Story Time
Posted by: amy, April 15, 2009 in 10:04 am
Oh my gosh, how can I pick just one?? I guess the very least-perfect was when my daughter was teething. She was about one, and I was just getting a raging case of post-partum depression under control. She was nursing and she bit me. I popped her off and said, “NO! We do NOT bite! That HURT Mommy!” and she laughed at me. I almost lost it. I had to put her in her crib and Walk Away. I’ve never come so close to shaking either of my kids as I did that day. On the other hand, maybe the fact that I *didn’t* shake her, that I did the responsible thing and put her somewhere safe and walked away until I was calm, well, maybe that means it wasn’t such an imperfect parent after all. I mean, everyone’s going to get mad, everyone’s going to be driven crazy by their kids. I guess the test is what we do with that anger and that crazy in the moment.
Posted by: Candy, April 10, 2009 in 7:08 pm
The day we brought our daughter home from the hospital we were unloading the car and I said, “ That’s everything!” My husband looks at me puzzled. I asked what was wrong and he replied, “Honey, you forgot your newborn, do you think she might want to come inside too?”
Posted by: pj, April 8, 2009 in 1:19 am
Ugh. So it’s monday morning and i’ve barely wiped the sleep out of my eyes when i get a call from our nanny, Francesca. She’s sick, coughing up a lung, itchy, scratchy, whatever it was the only thing i could make out from her mumbled voice was “can’t make it in”. I’m sorry, did she say what i think she said? Suddenly the clocks in our kitchen warped into a bad Dali painting. I had 45 mintues to wash my hair, shave my legs (although that could probably wait, i mean, who has time for sex these days?), print up those documents for our office morning meeting, drop off the dry cleaning and find a babysitter…??? A better alternative would’ve been to just throw in the towel, plop down on my couch with a box of lucky charms and call in sick. My day had just gone to hell. But just then, i had an idea! Why not take my son to work? He wasn’t so bad? Sure he was just starting to walk and liked to pull down any object he could reach but who who could resist that little apologetic smile he would give when your favorite tchotchke smashed on the floor? Without a second to waste my plan went into action. Insert, rewind, and play. Ah yes, blaring from my living room stereo, The Bangles, circa 1986, “Just Another Manic Monday”. And so, 48 minutes later i was riding up in a very coorperate elevator with my sweet angel, in tow. My secret? Very simple– my EWMC! “Emergency Working Mother Case”– Always leave one by the door. It’s packed with invisible pens for your little one to draw on your office wall, dvd player with headphones for him to watch his Baby Einstein video and not disturb the office peers, a soft “silent” ball to roll around the office floor, tons of snacks and of course, my handy dandy dust buster to clean up any “mess”. Oh, and yah, i promised the the receptionist who watched him all day in the conference room a raise and the entire company a round of drinks “on me” after work. Nothing a little $$$ can’t buy. Did it go well? What do you think?
Posted by: BrendanK, April 7, 2009 in 7:04 pm
Very, very sad… I was playing with my 3-month old on the bed and turned to grab a kleenex to wipe some boogies. By the time I turned back, he wiggled his way to the end of the bed and fell off! AUGH! He didn’t make a peep and was actually giggling on the floor. Mommy was crying like crazy! I called my own Mom and she said it probably wouldn’t be the last time my little boy fell off something. Ooooo – I don’t know if I can handle all MY tears when he falls!
Posted by: carol, April 5, 2009 in 11:26 am
My most imperfect parenting moment occurred when I had four kids, the youngest was 1, and my husband was away on a business trip. I was out of food, and just didn’t get to do the food shopping because I was being run so ragged with the kids, and for dinner I served Fruit Rollups. Yikes! I still cringe at the thought.
Posted by: tiredmommy, March 31, 2009 in 2:03 pm
My 3 year old is a train fanatic. We were at a park when we saw a train for kids, the kind takes a ten minute ride around the perimeter. so he was jumping up and down with excitement. We got our tickets and got on. I recognized the woman in front of me as a former co-worker. We were chatting when the train started up. As it began to pass the little station, there were a bunch of kids waving and I saw my son with them (!) He wasn’t next to me anymore. And the train was picking up speed. I jumped out of the moving train and landed on my butt right in front of him. It wasn’t going that fast thankfully. About 10 miles per hour. But it still hurt. When I looked up at my son, he said, “Mommy, you’re missing the train!”
Posted by: CaliP, March 25, 2009 in 9:14 pm
My family was shopping at a toy store a few months ago. Our 5 year old daughter needed to go to the potty, so my husband took her. He left me with our 2 1/2 year old son. I was waiting in line to checkout when they left. Somehow I got caught up in the moment of checking out and totally forgot that I had a child with me. I paid for our selections, and when my husband returned, he said, “Where’s Joe?” And I said, “Wasn’t he with you?!” After realizing that neither one of us had him, I started screaming his name in the store. and running down the aisles. I felt my heart sink into my toes. I was frantic and totally guilty to say the least. Next thing I know, he comes running towards me with a sword in his hand saying, ” Mama, I love this sword like Captain Hook. Can we buy it?” Thank goodness we were in a toy store otherwise, I would have been in a really bad way.
Posted by: LisaH, March 16, 2009 in 9:53 pm
When I was pregnant, I honestly couldn’t wait for my baby….so that I could drink alcohol again. I was a little surprised at what a sacrifice it seemed, especially being pregnant thru the Christmas holiday season. When I was in labour, our midwife came to our home to check me out and make the call about whether we were ready to go to the hospital to deliver. She noticed our going-to-hospital” bag parked by the front door…with a bottle of beer next to it. She asked about the bottle of beer, and my husband had to explain that it was my explicit wish for the first thing I wanted after the baby was born. The upshot is that I drank the beer in a delivery room at 5 AM, from a styrofoam cup. And it was delicious.”
Posted by: Kristen, March 15, 2009 in 11:41 pm
Most times I dress my boys – 1-1/2 years apart – alike when we go to the playground so it is easier for me to tell where they are by having to look for only one outfit. It’s a rather large playground and naturally, they enjoy the utmost opposite things. One particularly beautiful, late-summer day, it was crowded and I was talking to another Mom, which is odd for me as I am always following one or the other of my boys at all times. (Until people realized I had two running around in the same outfits, they thought I was the neighborhood wacko.
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Posted by: maggie, March 10, 2009 in 10:39 am
I’m so glad that I’m not the only one that has forgotten to buckle the car seat. I realized it while driving and stopped on Key Bridge (in DC) with my hazards on so I could reach back and buckle him. I was so shaken up it was hard to drive home.
