Ok, we all have them, those moments when you know you are about to do something you won't be proud of, you are going to have a bad mommy moment. Last night I had a few of them, let's call it a bad mommy hour. I'm not sure which of us was sadder at the end, her for getting in trouble, or me for the guilt.
I guess it wasn't as bad as I felt it was, but it was bad enough. I yelled. At bedtime. Now, I'm not sure why I thought raising my voice would make it easier to calm down and get into bed, but there it is, I did it. In case you are asking, no, it didn't help. A moment after it happened the guilt started. Which of course didn't make anything better then it already was. The worst part is, I know it'll happen again. I'm not a perfect mommy, and I know that, and I accept it. However, I do want to ensure it doesn't happen often.
I guess it wasn't as bad as I felt it was, but it was bad enough. I yelled. At bedtime. Now, I'm not sure why I thought raising my voice would make it easier to calm down and get into bed, but there it is, I did it. In case you are asking, no, it didn't help. A moment after it happened the guilt started. Which of course didn't make anything better then it already was. The worst part is, I know it'll happen again. I'm not a perfect mommy, and I know that, and I accept it. However, I do want to ensure it doesn't happen often.
Bad mommy moments can happen to anyone, anytime:
In the grocery store, you know, give them cookies from the bag you haven't bought yet so the screaming stops, even though you know that now they think screaming equals cookies.
"No dear, we can't go to the park today, the park is closed"...yup, I've used that one too.
One of my favorites, I started to drive away when I heard "Mommy you forgot to do up my seatbelt"
Bath time? Not tonight, the new episode of my show is on, one day without a bath won't hurt.
When it's just way to early to get up, and you don't want to make pancakes from scratch, Lucky Charms without all that healthy milk can be a great bribe.
Using your angry mommy voice on the school grounds may get dirty looks, but you know they are doing it when they get in the car too.
Yelling in anger is not a solution, but every mom I know is guilty of doing it some time.
These moments don't make a bad mommy, amazing moms sometimes just need shortcut, an easier way to the same end result. I know that just because my child wore their favorite dress all day then slept in it doesn't mean I'm a bad mom, it means it got her to bed, on time, without a fight and no tears. That's a win in my books. Of all these bad mommy moments, I can see only a few that need to be avoided when possible, just a couple that may be guilt-worthy, and none that other mommies haven't done as well. Let's all accept out bad mommy moments as just that, moments, and focus on all the love and good times s