I came across a super mom last week – I mentioned her in Monday’s post (and we’re still looking for her) and she continues to inspire us this week.  Because very often we all come across super moms, holding it all together despite unique pressures or triggers facing them.  Like, lack of sleep, feeling pulled in too many different directions, hunger, stress, etc.  Sometimes we see it in our friends or family members, many times we see it in complete strangers.  My go to move is to put a smile on my face, so if they happen to look around, they’ll see no judgement from me.

That seemed to me to be a very lame answer, so I went to Reddit to see how other people would cheer up a stranger.  And have adapted it to moms you may encounter.

Top 5 Ways to Cheer Up A Mom

5. Chicken Show: The ____________ suggested, “Strip down to my undies and start making chicken sounds. Might not totally cheer them up, but at least it’ll get their mind off of whatever’s bothering them for a bit.”  While that sounds like fun in theory and would likely illicit a lot of laughs, if it got that far, it might also bring local security or police.  Instead, try dressing your child in a chicken outfit wherever you go and look for people to cheer up.  Then teach your child to say, “moooo” instead of chicken noises, just for a change of pace.

4. Acknowledging Encouragement: BoNiddle encouraged a left-handed compliment, saying, “Why are you sad? Is it because of your hair? Don’t worry its not so bad.”  That seems like one of the worst ideas I’ve heard, and I’m an expert at receiving left-handed compliments (due to my sister, the expert at giving them).  I might say something like, “It gets better!”  I’ll call it acknowledging encouragement.  You and she can see she’s going through a shitty time.  But leave her with a light at the end of the tunnel.  Maybe add a “moo” in to keep her on her toes.

3. Avoiding Utter Nonsense:  Laptopdragon advised, “excuse me, will you please watch my puppy for a minute while I graffiti that wall over there?” which makes a lot of sense in a ski nozzle flap part glob kind of way.  Which reminds me of a favorite line in the movie PCU where Gutter thinks an elderly woman says him, “Excuse me, but can you blow me where the pampers is?”  What she was really saying was, “Can you *show* me where the *campus* is?”  I imagine a mom going through an immense amount of stress would interpret anything you say to them to be something like laptopdragon advised.  So instead of trying to say something to cheer them up, avoid long phrases or questions.  Maybe try offering a compliment, “nice shirt” assuming it doesn’t have any noticeable stains.

2. High Five: That was Jestersays idea, and I think its a good one.  Simply throw up a paw, and if they look at you strangely, throw out, “you deserve a high five”.  Make sure you don’t retract your hand back and say, “too slow”.  That would really miss the point.

1. Blow Job: A suggestion from AH_MLB and I’m going to deliberately misinterpret it.  Next time you are at a salon, ask if they’ll let you give out coupons or discount codes to moms that look like they could use a break.  You see a woman that looks like she’s a super mom, slip her the coupon and say, “here, for a blow job!”

If you’d like to see all of the reddit suggestions in their entirety, it is available on this link.    Do you have any suggestions on how to cheer up a super mom?  Comment below or continue the conversation at the Bleeping Motherhood facebook page.