My daughter convinced my husband and I to watch the popular TV series “Stranger Things”. I won’t include any spoilers here, but in one scene, Winona Ryder, who plays a very determined Mom of a very unfortunate young man, hugs him and says, “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise!”. As she said that, I leaned over to my husband and said wryly, “yeah, she shouldn’t make promises that she can’t keep”. We both chuckled because we knew it would probably get worse for that family, but it kind of hit me deep. I thought, “Well, when she made that promise, she probably really believed it. She probably was ready to fight a battalion for her son, and had no plans to fail”. Then I thought about how many moms have felt this extreme warrior protective nature at one or more times in their Mothering. For me, it was when we got the diagnosis of Scoliosis. I literally went into battle mode. I researched, I prayed, I thought about things from every angle. And, then when we went forward with what I thought was the best plan, I was ready to conquer every single obstacle. When she came home in a shiny Spinecor brace, and I had 3 days to figure out how she could be independent at school while wearing the brace, I didn’t hesitate. I pulled out my sewing machine, I cut, I sewed, and I put something together that would work for her. It wasn’t pretty, but it did work. I never doubted that I would be able to make it work – and I was right. I’m sure each Mom reading this has their own story of their superpower moments in the lives of our children. Sometimes we can conquer, but we are humans, and, unfortunately, sometimes we cannot.
When my daughter’s orthotist urged me to make my bodysuit invention available to the public, I hesitated. He thought it could really help a lot of people. It was something I created in a warrior Mom moment and I wasn’t sure if it could really do any good. But, he urged me and I decided to proceed. In the early days of my patenting process, I shared the design with a brace manufacturer (that I will not name), figuring they would think it’s a great supplement to their brace. But, to my disappointment, the head of the company wrote me that “I was just a Mom of one patient”. The tone of the email (which I have kept for motivation) was that I was just a Mom, and I didn’t understand all the aspects of the situation. But, I thought to myself – who BETTER than a Mom to soldier through a problem that involves her own child? Who has a better motivation? Who has a better understanding? Nothing can overpower the raw determination of a Mom in fight mode for her children. Dads can hold their own, too. But, I still feel they fall short to Moms. Sorry, guys.
So, if you are new in this journey – believe in your power. If you are a veteran, share your stories below in the comments. We are all on the same team – we are all warriors for our children. And, we should have each other’s backs in battle. I have your back, be assured.
