Waking up on a school morning, I take a moment in the coziness of my bed to keep my eyes closed and take a few slow deep breaths. I let my mind enjoy this brief time of quiet because it wasn’t always so quiet when the kids were toddlers. After a few minutes in a semi-meditative state, I turn on my mom brain, remind myself what day it is, which of course triggers a connection of thoughts.
I’ve been a stay-at-home mom to four elementary aged kids for 5 years now. I can’t help but think of my kids every morning and mentally run through the day of to-dos for each of them, all before taking my shower for ten minutes.
Brady, my third child (age 9), chooses to stay in his pajamas some mornings, creating a new colorful drawing. He gets dressed in 20 seconds, so why not allow him a bit of morning time to express himself through art?
Brady’s best artwork is done right after he wakes up, and with all his art supplies in his room on his desk, he can just roll out of bed and create whatever lights up in his brain. He always wants complete privacy when he’s hyper focused with drawing, coloring, or sculpting his vision with paper and blue tape.
I knock to be sure he’s okay.
“DON’T COME IN. I’M BUSY.”
Clearly his creative juices are flowing in the early morning. When he comes down for breakfast, his eyes light up as he’s eating, and he uses the opportunity to ask many serious questions that I do my best to answer.
“Does Thanos have an oval head? (Thanos has been on his mind because of the Avengers movies.) Brady likes to look at people’s heads and categorize them as oval or spherical. Perhaps it’s the artist in him.
“Mom, do you have any infinity stones?”
“No, I haven’t been able to locate any. Have you?”
He runs upstairs after inhaling his food and draws the infinity stones from the movie. After cutting them out, he bounces down the stairs at full speed.
“HERE THEY ARE, MOM! THE ACTUAL INFINITY STONES!”
“Keep them away from Thanos, Brady! I hear he is looking for them.”
He jogs away with them, yelling out that he is hiding them in various rooms on the main level.
Brady’s brothers overhear this new information and get up from their breakfast.
They yell: “Brady! Let’s pretend we are the Avengers! We must find them before Thanos does!”
I project my voice from the kitchen as I clean up the breakfast dishes: “Boys, I’m counting on you all!! If Thanos finds those stones, we are ALL DOOMED!! Find them before Thanos comes back and corners me.”
(I’ve been instructed that I am now Black Widow.)
My oldest (age 11) yells excitedly: “Mom, remember to do your high kick if Thanos comes at you!”
(Oh, yes. My high kick that looks more like a low kick.)
The brothers run from room to room seeking out the hidden gems as I grab the portable speaker to play Avengers music. The battle music resonates through the main floor and we are all transformed into superheroes (sans costumes).
“I JUST FOUND A STONE, MOM!!”
Good job! Give it to me quickly! I’ll be the guardian of the stones.
Brady suddenly yells out: “OH NO!!! THANOS IS HERE!!!”
We each delve fully into our superhero persona.
I kick the air to practice my techniques while letting out a few fierce grunts. I am no longer just a mom but a trained fighter with a deadly kick. I embrace my new role and continue my mid-air kicks.
Alexis, my only daughter, who has been calmly eating her toast at the counter, looks up.
“Mom, you need to kick higher like this.” She quickly gets up to demonstrate – time is of the essence if you know anything about Thanos’s brutal tactics.
I glance at the kitchen clock. We have two more minutes to save the world, or we’ll be late to school.
Side battles take place in adjoining rooms with plastic swords that hold secret powers. We are all doing our best to fend off the invasive evil that Thanos has released inside our home.
“I JUST KILLED THANOS!! TIME TO PACK UP FOR SCHOOL GUYS!” I yell victoriously.
Brady runs into the kitchen.
“Mom, was his head oval or like a sphere?”
“It was like a huge block, Brady. He’s bigger than the Hulk!”
Brady looks pensive, and then says: “No Mom, you’re wrong. His head is long like an oval.”
(Shucks, kid. How about a high-five for destroying the world’s most powerful villain?)
After packing up, we start our walk to school when without warning, out of the clear blue sky……..
THANOS REAPPEARS!!!
Alexis and Cedric spot him first. We kick and punch, dodging his massive arms. We have numbers on our side. Five against ONE, Thanos.
For the second time, before school even starts, we must defend mankind. I hate to break it to you, Thanos, (but not really) you are no match for us!!
These warriors ultimately prevailed! Until the next time when we least expect it – we will be called to defend our neighborhood against bad guys. We will be ready!
The next morning as I lay in bed before our morning routine jump starts the day, I think of how Brady is now able to participate in fluid interactive imaginative play. I smile on the inside knowing that his mind is soaking it all in – imaginary vs. real. It wasn’t so long ago that he just didn’t grasp what we were doing if we pretended to be someone else. Now, he’s absorbed by it as he draws out battle plans in green, blue, and orange markers, letting me know that “even small good guys can beat the bad guys, Mom. Did you know that?”
Yes, I believe in the underestimated power of small guys like you, Brady.
This has been a Finish the Sentence Post hosted by Kristi Campbell of www.findingninee.com. Today’s prompt was “When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I think of is…”
So unique and awesome! I love it. I wasn’t sure whether y’all were up on the latest Avengers but clearly, you’re ahead of us, with the stones in your house!!! Wowza!
Those battles are never really over, are they? So drawn out. Good thing you had your fighting game on!
And Des has a toy Thanos and I just looked and it is more like an oval!
I just saw an online tutorial for making Infinity Stone out of this sort of gel thing and I want to try it.
I just watched the Avengers movie TODAY so it was very fun reading this. You’re a great mom!!
I love it!!