If you could have a super mom power, what would it be?

Here’s the thing, no one tells you that when you become a mom you actually develop super powers. It’s true. Moms have super powers that normal humans don’t. Some may consider them skills but I’m telling you right now, they’re super powers.

There are universal mom super powers and a few specialized powers, but every mom has a few of them. In case you’re not sure what I’m talking about, here are a few mom super powers you may not have considered:

 Super Hearing

Super hearing is at its best when your child is sick. Every cough, moan, or rustle of the child’s sheets is enough to make you jump out of bed to check on them. Especially if you are expecting your kid to throw up at any moment. You will leap over couches, shove over chairs, and dive with a bowl to catch the vomit to prevent it from getting everywhere.

This mom super power also allows them to pick out their own child’s crying or screaming, “Mom!” in any situation, whether that be at the park, mall, or any other noisy location. This same power is also highly attuned to a lack of noise. The super hearing also sets off an alarm inside a mom when she realizes that her children have suddenly become quiet.

Unfortunately once a lack of noise is detected, your chances of catching your child before disaster strikes are pretty small. This is usually when you find them in your makeup brushing their teeth with your mascara wand and then painting your bed with it. Yes, that did happen at my house in case you’re wondering.

While super hearing is not infallible, it is a highly useful skill.

See the Future (Precognition)

Mothers can, in fact, predict the future. More accurately, they have the ability to see into the future, sometimes only a few seconds, but it is enough to make a difference.

For example, if a mom sees her child filling their cup of water to the brim, she knows that in 10 seconds she will be wiping up the floor. When my daughter was 3-years-old, my own precognitive abilities became extremely sensitive to plungers. She was obsessed with them; what they did, what color they were, and why they were everywhere we went. To prevent her from touching every plunger we saw and pretending she was a musketeer, I used my abilities to spot them and remind her that we don’t touch plungers.

This super power becomes finely honed the more children the mother has and the older her children become. It can be used to her advantage and moms need every advantage they can get.

A mother uses this power to prevent future outcomes that she doesn’t want. She will cut the skin off an apple so that it will be eaten, put socks on her child inside-out so that the seams won’t touch toes causing a tantrum, or, as in my case, avoid all Halloween decorations at the store to prevent her children from having nightmares.

Super Scream

The super scream can raise the hair on the back of your neck. It is enough to stop children in their tracks. Most moms don’t know they possess this power until it comes out of their mouths. For first timers, it can be a little shocking but experienced moms use the super scream wisely.

It’s used to stop immediate danger or an unfortunate disaster.

You’ll hear this scream when an oblivious child wanders in front of a busy swing set or, if they have a child that bites, just before their child’s chompers land on another child’s arm. A child running through the house with scissors or one that is ready to cut their sibling’s hair will suddenly halt when they hear their mother’s super scream.

It’s taken me some time to control my super scream. I try to use it sparingly so that it doesn’t lose its effect. The last it came out was when I found writing on a bed, armoire, and wall. It was a waste to use it however because the damage was done and the culprit was nowhere to be seen.

A scream of this power and magnitude should be used with caution.

Super Grip

The super grip is most usually used while riding in a moving vehicle. When children begin to get out of hand, unruly, or generally uncooperative in the car, the super grip is used to grab the knee of the child directly behind the driver.

Once the knee is found, no squirm, shriek, or gymnastics move will remove the grip from the knee until it is released. The grip is used as a warning that things are about to get real hard if the child does not stop the offending behavior.

It can also be used when children are running through the house screaming at the top of their lungs after the mom has asked the children to stop several times. All it takes is the child coming too close and the mom will deploy the super grip on the arm, halting the child and the screaming.

The Mom Super Power I Wish I Had

I know a mom that can nurse a baby while pushing a shopping cart and another that can stop her children with a whisper. While I know those are super powers I will never develop, there are some that I hope will come my way.

The super power I want – mind reader.

But, I only want to read the minds of my children. There are so many random thoughts in the minds of everyone else that I don’t need or want that. I could really use some understanding when it comes to my kids.

Can you imagine how awesome it would be?

When you ask, “Why did you hit your brother?” You wouldn’t be stuck with, “I don’t know.” When they come home from school grumpy and upset, you would know exactly what was wrong.

You could even enhance your ability to see into the future because you would be aware of where their thoughts were going. Never again would you find butter rubbed into the carpet, or a screwdriver shoved through the vacuum filter because you would hear the thoughts before irreversible action was taken.

That’s the super power I would choose. A close second would be the ability to eat candy in complete silence. Apparently, sharing is a super power I need to develop too.

This post was written in response to a writer’s prompt from Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop.