The Mommy Brain...We are Superheroes Afterall

While attending school at BYU, I would pass mothers pushing strollers around campus, pregnant bellies of all sizes, and sometimes there would be a mother and a baby sitting in the back of the classroom while the mother simultaneously kept her baby calm and attempted to take studious notes. I always admired these women, but there was a stigma (yes, even at BYU) against having kids in college; that once you become pregnant your brain turns to mush. One of my friends even had a professor tell her that he does not like to have pregnant women taking his classes because they get "mommy brain". As rude as that professor was, I bought into it just a little bit. I didn't want to ruin my grades and I wanted to graduate. So, I was secretly happy that I didn't get pregnant even though we had been trying for a few years.

Turns out that "Mommy Brain" isn't such a bad thing after all. I was reading in a scholarly journal, ahem, I mean Babytalk magazine about this phenomenon. The article "The Supermom Transformation" highlights the book The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes Us Smarter" by Katherine Ellison. (I will definitely have to read this book!) She utilizes the latest scientific research to prove that from enhanced memory skills to increased emotional intelligence, motherhood actually makes you smarter. (I also might add multi-tasking skills.) She says,

"If you think about it in evolutionary terms, there's no other time in a woman's life when she needs to be quite as smart as when she's looking after young children. Nature takes over and changes her brain at that time on a scale as great as or greater than the changes that take place during puberty and menopause."

Now, I've been out of school for a few years and sometimes I do feel that my brain has turned to mush, but I have known countless women who after having kids, return back to school and maintain 4.0 GPA's, all while taking care of their children, husband, household etc. If you take into account (and as any mom will tell you, once you have kids you can say goodbye to sleep) these moms are also able to do this while getting less than satisfactory sleep. These moms put the "super" in "Supermom".

If you're like me and cannot claim such great accomplishments, you can still feel good about yourself (if you're a mom). Allow me to throw out a few of my favorite quotes from the article.

"Many of us grew up imagining ourselves in the role of a costumed crusader, from Wonder Woman to She-Ra. Little did we know that years down the road, we'd be inducted into an amazing force of lesser-known superheroes known as moms...whose collective powers directly shape the fate of an entire generation."

"Disguised in bathrobes, marked with bags under our eyes, and toting around mini-sidekicks, we Supermoms take on challenges and responsibilities that would bring the Man of Steel to his knees. Leap tall buildings in a single bound? Fine, but can he quiet a colicky newborn at 3 a.m.? That my friends, is a job for Supermom--the perfectly imperfect superhero who is unleashed when we rise to the very real challenge of loving and protecting our children."

"Women are discovering new powers--heightened senses, increased vigilance against harm, enhanced brainpower--and using them to combat the challenges facing every new mom."

"It may not have the same visual wow-factor as Bruce Banner's shirt-shredding Incredible Hulk transformation, but the evolution from woman to Supermom is just as amazing--and difficult."

"Spider-Man may be able to shoot webs from his wrists, but Supermom can shoot vitamin-packed milk right out of her breasts, nourishing her baby and protecting him from countless threats."

Just some food for thought when you're feeling less than super. It also made me laugh.