Errors an Unmistakable Part of Motherhood

When we brought my son home from the hospital, it was such an exciting day. 

He had just spent 2 weeks in the NICU and he was coming home with two very young, very excited, very nervous parents. We were asked to bring him to our pediatrician’s office the next day so she could meet him and check him out. 

Getting ready that morning, we were overwhelmed, trying to get us ready, him ready and get him back in the car for the whole mile and a half ride down the street. When we got there the doctor assured us he looked great, was healthy and then told us we could change his wet diaper while she went to get us some baby samples.

My husband I looked at each other with panic, we forgot the diaper bag!  I was terrified to tell the doctor, I thought she had the power to say, “Oh, never mind, you’re not ready for this, we’ll take it from here.” 

I ended up confessing and sadly the only extra diaper they had on hand was a size 4 pink diaper.  After some careful folding, we managed to get the diaper on and a mile and a half later, we changed him into the appropriate size and color diaper and realized we had just survived our first parenting mistake.

Mistakes are a part of parenting. They are unavoidable, but they play a vital role.  None of us likes to admit to them, and in some way, we think we are the only ones who make them. 

I don’t know why moms put pressure on themselves, assuming that all the other moms have it together and couldn’t possibly be making the same mistakes.  My Mother’s Day gift to all of you is to share some of my less-than-stellar moments and hopefully a few laughs. 

• For years, every time we get in the car and the kids ask where we’re going, I’ve joked “furniture shopping.” This stems from being a kid and thinking that this was the most boring event in history. Well, guess who actually had to go furniture shopping this past weekend? I can’t imagine why my kids were less than enthusiastic.
• When my son was 2 he liked Star Wars (as much as a 2-year-old can).  On a trip to Washington, D.C. to see my sister, we went to a Star Wars exhibit at the Air and Space Museum. Darth Maul was there and I thought this would be a great photo opportunity. It was not. My son tried to climb over my husband’s head, screamed at the top of his lungs, and cried for the next half hour. 
• Don’t even get me started on the panic of, “Today was picture day at school?”
• We went to my parents' house, which is about 45 minutes away, for the sole purpose of playing in the snow and in the snow fort my dad had built. Once we arrived I realized that I had left the giant bag full of snow gear at our house. 
• I’m not sure this will qualify as a mistake, but one day we were stuck on the Mass Pike and both kids were miserable. One was sick of being in the car, one was hungry and the only thing my husband I did to soothe them and make them feel better was to start singing at the top of our lungs, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister. No doubt that will come back to haunt us someday.   

 I’m sure there are many more that I’m forgetting, but I really just wanted to tell all the moms out there that you’re not alone. I think there’s something freeing about sharing this with all of you and I invite you to do the same. 

Happy Mother’s Day to you all!