Why Moms are Like Jupiter

Earth vs. Jupiter

Last night at dinner, Baba (what my kids call my father-in-law) was talking about the moon. He told us what the full moon in September was called in Japan, and mentioned that there had been no clouds in the sky all day, so we would be able to see it very clearly.

Miles got excited about the outer space topic, so before bed we found a cool space documentary to watch.

Side note: Isn't technology amazing? It often gets a bad wrap I think. We hear about the over use of technology, addiction to video games or our smart phones, a disconnection with our bodies and the earth...but really, how amazing is it that when you have a question or inspiration about something, you can instantly find a resource to feed it. It seems to me, like most "things", technology isn't the problem, it's whether we use it for good (discovery channel) or evil (*cough* real housewives *cough, cough*). 

Anyway, the program counted down the 10 most cataclysmic disasters in the Universe. The basic premise was that the relative calm and order to our present solar system actually comes on the heals of billions of years of Armageddon like disasters, instability, and violence. Planets crashed into each other, switched orbits, some were flung from the solar system, and others were bombarded with asteroids for a million years.

If I were a science person, I might geek out about the technical aspects, the mathematics, or the evidence that lead to these discoveries. But alas, I am a writer, so those things are lost on me. Instead, I make everything into a metaphor:

One of the things I found fascinating was the Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 collision with Jupiter. Basically, it was a comet that broke apart and the pieces collided with Jupiter in succession, creating 21 Earth size scars in its atmosphere. While the scientists explained the event and its significance, they said that Jupiter probably actually protects other planets, especially Earth, from these kinds of impacts. It's so large and its gravitational field so huge, that it draws comets and asteroids to itself, and maybe away from Earth.

Hubble Telescope image of temporary craters 

So there I was, with my kids curled up in my lap, imagining that I was Jupiter; deflecting all the hurt, disappointment, and dangers away from my little Earths. Of course, there are always some that get through, but hopefully, the big magnetic field of self-esteem, courage, and love that we try to cloak them with, is enough to burn up any intruder in the atmosphere before it does too much damage.

Then again, sometimes it takes a little intrusion, a metaphoric "big bang" if you will, to get to the place of perfect planetary orbit.

Either way, we'll always be standing by, a watchful giant, willing to take the biggest blow.