Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Wanted: Bad Mom Stories

For those of you that have been reading for a while, you might remember this little guy and his Mama. If not, go ahead and get caught up. I'll be here when you get back.

Well, he has grown a lot since then, and is getting to be quite a mobile little tyke. As all of you experienced parents out there know, these are fun and exciting times in the life of a baby, but can be somewhat stressful and guilt filled for parents. Mobility has its' perks to be sure, but it also allows that cute little lump of a baby to get to places and into things that were never a worry before. Even if we do everything right, there will inevitably be the occasional tumble and head bonk, which is heart breaking enough. Unfortunately, due to our human-ness, we eventually forget something in the babyproofing process. After all, it's been a long time since we parents were little cruisers.

This leads me to the email I received from my cousin yesterday. The subject line was....Wanted: Bad Mom Stories. At first I thought she was just forwarding on some cute email designed to bring a chuckle to us Moms that make a mistake or two now and then. But alas, no. She was sharing her real life experience with Kenny yesterday, and pleading with any other Moms out there to share one of their own "Bad Mom" stories to soothe her guilty heart. Here it is; presented in hope you will find some empathy for my sweet cousin in your Mommy hearts....

Hello,

I had my first "bad mom" experience yesterday. After giving Kenny his first bottle of the day, I put him down and let him go. I took care of a few chores in the kitchen and then my bladder told me to find the nearest bathroom. As has become custom in my home, I went to the hallway bathroom and left the door open. Usually, Kenny follows me and by the time he pops his head in the doorway, I have just about finished. Yesterday was different. He did not follow me. I heard him crying. It was a pain-filled cry. I finished my business and quickly made my way down the hallway to the kitchen to find my son. He was not in the kitchen. It took me a moment to figure out that the crying was coming from the other side of me--from the stairway. I looked down to find Kenny hanging from the balusters. Apparently, I forgot to put the gate up. How horrible is that? My thanks to God for looking after my child even when I failed to do so. Kenny is fine, actually he stopped crying when he saw and heard me crying. Thanks to my friend, Sue, who calmed me down so that I could resume mothering.

Then it occurred to me that I could not possibly be the only one to make a stupid mistake. Will you share yours with me--it would make me feel better and maybe even give me a chuckle. I have attached a picture of Pooh bear assuming the position in which I found Kenny. Maybe you'll find it as funny as my husband did.

Julie





So dear blog readers, for my cousin (and a future "Bad Mom" day for me), bring on the "Bad Mom" stories!! 8^)


By the way, just in case you were worried, here are a couple pictures of Kenny happy and healthy. Thanks for being such a good sport Julie!!



9 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG...where do I start. How about the time I caught my 18 mo. old shaving his face with my leg razor?

or... the time I zipped my two year old son's privates in his pajama sleeper.....or the time I got really frustrated with one of the boys and picked him up and put him on his bed (actually dropped him a bit) and the truck he had in his hand hit his head and blood came squirting out.....(the scar is still there to remind me what a bad mother I was)......or the time my daughter picked up my curling iron while it was on....yes, she picked it up by the barrel, not the handle.............................ok, that's enough exposure for me. Too late to have me arrested.

Here's the moral of the story (s)...all my kids are grown and gone (moved out!) (28,26,21) and they are model citizens, they are my pride and joy......and yes, they still love me.

There's an object lesson in forgiveness!

Tara (that's an alias)

PJ Academy said...

I'm SURE I have some but have successfully blocked them from my memory. I do remeber one my mom told me (she's in Heaven she won't mind)It was my little sister - she was fussing one night my mom went to check on her (without turning on the light) and just talked to her a bit. She eventually fell back asleep (how I have no idea)when my mom went to get her up her crib was full of ants :P GROSS guessing her bottle leaked.

OH OH have another one a friend (yes really a friend NOT me) her son woke up crying she (again without turning on the light) manages to calm him down and he fell back asleep. When they woke up he had the night before put rubber bands on one of his wrists. BLUE little fingers after a trip to the ER everything was fine :) Praise God!!!

Moral of my stories TURN ON THE LIGHTS for goodness sake if your child cries at night!!!

Jenn

Renee said...

I blogged about mine. :o)

I've been praying for you and your Mama.

Love,
Renee

Anonymous said...

Truth be known we are probably all bad mom's. You were too young to remember this one, so here is my story. When your cousin Bill was 6 months old he was cruising around the kitchen in one of those now dreaded walkers. Uncle Tim and I were cooking dinner when we saw the cat go scattering by with Bill in tow. We both looked at each other with terror in our eyes because at that moment we both realized that both of us had forgotten to close the gate near the basement door and the basement door was open because the cat's food and litter box was downstairs. Just as I reached the top of the stairs Bill went tumbling all the way down in his walker. All I could do was watch because I was too late to grab the little rascal. I thought he broke every bone in his body. I was terrified to even pick him up. Uncle Tim scooped him up and carried him upstairs.We laid him on the bed to survey the damage. Luckily he came out of it with only a few bruises on his face. But like you I thanked God for intervening. I do believe that dreaded walker saved his life because it took the brunt of the fall. And you thought you were starting your own exclusive club! Just join the one that's been around forever!

