Wednesday, January 18, 2012

mother of the year


about a week ago, i sent my two year old to school in pajamas for his pajama day...only, i had my days wrong and he was the only child in his class dressed up that day. luckily for him, he's two and his pajamas pretty much look similar to what i've seen other kids wearing in his class on normal days. still, i pretty much felt like i definitely deserved the "mother of the year" button for that one. there are days when i feel i deserve the free t-shirt, the pageant sash, the button and the tiara for my mothering skills. still, i know i'm not alone.

one of my girlfriends made the same mistake with her son...only he was in an upper primary grade. nothing screams years of therapy like sending your nine year old son to school in pajamas on the wrong day.

over christmas the stories multiplied. one of my mom friends put her child's backpack away for the christmas break and took it out the night before school started only to discover that it was full of a "fun" family project that was supposed to be completed over the break. oops. another friend got her girls ready to head back to school after the break and then was informed that christmas break had ended the day before. oh well, what's one more day off?

my best parenting moment came last year as i busily tried to get my son and daughter into preschool one morning. normally there is a drive-up drop off but this time i had snacks and other extras to bring in so had to park and walk them into their classes. i finally got them settled inside and then walked back to my car, sat down, and about jumped out of my skin as someone made a noise behind me. i thought some evil intruder had managed to hide in my backseat, ready to pounce, until i realized, nope, that is the baby...the one i totally forgot about as i was dropping off my other two. there was my one year old smiling in his pajamas with his pacifier, ready for the rest of the day. try to top that one!

what about you? i know i'm not the only one out there who's accidentally made some less than stellar mommy moves. it's time to bust out your best stories...

3 comments:

  1. Ha! On my son's 2nd day of preschool he told me that his stomach hurt & he wanted to stay home with me. I lovingly reassured him that he was nervous & that's why his stomach hurt. I then told him all the fun things he'd get to do, reminded him about the friends he'd play with & got him excited to get going. Then he threw up all over my brand new couch because he had a virus, not preschool nerves. Then I had to hold him while he cried about all the things he would miss & the friends he couldn't play with. I felt like a creep! Really wish I'd taken his temp & checked things out a little better BEFORE I wisely decided it was "nerves"! Love your blog!

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  2. Move over Mom's... this award is going to yours truly!
    When my youngest, who is almost 13, was 20 months old, we had just moved into a new house. We had been busy all day, carrying boxes in and out of the house and my daughter along with her 2 1/2 year old twin sisters had been really good all day long. They were in the play room while I was unpacking items in the kitchen.
    The door bell rang and as I went to open it I noticed it wasn't shut all the way. I opened the door and to my shock, horror and confusion, there was a strange man, standing on my front step, holding my 20 month old daughter. She was happy as a clam, and I was very confused.
    We were unaware that our front door knob was broke. The bolt had to be locked in order for the door to stay closed.
    This kind man had seen my baby standing across the street from our house, on the sidewalk alone, and had pulled over to try and find her mommy and daddy. He picked her up and went to our neighbors asking if they knew who she belonged to. They told him we had just moved in and they knew we had little girls.
    Thank God it was this nice man who found her, you can imagine my mind went wild with all the "what if's".
    I must have cried for hours, I was so scared of what had happened.
    Hold on to your hats because 3 days later we found her in the front yard again. That night, we installed 3 locks on our front door and turned our children into agoraphobes.
    Yup... that was a definite low point for this mommy.

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  3. Oh, my friend. (This one still makes me cry.)

    Two or three days before my second child was going to be born, my firstborn--then about to turn 4--was heading to a birthday party at a bowling alley. The timing was a little tough since it started at 6pm and went until 8, but at least they would be eating pizza.

    Emily bounced around in ecstasy for days to go to this party for her best friend. She chose a 'spessul birfday' outfit, complete with sparkly necklace, and she carried her carefully chosen gift with the care of the Wise Men bearing gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We walked into the bowling alley and she bounced expectantly up to the counter, and I realized... there were no children here. I was a bit early, yes, but still...

    The party ENDED at 6:00. The poor kid behind the counter was speechless as Emily, wide-eyed, looked back and forth between us in confusion, finally whispering, "Where are my fwiends?". She simply couldn't understand why her friends were not here and that she would not be having the party with them. No whining, no tantrums, just a sad, confused, lonely despondence. I thought my heart would break right there.

    GOD BLESS the two young men working that night: they turned that whole room into a party just for Emily. We ordered a pizza, they brought all the balloons over to our own alley, gave us two free games, switched over to the night-bowling lights, put on the movie of Emily's choice, and made a big honking deal over her. For less than $10 worth of pizza and drinks, we had a very precious evening with just the three of us, one last celebration of our trio before the arrival of the newest member. There's a special place in heaven for those young guys who realized the situation and completely saved it from being a nightmare for both Mama and a tender-hearted little one.

    And it's still making my eyes sting.

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