I had a Bad Mother Moment last week.
In fact, I feel so bad about it that it’s taken me all this time to bring myself to write about it.
We were at an end-of-term party for one of the girls’ activities. There was loud music playing. There were a lot of mummies chatting. The children were doing their stuff. And I missed one of my daughter’s big moments. She got a prize, and I didn’t see her collect it. I didn’t even clap. I was too busy chatting to the person next to me. To be honest, I didn’t even know that she’d gone up to collect a prize, the place was so crowded. The first I knew of her triumph was when she threw her trophy in my lap and stormed off. Oh dear.
Now, please cheer me up, and tell me I’m not the worst mother in the world?
Or, better still, tell me your own Bad Mother Moment!
You are the worst mother in the world.
Sorry, I meant to say, You are not the worst mother in the world… lol
But you have just inspired me to write about something my mum did when I was young (nothing to do with this post but is on the “bad mother” theme!).
Tut tut.
CJ xx
Well, I just hope your mother was worse than me!! No, actually, I hope for your sake that she was a lot better, I just want to stop feeling guilty! Will read your post with great interest anyway xx
Whooops….
My friend had a fourth child, a nice child but an accident nonetheless: She keeps leaving him on public transport, forgetting she has a fourth child! That’s bad, yours is a mini-misdemeanor, fixable with a glass of wine (for you) and a bribe for upset sproglet….
Good luck.
Oh, thank you, Lou, that does make me feel a lot better …I hadn’t even thought of bribing my daughter but that’s genius 🙂 I’m now worrying about that fourth child though ….
I sent boy to school with an upset tummy convinced that he was just nervous about a spelling test; I even left a message for the teacher telling her, no he wasn’t really sick and he doesn’t really have to throw up, he’s just nervous. Ten minutes later, I got a call from the school asking me to pick him up because he’d just thrown up all over the playground. Oops.
Ooopsie indeed! Mind you I put that down to the spooky power of child over matter – I am sure you were right and he wasn’t *ill* ill!
Well the way I see it you were there, that has to count for something :-)!
Thank you, Alethea, I hope it does count for something, though I’m sure she’ll be telling her therapist all about it in 20 years’ time!
Aaaah. I know how you feel. Well at least you were there. At least you can try and make her feel better by telling her that.
Does forgetting to wake your children up for school count?
Lx
Yep, I think forgetting to wake them up counts as it definitely makes me feel better, thanks x
Ps – sorry I won’t see you next Wed. I’m working. Can’t come. What a shame x
Oh poo, was looking forward to seeing you! No fair x
No you are not bad at all! I am that kind of chatterbox too and often miss big moments in my kids lives.
I think I need to get better at covering up these lapses as there’s no hope of me stopping the chat …. I need a mummy stunt double
Sounds exactly like the kind of thing I’d do!!! 🙂
I’m glad you say that, Emma – makes me feel better, thanks 🙂
Easy done. I can’t think of a bad mummy moment but I’m sure there’ve been a few, and let’s face it I have many years ahead of me to make them. Wish me luck!
A nice box of chocs and I’m sure all will be forgiven 😉
If you can’t think of any then there probably haven’t been any! I wish you luck keeping up the unblemished record 😉
In his last year at primary school my youngest won a couple of races at the school swimming carnival and had to go to “zone” to represent the school. He was the only child in the school to go to the next level who wasn’t a “swim club” child (mainly because there was no way I was going to get anyone, including me, out of bed at 5.30am and watch them go up and down a pool in the dark)and so he was always going to come last. Instead of being proud of his effort in getting to that level I was horrified at having to waste my day off work at the pool. Luckily for me the pool was a block away from us up a lane from our back gate. I told him I would arrive in time for the races but made sure I had given him a permission note to walk home after he had finished. When I heard the back gate open I grabbed my handbag, headed out the back door and pretended I was just heading to the pool. In my defence he is a perfectly well adjusted 22 year old so no permanent damage! I think karma got me though as a couple of months later he took up another sport and became so good at it that I had to drive him 15 kms most afternoons for training with a squad. All their comps started at 6.30am requiring us to get up at 5.30am most Saturday and Sunday mornings throughout the summer and even occasionally in Winter – and that went on for the next six years!
Love it!! What an excellent story. And he certainly got his own back with the next sport. Mind you, what kind of sadists start their matches at 6.30 am? That is just plain mean!
Mine is a similar thing to the playgound barfing incident except I got my just desserts. My son said he didn’t want to go to bed because he didn’t feel very well. But he had been messing about with his sister so I thought he was just playing for time.
Well go and be sick if you have to, I said, with no interest at all. I followed him up to the loo, where he was making pathetic retching noises. “There you are I said, not sick at all. And if you are sick then bed is the best place for you”
I tucked him in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. I wanted him to see I wasn’t taking any more of his nonsense. Goodnight mummy he said, then sat back and threw up all over his bed, himself and me. Serves me right I guess.
Euwwwwww! That’s fabulous timing though, you have to admit! Oh God there’s nothing worse than washing an entire bed’s worth of covers … poor you and poor him!