Invincible

I need my Super suit! Where is my supersuit?

I see flashbacks of The Incredibles as I review my list. The FM 100 Christmas Concert series starts today. Can I justify an hour for a happy boost? In the next nine days I must:

• Clean for a party I'm hosting tomorrow
• Tend a friend's children today
• Speak in church Sunday
• Plan and present sharing time
• Put on the annual teacher appreciation brunch
• Assign teachers their classes
• Write 3 separate musical productions for performance in 4 weeks.
• Transcribe 200 historical journal pages.
• Not worth thinking about yet is the fact that I will host Thanksgiving Dinner, and have Christmas gifts and festivities to plan.
  

Fingers fly, words flow, the most difficult theater production is complete by 11:00. I throw on a sweater and a bit of mascara, drop off the manuscript and a forgotten lunch and race to make it in time for the first performer. I sit two rows back. I try not to notice that my pony tail and outfit of convenience don't match the glitz and glitter of the holiday atmosphere or the sequins on the woman that smiled as she took the seat next to Sunshine and I. A heavy red clog Sunshine insisted on wearing slipped off her foot and flew through the air nearly beaning Cherie Call, our performer, on the head.

Nathan Osmand led out with energy and soul. He knuckle-knocked Sunshine and had us all clapping and stomping.

Sometime during the concert, I noticed a foul smell hovering over me. As Sunshine left my lap, I found it had seeped from her into my pants. Neighboring listeners sniffed as they looked in my direction. "I want to see Santa!" she yelled to be heard over the music. "I saw him with a man on a green sofa taking pictures of children."

"We are here for a concert. We stay seated till it's over. That is good concert manners." I whispered harshly.

"I'm thiwsty. The hot cocoa is fwee Mom! "

"Shh. Later."

There is a break in the program. At a high decibel, she yelled, "It's fwee mom. Can I get a dwink now?"

Defeated I agreed as she stepped on each person's coat or purse on her way out. Cherie Call was now singing a song from her new Album, Grace. I listened mesmerized to Invincible, which detailed how the love she experienced as a mother made her all-powerful. In fact she could stop a train if needed to rescue her little ones. The chorus repeated over and over, "Love makes me invincible."......

The lady at my right was preoccupied with something. I turned to see Sunshine over by the FM 100 table sloshing a drink. "Uh Oh." I was too late. The cup and contents flew out of her hands and all over the floor. I watched as she grabbed a napkin and attempted to clean it up. A kind woman helped her refill and a gentleman mopped up the remnants. Step by dangerous step, Sunshine and her steaming cup were coming towards me. I confiscated the cup before it landed on my neighbors lap.

"Only touch the straw!" I hissed.

Once more I was carried away by the music until I heard a burble and and felt a warm wet substance seep into my pants. I looked down to see the remnants of the cup I held full of blown bubbles gone awry.

I glared. Some inspiration I was getting. Inspiration in humiliation.

There was a tug on my sweater. "I've gotta go to the bathroom!"

"There is ten more minutes. Can't you wait?"

"Now!"

I gathered up her crumbled paper bag and the remnants of her lunch and shuffled- ducked through the maze of listeners. "Excuse me. Excuse me." I murmured as our reeking smell reached the blocked rows before we arrived."

We marched to the bathroom, storm clouds on my face.

Still, in my head, the song crooned. "Love makes me invincible." I looked down at the bouncing blond head beside me clomping down the mall in her really cool red clogs. Love and gratitude poured into the dark and stressed void.

I smiled at the thought of the black looks aimed my way. Now, they bounced right off my invincible shell. What is their opinion compared to that of my blond blueberry girl? I love spending time with her. In fact, I love the kids I am teaching and writing programs for and I am teaching them skills that will give them confidence for their future lives. I love the children in the primary. I CHOOSE to do these tasks that seem unending. Because I LOVE each and every person they are for.

I heard music in my head. I looked down expecting to see my new super suit form this amazing shield. We walked out of the mall into the sunshine. "I found my superpower!!! I am Invincible!!!" I yelled to the world. "What is yo supopowo?" Sunshine asked. "Love and gratitude." I replied.


"We're buddies huh Mom. It's just me and you Bob." she announced as we drove home.

I stuck Sunshine in the tub, grabbed the Febreeze and went to work on my pants.