I had a bad mom moment this morning and it really made me feel a sense of sadness and disappointment in myself. I was up all night finishing a project for work after I put my son to bed. This late-night session caused me to miss the alarm and wake up 15 minutes before Romeo was supposed to arrive at school.
I ran into his room screaming “WAKE UP! HURRY UP AND BRUSH YOUR TEETH!”
Romeo looked so confused and just stared at me all while I continued to go full on Sargent and yell “LET’S GO! MOVE IT, ROMEO!”
He hopped out of the bed frantically and began scuffling while trying to reorient himself to the universe and stumbled in the bathroom to brush his teeth.
He was taking his time…time that I didn’t have!
I ran into the bathroom, brushed his teeth, washed him up, and threw his clothes on him. With about 7 minutes left until the tardy bell was scheduled to ring, I rushed him downstairs and grabbed him a pop tart for a quick breakfast.
“Here! Start eating this now and you can finish it in the car!” I said.
I went to put on my shoes and Romeo put the pop tart down and said “But Mom, you said we could have biscuits this morning…”
I turned around and in the meanest, coldest, loudest tone ever, I exclaimed, “NO! EAT THE POP TART AND GET IN THE CAR NOW!”
Those words seemed to have hit Romeo hard. Harder than any football tackle I’ve ever seen. He looked up at me with water in his eyes and my heart dropped. He was really looking forward to our “morning time” as we sit and joke with each other across the table while enjoying breakfast. I’d told him the night before that I was going to do something special for him and make his favorite… biscuits … but I failed him.
I could hear him sniffing in the back seat as we arrived at school exactly one minute before the bell. Before I could even get out of the car to help him out of his seat Romeo jumped out, shut the door, and headed into the school from the drop off location.
I just wanted to run into the school, embrace him, let him know that I love him, and tell him I’m sorry for not being my best self this morning.
When I arrived to pick him up later that afternoon, he ran to the car and gave me a big hug as if nothing happened! I had beat myself up about the awful morning ALL DAY and he forgot and was just as excited to see his Mama as ever…
Have you ever had one of these “bad mom moments”? They really hurt and they really cause us to be hard on ourselves. Although we all have bad days, I have listed a few strategies below that I plan on implementing so that I have better results when I run into this situation again.
Tactics to be Proactive
- Wake up early!
- Set several alarms especially if you have a late night to ensure that you are up and on time.
- Prep breakfast in advance or invest in easy quick meals
- I knew that I wanted to do breakfast for Romeo so I could have prepped everything the night before or on a Sunday afternoon. I also could have invested in quick warm-up meals that would take little to no time.
Tactics for When it’s Too Late
- Breathe!
- It’s not the end of the world if your child receives one tardy, or even two or three! Life happens and sometimes we need to deal with it in a healthy manner that doesn’t equate to us blowing up and getting frustrated. If I would have taken a deep breath this morning and decided to take my time all would still be well, tardy or not.
- Be honest & realistic with yourself!
- Why are you rushing? Is it your fault? Is it your child’s fault? Or is it just life? Will this be the end of the world if you do not make it out of the house in the next 5 minutes? Answer these questions truthfully and be kind to yourself as you reflect on the answers. Whatever the case may be, meditate on it, piece it apart, and think of a realistic solution to get through the rest of the morning.
As always, Be strong Mama! You got this!
Read more of Georgina’s contributions to allmomdoes here.
