Supermom in a Bagel Shop

Los Alamos, New Mexico

   After a morning spent enduring the 'atomic optimism' of the Bradbury Museum, we needed an influx of non-nuclear energy. The independently-owned bagel shop was busy, the decor was vibrant and the food delicious. The table nearest us was occupied by a family of five: two adorable tow-headed girls, the father, and the mother, who was nursing her baby. The girls were rambunctious, the father helpful, and the baby was completely blissed out. The mom, however, was super.

   It was an unseasonably warm day. The restaurant hadn't turned on its AC, so the woman was, as they used to say in a more genteel time, 'glowing'. But somehow she managed to keep her cool, even when the father left for a few minutes and she was in sole charge of the children. She deftly managed to keep the girls in line, eat her lunch, feed the baby and operate her iPhone.

   Despite modern technology, a mother's life never gets any easier.