The Morning Adventures of Superrrr Helpfullll Mommmm!

 www.icescreammama.com

It is an ordinary day in the small town of Sport Sloshington as Super Helpful Mom quietly tip-toes down the stairs. She wants to get an early start packing lunches for school and making breakfast. Plus, there are dishes and laundry that need to be done. She heads into the dark, quiet kitchen and flips on the light. AAAAaaack!! Someone is sitting at the kitchen table! “Oh my God, Boy Who Never Sleeps and Barely Eats! You scared me!”

“Sorry, Mama.”

“Can I get you anything?” she asks, but she barely gets the words out before a rush of wind whooshes past. He is gone. She shakes her head affectionately, “That boy is like air.”

She gets busy, packing Boy Who Never Sleeps and Barely Eats’ (BWNSABE) lunch first because all he takes is milk. Next, she flips the laundry and places breakfast on the table. She is about to cut apple slices when she feels a resisting hand on her arm. It is Safety Patrol Dad. “Knives are dangerous!” he warns. She carefully places the knife down, and instead, bites the apple skin off like a squirrel and cuts chunks with her helpful front teeth.

As she works, something small and strong wraps itself around her leg in a vise grip. It’s her 4 year-old son, Cling Boy! Super Helpful Mom walk/drags him over to the table and uses his secret weakness to successfully detach him – her iPhone. As Cling Boy grabs the phone to play, she places him in his seat.

She turns at a gust of air. BWNSABE is back at the table, licking the cover of the butter tub like a cat.

“Er, Boy Who Never Sleeps and Barely Eats, can I get you some toast?”

He shakes his head no and continues licking.

Just then, her oldest son schleps into the kitchen, leaking socks, candy wrappers and crumpled papers. His shirt is backwards and inside out, he has one sneaker on and his hair simultaneously stands straight up and falls down over his eyes. “Good morning, Disaster Dude.”  She kisses his head and her lips touch something hard. She pulls out a lego figure tangled in the mess. “Hey, I think you forgot something.”

Disaster smiles and sits down. She helpfully forks eggs into his mouth.

“Okay, gang.” Safety Patrol Dad announces as he unplugs the coffeepot and then the toaster. “I’ve got an early meeting at work.We leave in 12 minutes for the train.”

Super Helpful Mom forks the eggs in faster. “Mom! Too much!” Disaster gags.

Like lightening, Safety Patrol Dad is on him, throwing him over his shoulder and pounding on his back!

“Dad! You’re killing me! I'm not choking!”  

“Glad to help, son!” Safety Patrol Dad booms.  “Now let’s move! Daddy has a train to catch.”

Finally, they all settle in the car. “Seat belts!” Safety Patrol Dad orders.

“I forgot my backpack,” Disaster says. “… and I, uh, volunteered to bring in cupcakes today.”
“No problem!” says Super Helpful Mom. She jumps from the car and races back to the house. 

"Be careful!" screams Safety Patrol Dad, as Super Helpful Mom hurdles over scooters and baseball bats scattered across the lawn. In the house, she quickly finds Disaster’s back pack and eyes the cake mixes in the cabinet. There’s just no time!!! They will have to stop on the way to school. Super Helpful Mom notes the dishes still in the sink. "Oh, why can’t I be more helpful?" she sighs. 

In seconds, Super Helpful Mom is back in the car. Four minutes till train time. Safety Patrol Dad takes off. And then he stops for a full three seconds at the stop sign. They’re off again - and then stops for another three full seconds. Off again. Stop. Off again! Stop!
“We’re never going to make it!!!!!” Super Helpful Mom cries, totally frazzled! “Please let me drive!”

But Safety Patrol Dad wags a finger. “You know you drive too fast.”

Amazingly, they pull up to the station just in time, but there’s trouble across the street – a group of blind, old ladies are walking straight towards a construction site! And there’s a school bus full of children headed right at them! The bus driver is talking on his iPhone and not paying attention!  

“Holy Ukulele! We must save them!” Safety Patrol Dad shouts, and he and Disaster Dude leap from the car (after coming to a complete stop and activating the vehicle's hazard lights). Disaster runs to the construction site, and in one swirling mass, litters piles of dirty clothes into the dangerous open road. Within seconds, the old ladies safely fall into the soft cushion of mess that Disaster has spun. But, wait! The school bus filled with children is still heading straight towards them! Safety Patrol Dad looks both ways, and then jumps in front of the ladies. “STOP!” he yells, using his super megaphone voice; but the bus driver is deep in his conversation and does not hear!

