I’m convinced children are born with superpowers.

They have super sonic hearing. You can open a candy bar wrapper while hiding in the bathroom with the shower on and they can hear it, come running and be banging on the door before your first bite. They wear cloaks of invisibility. They can vanish into thin air at the sound of you pulling a full bag of trash out of the can.

They wander aimlessly through a house overflowing with toys, electronics and art supplies complaining of boredom. Yet, at the mention of chores, they can entertain themselves outside for hours with a stick and an old coffee can. Nothing grosses them out. They eat boogers, chew gum that has been dropped on the ground and share toothbrushes. {But green peas? Even superheroes have their limits.}

They know the name and story behind every stuffed animal, but they can’t remember where they left their homework. {Lucky for them, moms are superheroes, too, and have the ability to locate anything, anywhere, at anytime.}

They have the power to make you do the most ridiculous things like rush to their school in your pajamas because they forgot some very important something that you told them to put in their bag the night before. With a sad little whimper, they have you crawling on your stomach under a stranger’s car in the Walmart parking lot because they dropped their very-favorite-can-not-live-without-it toy. {Also known as a plastic piece of garbage that came in a happy meal that they will lose in the car before you even make it home.}

They flash a sweet smile and, before you know it, you are scratching their bellies and sharing your Starbucks. {Stop the madness!} You give up sleep, showers and sanity. They cause gray hair, weight gain and stretch marks but are so thoroughly enjoyable that you have another. {And another and another and another – maybe that was just me.}

Without any effort at all, they teach you humility, sacrifice and a crazy, unconditional, will-walk-over-a-floor-littered-with-legos-and-Barbie-shoes kind of love.

It’s true. Children are superheroes. They can solve puzzles, climb trees and hear an adult conversation a mile away. Now, if they could just figure out how to keep their room clean.