What are Your Bad Mom Moments?

Posted on April 8, 2008
Filed Under kids |

 

 

Have you ever been a “bad Mommy?” Hey, we’re only human and God knows being a mom is a 24/7 job with no handbook and crap wages but does that give us an excuse to push the limits of our children’s well being and safety in order to cut corners?

 

Today I found an interesting article which talks about this very thing. From leaving your kids in the car while you and hubby eat dinner in a restaurant (I’m not freaking kidding!) to letting your kids sample raw cookie batter. The article talks about incidents of moms behaving badly.

 

OK, when I read this article I was completely appalled at the couple who let the kids sleep in the car while they ate dinner in the restaurant. Yeah, they could see the kids through the window but still! If you want a meal by yourself that badly hire a freaking babysitter you cheap asses.

 

On the other hand I nearly wet myself laughing at the cookie dough sampling. One of my biggest pet peeves is how parents these days treat their kids like they were born without skin or an immune system. Your kids will not die from scooping a little raw cookie dough so relax! Your kids also won’t die if they:

 

 

I instill good hygiene in my girls because I think it goes hand in hand with learning to take care of your body and respecting yourself. But I also know that I don’t force my kids to eat all those healthy fruits and veggies only to rely on germ killing soap to keep them alive and kicking. Think about it, people.

 

As for using the TV as a babysitter—yup, I’ve done that on occasion when I had a tight deadline and work just had to get done. I do it as rarely as possible but I’m not going to beat myself up over it because every parent does it once in a while and if you say you don’t you’re a liar.

 

So I guess the moral of the story is we all have our little “bad moments” and it just depends on where we draw the line between convenience and dangerous. I won’t leave my kids in a car while I go shopping and I won’t leave them in the house to run to the store if they need medicine (that’s what neighbors are for—try making some friends for God’s sake!). I will run to my neighbor’s door quickly to borrow something and leave the kids in the house alone. My girls are old enough that if I can’t leave them alone for the 15 seconds it takes me to make it to my neighbor’s door and back I might as well forgo showering and potty breaks for fear they’ll light themselves on fire during my absence.

 

So how about you? Where do you draw the line and what “shortcuts” do you allow yourself in order to maintain your sanity?

Comments

7 Responses to “What are Your Bad Mom Moments?”

  1. Dana - The Writer's Blog (3 comments.) on April 8th, 2008 11:01 pm

    Hi Cindy,
    I found you via your finding me on Twitter :)

    I found a bad mother’s online confessional at http://www.badmothersanonymous.com where I would consider posting something like letting my kid have ice cream when he didn’t eat his dinner first or allowing him to watch The Jungle Book three times in a row just because he let me and I needed to work but I totally hear you on responsible parenting.

    I have loosened my standards in a few areas with my younger child who plays a little more video games than he should (when my older child wasn’t allowed to play them at this age when Mommy worked outside the home) so Mommy can meet her deadlines but I still am very cautious about what he plays.

    I must say I’m both proud and embarrassed that he knew how to read the video game rating system at 3 because he won’t try to put on his dad’s video games because they’re T or M but embarrassed because he learned to identify the letter E from a video game instead of from me.

    Last week I saw a 6 year old kid in the front seat of the car alone at the grocery store parking lot. He should’ve a) been in a booster seat and b) in the back seat and c) SUPERVISED. I stayed there until I saw an adult get in the car which was only two minutes later but still…I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if that adult had gotten into the car with a lit cigarette. Some people!

    Dana - The Writer’s Blog’s last blog post..Favourite Writer Tools by Google

  2. Cindy on April 8th, 2008 11:28 pm

    Thanks for stopping by, Dana, and thanks for the link–definitely checking that out! :)

    I hear ya–I’ve learned not to sweat the small stuff and yes, when a deadline looms I’m more lenient with the TV time than I should be. I justify it by saying that in the summer my girls watch almost no television because they’re playing outside with their friends–so it evens itself out. Yeah, right ;)

    But I’m with you–some things hit my hot button and I won’t stand for it–like kids in vehicles with no car seat or seat belt. My hubby and I were stopped at a red light and I saw the car next to us had a toddler bouncing around in the back seat. I rolled down my window and yelled at the mom! LOL!

  3. Dana - The Writer's Blog (3 comments.) on April 9th, 2008 1:02 am

    Good for you for yelling @ the mom. I shoulda said something too. I planned to shoot him a dirty look but the guy smiled at me when we made eye contact and I chickened out. :(
    Dana - The Writer’s Blog’s last blog post..Favourite Writer Tools by Google

  4. Ellen Wilson (1 comments.) on April 15th, 2008 7:10 pm

    Hi Cindy,

    I just found you over at Deb Ng’s.

    I’m guilty of having my kids watch too much TV. LOL! Ah! The dirt thing! You know, it probably makes them heartier.

    Yeah, the comment luv thing is cool. Let us know if you found any other groovy plugins.

    Looking forward to reading your post at Deb’s. I really don’t have a clue what I will write. I’m kinda slow that way.

    Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..Ugly Duckling Blogger

  5. Cindy M (2 comments.) on April 15th, 2008 8:49 pm

    Hi Ellen & welcome!

    I think we’re all a little guilty of the “Too Much TV” thing once in a while–but I guess it’s better than Velcro-ing them to a wall :)

    Seriously though, when summer comes all they want is to be outside so that makes me feel better.

    I haven’t a clue what I’ll write at Deb’s FWJ either. Hopefully inspiration will find both of us :)
    Cindy M’s last blog post..Temporary Hair Color: Why Even the Color Shy Should Be Using it

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