Disaster Dude hurls crumpled homework papers at the bus to get the driver's attention, but it is no use! The bus keeps coming!

Using his Super Safety Powers, Safety Patrol Dad mind channels the number of the bus driver’s cell and quickly dials. The bus driver clicks over. 

“LOOK WHERE YOU’RE GOING!” Safety Patrol Dad yells, and the stunned driver looks up just in time to screech to a halt!

Whew! That was close!

But wait, now the train is about to leave! Super Helpful Mom needs to help! She runs with little Cling Boy and sets him loose on the conductor. He quickly latches himself to the man’s body. The train conductor is polite but appalled, and tries unsuccessfully to pry the child from him.  

“Thanks honey,” Safety Patrol Dad says, coming up next to Super Helpful Mom. “Cling Boy, look what Daddy has?” He flashes the iPhone he confiscated from the bus driver. Immediately Cling Boy detaches and reaches for the phone and his mom.

There is a whoosh of air. “Forgot your briefcase, Dad.”

“Thanks, Boy Who Never Sleeps and Barely Eats! You’re a lifesaver.” With another whoosh, BWNSABE is gone. “We really have to get him a better name,” Safety Patrol Dad whispers to Super Helpful Mom.

The train gets off only minutes behind schedule.

They return to the car where BWNSABE already sits, quietly licking the leather of his seat. “Good job team!” Super Helpful Mom cheers. “Next stop cupcakes!”

From the departing train, Safety Patrol Dad’s megaphone voice echoes out to them. “Watch out. There’s a nut allergy in the class!”

“I don’t eat cupcakes.” BWNSABE says.

“You don’t eat anything!” Disaster Dude teases and they drive off laughing.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha!" 

Tune in next week and you’ll hear Safety Patrol Dad say, “Hey, don’t walk behind that horse! It’s dangerous!”

 

 

From the Judges

Your use of ukulele and horse were so forced that it was painful, but I laughed at both of them... lol. For the first half of the post, I wondered if anyone was actually going to have any super powers. Then, when I finally got to the part where there was some action going on, after you all left the house, it almost felt weird that you all DID have super natural abilities. I think it would have been better if you would have somehow incorporated those special things into the beginning as well. I felt like your super power was a little weak, like you just couldn't think of anything else. It would have been a little better if you could like, help by snapping your fingers. It was a little weird to be called 'Super Helpful Mom' when, in reality, you were kind of just like regular mom. You could have brought it out by snapping your fingers to whip up some cupcakes, or snapping your fingers to stop time when everyone was trying to get to the train. This post really had it's ups and downs, and overall, I really felt like there was more bad than good. I know you can do better than this, and I'm hoping to get the chance to see that from you in later weeks.
-Tessa Taboo 

Again, the superpowers seemed normal...until you actually USED them in a situation. Taking normal stuff and making it extraordinary is superhero stuff. There have been a few regular powers (like being a mom/dad), but you incorporated special abilities along with it, so kudos for that. I do agree that Super Helpful Mom was kind of disappointing, almost a side character than a main one.
 -SooperDad Blog of Awesome 

I really liked that your family's super powers seemed like exaggerated versions of who you all really are. I felt like I got to know all of you better because of it. And I sometimes refer to my husband as the Safety Monitor, so I thought Safety Patrol Dad was pretty funny.

I like what SooperDad said: you took ordinary people and added extraordinary stuff, which is just what I like in super hero stories. And while I did feel like Super Helpful Mom was sort of a side character, I'm not sure that's a bad thing since the assignment this week was family-centric.
 -The Spaghetti Westerner

I thought this was great. This may have been the only one that made me laugh out loud--boy who never sleeps and barely eats! I've got one too (as well as the safety patrol dad!). Your style is right up my alley. Great job!
-Mommy in Law 

I could feel the fast-paced intensity of your mornings. I was a little leery at first about each family member's super power, but then I got to "see" them in action.

The formatting cost you some points, though. It felt cluttered, and I almost didn't finish it.
 -From the Bungalow 

This post felt very rushed to me. I don't mean like you rushed to write it, but it as if the post was moving faster than I could read it. While I was left wanting more from you and your power, I did like the powers you gave to your family. I enjoyed it, I just felt that the conversation was very fast paced which made it difficult for me to read.
-You Know It Happens At Your House Too (Guest Judge)