you know how we all like to say, "nobody's perfect" and "everybody makes mistakes"? (i'm hearing the hannah montana song in my head now) it seems easier to apply that standard to ourselves than to others and their mistakes, doesn't it?i've had an abundance of screw ups in my life and i generally accept them as lessons learned and not to be repeated.
like the time i went out of town for the weekend. brooke and i were at a rest area for a quick piddle when she looked quizzically at my feet and said, "mommy, one of your shoes is brown and the other one is black." she was right. and i learned not to get dressed in the dark, particularly when going out of town with no extra shoes. no more punky brewster moments for me.
or the time when the wee one was still a baby sitting in a car seat. i took her seat (with her in it) out of the car, set it on the garage floor, picked up the various bags and whatnot that every mom carries around and then closed the car door. except that it didn't close. because i'd set brooke's seat too close to the car door and the bottom of the door banged into her forehead. causing screaming and a bruise. thank goodness she was too little to talk because i wouldn't have been thrilled with her telling people, in response to the question of the bruise's origin, that "mommy hit my head with the car door."
and speaking of accidents involving children who COULD speak, i have another shame filled secret. one that still twists my guts when it comes to mind. when i was 19, i was hired to be a nanny. i'd done loads of babysitting for many different families and i felt that i was ready and capable of caring for 3 sweet little children full time. on my first day there, mom left the house, leaving me to care for her littles. we were playing and having a good time. the kids were crawling around all over me, poking, prodding, asking inappropriate questions, giggling. a good time was being had by all until the 4 year old girl stuck her finger into my open mouth & then yanked it out quickly. i was surprised by the oral invasion, but she thought it was funny and did it again, then laughed when i pretended like i was going to bite her, so we kept playing this game over and over. until one time when she didn't yank her finger out. and i bit her. and drew blood. oh my gosh. i thought my first day was also going to be my last day. i doctored up her little finger, complete with hellokitty bandaid, and prayed that she wouldn't tell her mom that i'd bitten her.
she did, but thankfully that mom was wise enough to know that even good nannies make mistakes, especially when they're only 19 and wearing outfits of all denim.care to share one of your more memorable mistakes?
Awesome post as always. Fortunately I've never heard that Hannah Montana song so I can't get it stuck in my head haha. Mistakes do happen but it's still pretty sad how some mistakes can't be fixed. Most of mine involve saying or doing something extremely nasty and heartless without thinking and ruining some great relationships and friendships I had. Maybe they're not mistakes and just me being an ass, it's probably more likely to be the latter!
ReplyDeleteOne day, I put my sweatshirt on backwards. I didn't go anywhere, but I walked around all day and no one noticed. I finally did, but how could it take me all day? And I guess that shows how much attention my family pays to my appearance. I did put it on in the dark.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, at my age memory loss takes away the shame of remembered errors!
ReplyDelete#1: Burned down seven acres of the town's forest. Famous last words, "Let's burn all evidence we were ever here."
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why neither one of never thought to have water around.
#2: Mrs. Penwasser I. 'Nuff said.
#3: One white sock, one black sock.
#4: "Why can't I swim naked?" On a Sunday afternoon. At a mobile home swimming pool. Following an especially memorable Mimosa breakfast at the Orange Park, Florida Holiday Inn.
#5: Probably shouldn't have punched that Seabee in the face that night.
#6: Did I mention Mrs. Penwasser I?
I wore a pair of pants backwards to work, and didn't notice until I WENT HOME FOR THE DAY! Nice that none of my friendly coworkers gave me the heads up.
ReplyDeleteAnd we've ALL caused unnecessary bruises on our children and lied our faces off when asked. It happens. We feel guilty. No need to make others think we're terrible parents too.
Cause we're not!
ugh...I accidentally closed Jack's fingers in the power window of the car on the way home from nursery school once. That's so horrible I can still hardly think about it for longer than a second. Luckily his fingers were okay. Shudder...
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun post Sherilin and I may "borrow" the idea (with props to you of course :)). Many of my memorable mistakes are funny, but I wasn't laughing a few months ago when I got home and realized I had put Sasha in her car seat and then forgotten to buckle her up for the 30 minute drive home. I just try not to think about what could have happened if we'd been in an accident.
ReplyDeleteI used to baby sit a lot of kids when I was growing up and one time I baby sat for this little boy and I wouldn't let him do a few things that I knew he was not allowed to do and he ended up telling his parents all kind of crazy stories about me and even said I hit him. Luckily, one of my friends was helping me baby sit so I had a witness that nothing happened, but I quit watching kids after that whole debacle.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we ALL have many stories to share. No one is perfect, ain't that the truth.
ReplyDeleteOne time, I was visiting a friend and for SOME reason my engine car caught in fire.
Me and all the kids jumped out of the car.
whoops, except my baby still in his car seat.
One of my other kids said "MOM, Trent is still in the car"
holy crap.......yes I got hiim out and it wasn't THAT big of a fire after all
but I felt so bad.
I had my son in his bouncy seat on top of the dining room table and he bounced it so hard that he bounced right off the table. It was horrible. No injuries were sustained, except mommy guilt and a lot of crying.
ReplyDeleteDiuring one of my earliest babysitting jobs, I put the kids in the bathtub and went downstairs to watch TV.
ReplyDeleteAbout a half hour later, the kids started calling me. I ran into the bathroom, only to realize that I never shut off the water and the whole bathroom was flooded.
The kids were fine but there was quite a bit of water damage. The water had gone through the floor was dripping from the downstairs ceiling onto the kitchen floor.
You would think my babysitting job would have ended that night but instead I was stuck babysitting for them all summer...for free.
A memorable kid mistake, that I often try to forget but will always be reminded of: My daughter Kara was on a scooter, scooting around the neighborhood with her friend and fell. She cried a lot, said her wrists hurt. I gave her some ice, told her she was fine -- there was no blood, no bruise, no swelling... in my defense Kara was a HUGE drama queen and would cry hysterically over the tiniest booboo. Anyway, after I sent her to school the next day, she was still complaining and the school nurse called me saying maybe we should check it out. I chuckled it off, mentioned her drama queen-ness and didn't take her out of school. Later that night though, she was still complaining so I decided to take her to Urgent Care - just so they would tell her she was perfectly fine. Assuming that once they told her she was alright she'd get over it. Unfortunately, after X-rays, the doctor came in and told me that she had TWO broken wrists - a hairline fracture and a stress fracture. Worst Mom ever. I have never felt worse as a parent!! Years and years later I still hear about it (jokingly)!!
ReplyDelete