by Aimee Carson
It’s the first Tuesday of the month and time for “You might feel like a bad mommy if…”
As always, I’ll go first.
You might feel like a bad mommy if, even though your children are too old for bed-time issues, you’re still powerless against your need for sleep. Because now it’s the pup that is up wandering the house in the wee hours of the morning—so you let the dog climb into your bed as a treat, just to catch a few more minutes of shut-eye.
You might feel like a bad mommy if you go to the parent-teacher conference at your son’s school and the lines are so loooooong that you skip talking to the teacher with the longest wait time.
Now it’s your turn. If you’ve had a bad mommy moment, or feel one coming on 
click at the number beside the title to share.
Well, I guess for today my moment would be telling my 4 yr old to basically get a grip when it was time to get his flu shot. In my defense (because I gotta have one) he was screaming before the nurse even entered the room, he cried more before the shot than afterwards……
Hi Optimistic Mom,
I have to admit I’m just like your son. I hate shots! Which leads me to my bad mommy moment:
You might feel like a bad mommy if…
…your daughter asks you to take her for a flu shot because she has a heavy class load this semester and can’t afford to be out sick. You say you will, and you intend to, really, but…you know if you take her to get a flu shot she’ll expect you to get one too, and you HATE SHOTS.
Wonder if I could get her brother to take her…or her dad…yeah, I bet both of them need flu shots…
Hysterical – tis the season. I think I already shared my boys terror at shots, and yes, they scream and cry WAY more before the shot than during and afterward. But they get it from their mom so I can’t say anyting either. The famous story in my family is it took 3 nurses to hold me down to get any of my shots. Three. Talk about humiliation for my poor mother. I’m just getting it back.
And my bad mommy moment is…
You may feel like a bad mommy if…
You order your doctor’s vitamins for the kids and find your insurance no longer covers it and they are astronomical. So you go spend a lot of money anyway on the over the counter Flintstones big jar with three different colors so there is no fighting. And then you give these vitamins to both children, who both begin to sputter and spit them out and make a huge drama out of the horrible flavor and refuse to eat them. And then said mommy starts screaming at them that if they don’t eat the frikkin expensive delicious Flintstone vitamins I can no longer return, mommy will take them to the doctor for PINCHES (shots). And then they both start to cry and I almost do too. Yep. Bad mommy.
Optimistic Mom – I remember those days
I know it was wrong, but I NEVER told my kids they were getting them ahead of time. In this case, forewarned is definitely forearmed – but in a bad way LOL
LOL, Regina. I can’t believe your daughter is ASKING FOR A FLU SHOT. How awesome!
Jen – you were STRONG as a kid. No shame in that!
And(hugs) vitamins are very expensive.
I played dumb with shots. “I have no idea what the doctor is going to do during your visit. But if you’re good, afterwards we’ll go for ice cream!”
As for my bad mommy moment: My dtr recevied some medical test results that were not good and I lost it. “Your body is killing itself from the inside out. You need to watch what you eat and lose weight or you’ll be on insulin for the rest of your life. Is that what you want?”
I still fell terrible. I texted her later to apologize and tell her I’m sorry but even though she’s 20 I still worry about her and want what’s best for her.
Honestly, what type of mother tells her dtr her body is killing itself from the inside out?
I hear you. What if you listen to your toddler in his bed in the morning, complaining that he’s cold and you think he’s just confusing adjectives? But, then, when you go in to get him, you discover he has a raging fever….
((hugs)) Wendy. A mother that loves her daughter, that’s who!
Natalie-yep. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve made a similar mistake!
I feel like a bad mommy when it’s getting close to 6:00 pm and I don’t feel like making dinner & tell the kids they can have whatever they want, even if dinner is a Pop Tart & a Gogurt.
Lol, Cathy, I’ve been guilty of that one way too often.
Welcome, Cathy!
It’s important to find the good in food! Pop Tarts and Gogurts are much better than empty calorie options like cookies and pretzels or letting your children go hungry! So…good job!
Wendy is completely right on this subject. I feel so much better now. You just need to look for the nutritional value in these odd type of meals. And thank God other moms do it because that saves my butt. I HATE making dinner most time. I want to cook for fun or cook food I know everyone will eat, which is sooooo hard to do!
The way my boys got over shots? They saw me get them and I had to not cry! I hate shots but is seems like my job requires them more and more.
Jennifer and Cathy, I hate making dinner. I’m going to try 30 day meal planning. My friends tell me it takes the blah and extra work out of dinner. I hope it works.
Wendy, I would’ve said the same thing to my child. Sometimes they need a little ‘tough love’ when it comes to health care.
Aimee, I’m with you on the lines for teachers one. And I feel like some parents aren’t discussing relevant issues. Oh, well.
Okay, here’s mine: You know you’re a bad mommy when your son is having horrible stomach pain at 3am for about the 15th time in a month. You know he needs to go to the ER and the first concern out of your mouth is: “Okay, who’s going to miss work?” Or “Am I going to lose my job if I stay home?”
Abbi
Did I mention how much I hate doing laundry? Can we have a post for: You’re a bad mommy if . . . you’re so frustrated with the amount of laundry you don’t match socks anymore. You just put them in the drawer and let them find their mates on their own.
Boy, am I familiar with that one. When I was in residency, my husband and I lived halfway between our two jobs, which meant when my daughter needed picking up from daycare early it was a huge hairy deal. If she was sick, it was even worse.
Hugs, Abbi. Hope your son is better soon!!
Cathy – LONG LIVE THE POP TARTS!!
Hi Abbi!
I do laundry most days. I fold it and sort it and deliver it to each child’s room – where it remains on the floor to be stepped on and crumpled and never put in a drawer unless I yell. Loud. GRRRR.
My children smuggled cookies AND brownies off the counter at 5pm the other night.
So I fed them carrots for dinner.
Counterbalance, right?
4 out of the 6 kids in my house this week need school uniforms tomorrow. I need to dry and iron them but all I actually want to do when baby sleeps is write!!
I’m sick, surely I should choose something to do for fun?!
From the English bad mommy x
Hi Not Supermom! And Welcome!
I am all about the counterbalance! It all evens out in end!
Hi Catherine!
Great to ‘see’ you here again! I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. I bet you ironed those school uniforms, didn’t you?
You are a super mommy! To so many children who are lucky to have you – with or without wrinkley school uniforms!