Uber Mom: A Case Study

Recently I took a night class in conversational German. My husband and I are heading to Europe in a few weeks (so excited) and I had the grandiose idea that I could magically become good at learning a foreign language. This has never been true in the past so I don’t know why, at a time when I daily find myself playing charades to get through a regular sentence, why I thought learning a second language was possible. Anyhow, I did and so there I sat, working up some Germanic-worthy phlegm in the back of my throat and wondering why other languages felt the need to gender-ize nouns.

 

On this particular evening we were learning about time. Not just clock time but words that describe the different times of the day. Morgen = morning (but also tomorrow), Nachmittag = afternoon and evening = Abend. The instructor, a spitfire of a cool lady, also mentioned that to say “the day after tomorrow” would be übermorgen and the day after that would be überübermorgen and so on. I thought it odd that a culture as precise as the Germans would just add more of the same word to indicate additional (in this case) tomorrows. Nevertheless, it seemed the German word über wasn’t like the Americanized English uber, meaning a superb or excellent version of something, like an ubermom.

Actually, it seems the German über is most often used to mean over, above, across, beyond, past. . . So, not the same at all; or is it? Can going across, above, over or beyond be the same thing as being the most excellent version of something?

Can a Mom be an Uber-Über Mom?

To figure this out, I had to investigate the German definition of über a bit further. Unlike the English adjective uber, the German über is primarily a preposition. What’s a preposition? Well, as explained by my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Alton, while referencing a stick figure image of a table on the blackboard, a preposition is anything you can do in relationship to the table. You can run over the table, across the table, beyond the table, past the table . . . etc.

So what if we changed the subject from a table to a child? That seems logical since we are attempting to define an Uber-Über Mom, right?

ACROSS

Test One: Can a mom go across the child?

Answer One: YES! A Mom’s arm flies across the child when she slams on the brakes in the car. Until the day you die, if you are sitting in the front passenger seat and your mother is driving, this will happen.

OVER

Test Two: Can a mom go over the child?

Answer Two: YES! A Mom’s voice can rise over all other sounds emitted by the child to express impending doom, danger or dissatisfaction. Moms also go over the child to keep them warm or protect them. And Moms go over concepts or phrases. . .repeatedly, until the child can utter the cautionary words in their sleep.

ABOVE

Test Three: Can a mom go above the child?

Answer Three: YES! A Mom’s willpower must be above that of the child’s willpower. Moms must say no continuously, despite hearing excessive whining, crying, flopping, agonizing and verbalizing of how the child’s life is over.

PAST

Test Four: Can a mom go past the child?

Answer Four: YES! A Mom can walk past the child, pretending she does not know them and has not provided every ounce of life to them since their creation, or spent countless hours. . . days . . . years worrying about their well-being – all so as not to embarrass the child in front of their friends.

BEYOND

The Final Test: Can a mom go beyond the child?

The Final Answer: YES! A Mom pushes herself beyond anything she ever thought herself capable of. She goes until she is tired – and then beyond. She goes until she is scared – and then beyond. Frustrated. . . and beyond. Proud. . . and beyond. Worried . . . and beyond. Joyful . . . and beyond. For her child, a mother reaches to the clouds, the moon, the stars . . . and beyond because being a mom – an Uber-Über Mom, is the most superb version of LOVE. . . and beyond!

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If you have an Uber-Über Mom in your life make sure you celebrate them . . . on Mother’s Day and everyday. Next week’s post – full tutorial on making this card. It’s perfect for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or anytime you need to let someone know just how very awesome they are. Like you Mom – you are very awesome!!

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