Aunt (Grandma) Diane

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm not technically a mom yet, but I have a few stories from my babysitting/nannying years. A few years ago, I was working for a family who had a 10 month old little boy. After breakfast we headed upstairs to change out of p.j.s and get his clothes for the day. I headed into his mom and dad's room to pick out a pair of new sweat pants. On their bed was a pile of clothes and I set him down so that I could have both hands to fish out a pair of pants from the pile. As I was rummaging through the clothes, I suddenly "heard" a distinct voice in my head that said, "Jamela! Turn AROUND!!!"

I turned my head to see the little boy sitting on the edge of the top of the looooong stairway. In my memory it was slow motion: I did not walk. I did not run. I did a "run/jump/slide" as though I was sliding into first base. With my hand outstretched, I just barely grabbed the back of his cotton footsie pajamas as he slid off the first stair. For a minute, I was sprawled across the floor -- on my stomach -- with my hands outstreached as I clung to the back of his nightie. Slowly, I pulled him backward to me. It was a horrilble disaster that was averted by less than a second. That little boy would have tumbled down that long stairway and hit the hard wood floor below. Thank the Lord. I truly believe that Angels were with us both that day.

Today he is kindergartener who I still see and love like he is my own son. Thank God that he didn't fall that day.

So that's my bad "mom" story! Yikes!

-Jamela

Southern Latitudes said...

Several years ago, one of mine (memory block until I read your blog), fell half-way down a tall set of stairs. Sadly, he was not caught by the bannister but took the full brunt of a tile floor on the noggin. I was so thankful that he was alive & crying & moving all 4 limbs that it wasn't until much later when I beat myself up for being such a bad mom. Why had we even bought a house with a set of stairs knowing we had children?

I also have a few heart-stopping moments of a child running across the street, ahead of me, while a car passes by. Oh and the one where I pulled out of the driveway only to see my pre-schooler in the road on the other side of the car. Where did he come from? Why had neither of us seen him travel? My dh was in the carport, distracted. I still have major anxiety about that one. Cold sweat in the mid-night. PTL for angels and God's grace.

Anonymous said...

okay ... how about this one-

I put Jared down for a Sunday nap. He was 2. Jennifer went off shopping. About 15 minutes later, as I was watching the football games and reading the Sunday paper, I hear and see these two guys heading up the sidewalk carrying a young child. Oh sh...! I answer the door and this older guy looking real pissed off says "I have been checking up and down the neighborhood houses for the family belonging to this kid - I have been told that would be you. Does this kid belong to you? I managed to get out a "yes" - feeling real stupid! He angry guy says "I found your son walking in the middle of the road ( on Wallace Ave. in only a diaper I might add). I was in shock - absolutely without freaked out & without words, totally beside myself!

Seems as though Jared decided to crawl out of his crib ... go into the kitchen and let himself out and proceeded to explore the neighborhood. They found him two blocks away!!

But, if only I had learned from that. Jen went shopping one Sunday and my brother came over and encouraged me to go to True Value with him and to hang with him doing the guy thing. I did of course go.I had nothing going on, right? It wasn't till I got to the "check out line" some 30 minutes that I recalled that our "new born son" was napping at home and I forgot him totally!! My new born son was already home by himself and on his own! I didn't tell Jen about that one for a long time!


Here is how I sum it up ...God's provision is enough.

Uncle Gary

Perri said...

Most of mine are like my sins and I try to remember them no more, except for the fact that I would not believe that Andi had an injured foot (she ran in a track meet & won 3 first place ribbons) - all the while telling me it hurt.

I FINALLY took her to the doctor after about 4 weeks, only to find out it was broken.

"nuf said.

Swerl said...

First, you have a very entertaining blog.

I'm launching a blog of my own, feel free to check it out/link to it if you feel so moved:

http://swerl.blogspot.com

Now, on topic, I hope you have room for some "bad dad" stories:

Our first son was a few days old, still had the gunky chunk of umbilical cord that needed swabbing with alcohol. Middle of the night, changing table, I'm on diaper duty, have an open bottle of rubbing alcohol. Baby kicked, alcohol went EVERYWHERE - him, me, freshly-painted wall. Ouch. Not fun. The stain remained on the wall like a scarlet letter or something. My wife was very kind, but did buy the individually wrapped alcohol swabs from that point forward.

I once describe parenthood of a toddler as trying to wrangle an aggressively suicidal little person. It's stressful!