It’s my favorite time of the month : You Might Feel Like A Bad Mommy If…Tuesday! Guilt, of course, is the name of the game. I’ll go first 
You might feel like a bad mommy if your I’m-too-old-for-hugs-and-kisses teenage son goes for minor surgery, and, while you hate to see him feeling sick from the anesthesia, you’re secretly pleased he’s now happy to receive your healing forehead kisses!
You might feel like a bad mommy if your daughter has been complaining about feeling bad for two days, and when you spot her rash via Skype (you’re away from home working), you finally realize she’s having a reaction to her antibiotics!
Please share some of your bad mommy moments, or maybe just send me a hug so I’ll feel better! Hit the number at the top of the post to leave a comment.
Aimee
You might feel like a bad mommy if…
you’ve only had 3 hours sleep the previous night because of your kid’s sleepover party (yep, I stay up all night and stand guard – I allow all kinds of nonsense – but no dangerous stuff) and you’ve just lain down to take a nap when your daughter comes in wanting to have a “scratch my back and girl talk” session. You refuse to scratch her back (bad mommy!) because you’re just too darn tired. But you do listen to her talk about all her friends and the the boys she likes and school and everything for 3 plus hours.
Big hugs going out to you Aimee! I’d feel secretly happy too if I got to manhandle my son with affection when I never get the chance.
Here’s mine: Your children are hysterical over going to the doctor to get shots so you lie to get them in the car and say “Absolutely no shots for this visit” and of course, the younger one needs one, screams hysterically, the older one runs out of the office and out the door in terror he will be next, and all you see is your son’s accusing wet gaze and his voice that said “Mommy you promised no shots!” Then all the children in the waiting room start screaming and crying because your kids set the example for the whole day.
3 hours is a loooong time, Regina! And I am NOT a fan of sleepovers. Invariably I never get any sleep!
Yep, I listened for three hours and tried to commiserate, congratulate, and laugh in all the right places. And I kept my eyes open which was heroic considering how tired I was. But I admit I felt like a bad mommy because all while she was sharing her world (which normally I would love)I was really wishing she’d just go away and let me sleep.
Oooh, been there, done that, Jen! ‘Course, I always used the “we’ll have to wait and see” reply to the shot question.
HUGE HUGS to you! I’m in the same boat….You might be a bad mommy if:
Your 9yo daughter calls home from the school office saying you need to pick her up because she fell off the monkey bars and hurt her arm. My first reaction was “WHY DIDN’T YOU GET ON THE SCHOOL BUS?” I go get her, bring her home, tell her she will be fine. 3 days later, another kid grabs that same arm from behind and my daughter bursts into tears. I finally take her to the doctor to find out she has a hairline fracture and needs a cast. Ooops. My bad.
Oh, no, Aimee! TBH, I’ve done that. And it feels doubly horrible when you work in health care. Hugs to you.
Regina, I would’ve done the same thing. Sleep overs mean no sleep for parents.
Jennifer, even though I’m a nurse, I can never remember who’s due for what shot. So, I . . . bribe them. Yes, bad mommy.
My bad mommy moment is hearing my 9 yo repeat Rod Stewart’s song “Do You Think I’m Sexy” word for word because I guess I just might play it too much in the car.
Abbi
I’ll take that hug, Jenheffer! And yes, I would have had a similar first thought. My daughter walked around for 24 hrs with a swollen elbow before my mom convinced me to get an x-ray. Yep, broken! But my brother crawled around on the floor for THREE days before my parents got his fractured foot diagnosed. Perhaps we shouldn’t feel too bad
Abbi – YES, those of us that work in health care should know better. Then again, we also know when to truly panic, and maybe that’s the REAL problem, eh? F for fracture is a long way down the list from the ABCs of Airway, Breathing, and Circulation, LOL.
And you know what? There are worse songs your son could be singing
Hi Aimee!
I had the same issue with an allergic reaction. My dtr came into my room in the early morning hours complaining she was itchy. I let her crawl into my bed then kicked her out because she was all squirmy. When I woke up the next morning – in full daylight – I found her covered head to toe in a bright red rash. Penicillin allergy. That could have been bad.
And Jennheffer….that happened to my other daughter after she fell off her bike. (And I’m a nurse!) I waited until the next day to take her to the doctor. And when he reviewed the x-rays and confirmed the fracture my daughter said, “I told her it was broken but she wouldn’t listen.”
Hey, Wendy! I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out. I love the way your daughter knew JUST what to say to make you feel worse, LOL!
Big hugs to you, Aimee! No moments to share – yet, she’s only 3! – but I do sometimes wonder if I’m creating a monster because she already knows all the words to the really addictive 80s songs, and she loves to sing along with Katy Perry’s Firework…I can only imagine the music I’ll be subjected to during her teen years.
I’ll take the hug, Kristi! It’ll be your turn soon enough. And I really like Katy Perry’s Firework, though I like Lea Michele’s version better.
OK, you might be a bad mommy if: Your kids are itching their heads like – well, like they have lice. But you’ve checked their heads and can see no little white bugs. You go back to thinking it’s flea bites as you were a bad mommy and forgot to get the cats flea medicine. You see a bug on one of their heads (I told you this was bad!) and since it looks just like a flea – you think, Aha! – it is that 1 brown flea. Then you get some Twitter advice and realize you are a Bad Mommy because you assumed lice (which you had never seen before) – were white. They’re not, they’re brown.
I get the Bad Mommy award cause that was a Baaaaad one.
Ado – Hugs! I HATE lice. When my daughter was little and in daycare she got them a couple of times and getting rid of the little suckers was a HUGE pain! I can’t of anything I’d rather not do than pick nits out a child’s hair. And it took me a while to figure it out, as well.
I think all moms have those guilt moments. This reminds me last winter I insisted on taking my son to school because I thought he was fine…..despite his complaints. Sure enough as soon as we entered the building he vomited in the lobby and ruined the rug in the hall. One of my proudest mom moments…..I should get an Oscar. lol
Optimistic Mom, Lol! I think handing out trophies is an awesome idea, though I’m not sure I have the shelf space to hold them all . . .
You might feel like a bad mommy if you leave your daughter in the crib just a bit longer to get things done, and when you go in you find out she’s been sitting in a poopy diaper and now has a rash. Oops! Sorry, little one…