Failures and superpowers

Everyone is not good at everything.

Or, no one is good at everything.

Or, we are all good at different things.

Or, I am good at a few things. And not so good at others.

We all have strength and weaknesses.

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I received this bracelet, in turquoise, as a party favor at the Social Luxe Lounge, but it was wrapped in a package, and I wrongly identified it as a belt. I tried it on several times, each time hanging it back in the closet, thinking I just hadn’t quite figured it out.

Now a facebook friend announces how much she likes the bracelet. I will stop trying to put it around my waist. I learn something new everyday.

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At the love bomb that I wrote about a few months ago, we were asked to introduce our superpowers. I have already shared Susan’s on this blog. She is the woman who said that she is known for her optimism, for saying , “You know what’s great about this?”

My friend Corey announced that she is “super dorky, and fine with that”, which enables her to be really silly and fun with her kids and also to connect well with the troubled middle school students for whom she works as a counselor. I would put her superpower in different words: she is comfortable in her own skin. Wouldn’t you love to have that power? Or do you already have it?

My superpower is coming up with good ideas. You see a lot of them on this website. I think my kids are lucky to have me because of this quality. When I can’t decide what to do with them is when I feel worst. Andrea once told me that I will always have another good idea. That reassurance has become my security blanket. But it doesn’t mean I always know what to make for dinner.

My husband has been working a lot and coming home late. This leaves me with more hours to fill than I’m used to. I think for a different personality type, having a strong routine might be wonderful quality that makes solo-parenting evenings run smoothly. That’s just not my strength. Mid-day while my kids are at camp or school and I start to wonder what to do with them from 3 pm until bedtime, I remind myself that I just may come up with some good ideas. Later.

When I was pregnant with Julian, I flipped through a book on the parenting shelf at our local bookstore. I have never found it again, but the jist of it stayed with me all these years. It was about mapping the different Meyers Briggs personality types, you know ENFJ or one of those, to motherhood, to reveal which bits we will enjoy the most. The point was that we are not all good at every aspect of parenting. Some women may be great at comforting toddlers, while some will have their shining moments when they teach accountability to their teenagers. Some will be happiest driving a gaggle of girls to the ice rink while some will do better reading chapter books out loud, pausing to discuss the story. Some moms are happy to wear a baby strapped to their chest or back all day long, while others will feel suffocated by that attachment and prefer to jog uphill, pushing a stroller and sweating themselves free.

I was already writing this post when I clicked over to Andrea’s site to copy the link and see what she had last posted. In a happy coincidence — or maybe not, perhaps I was inspired to write this because I had Andrea and her kids over the other day — she had a friend, Laurie, guest posting about her superpowers.

“I tell the awkward truth, I point to the elephant in the room, I confess,” Laurie wrote, describing her own gift.

I like it!

Now you’ve heard four examples: Captain Optimism, Super Dork to the Rescue, Princess Good Ideas, and Awkward Truth Girl.

What is your superpower? What do people admire about you? Be brave and tell us.

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Whitney

RookieMoms.com co-founder Whitney lives with her husband, son, and daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area where she writes about parenting, crafts, and activities that moms can do with babies in tow. She and Heather also publish 510Families.com, a site for East Bay parents.