Have you ever had one of those less than stellar mommy moments? You know, the one when you blurt something out that you instantly think “crap, I can’t believe I just said that!” For instance, there was the time I was driving and the kids were in the backseat bickering, arguing and complaining about each other. This constant noise had gone on for several minutes, long enough that I lost it. In a weak moment I yelled back at them “Stop your bitching!” The noise stopped and then my, at the time 6 year old, starts crying. I ask “What?! What is it??” He replies in a sob “You called me a bitch!” This was one of those instances I wish I had stopped and thought before I spoke.
There was also a time when my boys were giving me fits, back talking, fighting with each other, rough housing and so on. I felt as if I had exhausted all attempts at trying to manage these ‘wanna be men’, so I came up with a plan to scare the orneriness out of them. I explained to them that when little boys were unruly and disrespectful, sometimes their parents would send them to a boys’ home, like pre-prison if you will. I made up an elaborate story that a man named Larry, who was the “home coordinator”, was going pay them a visit if they didn’t straighten up. I even went as far as receiving fake calls from “Larry.” It worked for a while, until it backfired in a big way. During this time our church was going through a transitional period, trying to find a new Pastor. When we finally found a new permanent Pastor his name just happened to be Larry. I’m sure you can imagine my boys’ surprise when they went to church to meet our new Pastor on his first Sunday. Let’s just say they flipped out – and that is putting it mildly. In that moment I started rethinking my little white lie about Larry and I felt bad for our new Pastor, because my boys were terrified of him.
I remember when I was a child, my mom had her ‘weak’ mom moments. The most memorable one was when in a fit of frustration and rage she threw herself on the living room floor and started screaming. Now, you may be thinking I just come from a long line of crazy. Heck, maybe I do, but I have a feeling all moms have a little bit of crazy in them. Especially when the weight of the world lies on our shoulders. Moms don’t get sick days, vacation days, or personal days. We aren’t allowed to pout, go on strike or demand better work conditions. We have to suck it up, deal with it, take showers occasionally, and eat cold meals. There are times we just can’t help but let the weakness take over and take control, but we wouldn’t change our role as a mom for the world. So the next time you find yourself right smack dab in the middle of a weak mommy moment, take a breath and remember tomorrow is a new day, and the one thing we moms do get are do- overs. Every morning we wake up to a new day of grace, forgiveness, and a big dose of love. Everyday we get a chance to be better.
What was one of your less than stellar mom moments that you wish you could take back?
