spring concert.

I was super-mom. I was flying high. I fell hard. Actually it was my son that fell. He rolled over (at two months! What a prodigy! Perhaps he'll become a gymnast!) and fell from a low bed to a thickly carpeted floor. I heard the bump, and the cry, and there I stood like Prissy in Gone With The Wind flapping my arms and saying "Baby, Baby, don't cry! Are you okay?" I'm not sure in retrospect if I was more disgusted with myself for actually expecting a two month old to answer or the fact that I couldn't remember my child's name. Of course it was only a few seconds before I picked him up, sat down in our favorite chair, and continued his interrupted feeding, but at the time, it sure seemed like my baby screamed for hours while I stood by helpless to comfort him.