How {NOT} to be the Perfect Mom Giveaway with Jill Savage
What is your most imperfect mom moment?
Have you ever nearly clipped the end of your newborn’s fingertip off while trying to trim her fingernails, drawing blood and causing her to scream in pain?
Have you ever told your pre-schooler, while they were riding round and round on a fast-twirling merry-go-round, to “Jump!” into your arms so you could catch her {but failed to anticipate that when she jumped at the command,the momentum of the twirling would actually send her soaring waaaaay past you and onto a cement patio where she would get two terribly scraped knees and a a sprain left arm?}
Or how about this one, ever bake homemade bread from scratch for company, only to leave out the yeast and then wonder why it never rose in the pan and looked like a big sunken mess?
Has a vice-principal ever had your number on speed dial due to the antics and pranks of your middle-schooler?
Did you yell at your child for something that was an accident because you were actually upset about an issue with a friend but took your anger out on them instead?
Have you neglected praying for your child because you were just plain too busy?
Have you looked around at a mom who has seemingly perfectly obedient children and thought to yourself, “As a mother, I’m a failure. And my kids aren’t far behind.”
Well….. I can answer a hearty “Yes” to ALL of the above happening at our house. The truth is, there are no perfect moms. Just women who play them on TV {and some who play them in real life!}.
My perfectly imperfect friend Jill Savage, founder of Hearts at Home, has written a wonderful book for all of us in the “Messed Up Moms Club” and she is giving away two copies of it here today.
And if you can get your sweet self to Rochester, MN the weekend of November 8-9, you can hang out with Jill and me, along with our two imperfect friends, comedian Anita Rentfroe and author and actress Candace Cameron Bure.
The Hearts at Home North Central Conference registration closes October 23 so make plans now to join us!!! Click here for more info.
And if you’d like to be entered to win one of Jill’s books, leave us an “imperfect mommy moment” that YOU have experienced. Winners announced Monday.
My youngest daughter just had the wires from her hip osteotomy removed yesterday and all the nurses and doctors encourage me that I am doing a great job but someone near us is so critical I feel like I am constantly doing it wrong. Even like giving her water only to be asked if juice would not be better. So tired.
a couple of quick ones…
many years ago, waiting until the next day to take my three year old to the doctor to get his arm (yes severely broken) set…ok, I DIDN’T KNOW. should have bought the xray machine then, as we are best friends with the folks at Ortho on Call…
recently my ever-patient son put on a soaking wet uniform for his football game…well at least I got it washed, just not dried…as I carefully explained to him, it will dry really fast on your body…
I left my daughter at school one time. After school was over.
Normally she would ride the bus home, but when I worked part time on Mondays her grandmother would pick her up as a car rider. That particular day my office was closed for some reason, so i was home and expected her to get off the bus as usual. Problem was – I had forgotten to tell her this! She was still sitting at the school waiting to be picked up!
We live in a rural area and she rode second route, so I didn’t realize what had happened for about 45 minutes after school let out.
Having poop run out of my daughter when she was a few weeks ago through the car seat which was sitting on the table at a restaurant. First embarrassing mama moment!
Dear Karen,
With four kids, every day I have a not so perfect mom day. We have a mine(16 yr old daughter), his(15 yr old daughter & 13 yr old son and ours(9 yr old daughter). Having a blended family is a struggle but we somehow with the grace of God make it work.
I have clipped nails way too close, given my daughter an absolutely horrible haircut, and for Christmas one year I baked my traditional red velvet cake. It was beautiful but I left the sugar out so it was red velvet bread. Not delicious. At least it wasn’t as bad as the time my mother-in-law accidentally put salt into her apple pie instead of sugar. That one led to one of the funniest photos ever when my husband, then a teen, cut a piece for a friend who took a huge bite.
My imperfect mommy moment-
I am expecting my fourth child any day now and these last few weeks I have been totally out of energy. Needless to say, family video and netflix have been helpful along with mac n cheese or pizza for dinner, at least it’s organic but still I am trying not to beat myself up.
I was fastidious about safety…that is until my husband and I took my 9-month old son for a walk in the small fold-up stroller. I put him in the stroller, and we went on our merry way. I decided it would be fun for Jacob to run really fast and then stop quickly. So I did. And he flew right out of the stroller, hitting his head on the concreate sidewalk. As I stood there, afraid for my son and being berated by my husband as he consoled Jacob, I could not for the life of me figure out why I had forgotten to strap him in! He is 19 now and doing very well. But I will never forget that moment.
Lifted my daughter (first born) up in the living room to smell her butt to see if she had a dirty diaper. Hit her head on the ceiling fan blade. Fortunately it wasn’t running- only gas!! And we wonder why she is so goofy to this day.
I loved seeing you and Jill Savage in Bloomington last spring! I was so blessed and encouraged by all of the messages. My most recent imperfect mommy moment happened while helping my daughter with her homework. Math is not taught the same way as I learned!
Oh goodness there are so many and I don’t know where to start. I have lost my temper many times do to other outside factors, I haven’t forgotten them on early pick up days, I have forgotten sunscreen on a scorching hot Florida day and they got burnt; the list could go on and on
Oh so many to chose from – my sweet son John who lives with Autism is the never ending recipient of my Mommy blunders (and wonders). One of the funniest is the rainy day we (my husband and I) were gearing him up for school – he was in kindergarten then (he is ten now – wow) and struggled with many sensory issues – shoes and pants being two of the biggest so after I wrestled him into the long jeans with the button and zip waistband (something we wholeheartedly avoid now) my sweet husband offered to help me get him to the waiting bus quickly — he scooped him up, I grabbed his backpack and off to school he went — Only after his Teacher called an hour later and much searching on her part did we realize that we had sent him to school with NO shoes (we each thought the other had grabbed them) – HA. John was thrilled — of course, I was horrified & headed to school with shoes and it is still a running joke between his fabulous teachers and me! :)
I was brushing my teeth one night and my newborn started fussing. My 12 mo was sleeping and my husband was at school so I felt very alone. I picked her up, pulling her right up to my face and jammed the pointy end of the toothbrush into her eye. Oh the crying that caused!!!!!! Sadly, it resulted in a huge corneal abrasion and more than a few tears for both of us!
Too many imperfect mom moments :( I totally feel like i fail at this whole mom thing :(
Telling my kids to wait and be patient and then i turn around and act out inpatiently towards them.
Telling them to be careful with the door and then i bonk them in the head with the door :( oh so many more!
I can so relate, hang in there!
There are too many to mention, but one of the worst ones I remember was laying my 3-month old on the table for a second (she wasn’t rolling or even attempting to at the time). I turned my back and she latched her foot onto the end of the table and flung her helpless-self onto the ground face first. She could hardly even hold her head up yet, so the fall was quite a thud! There have been many other mis-steps – the time she stripped completely naked in the play place at Chick-Fil-A and I had to climb up in there to get her out of the window where the whole restaurant could see her. The time I left baby powder in the kids’ room and she emptied the entire bottle. On her brother. The time I lost her while doing a service project at a friends house when she was 2. She was about a block and a half down the road playing with a neighbors dog. And those are only stories of my firstborn… It’s been eventful at our household!
I hope it doesn’t make me a bad person to feel so relieved that someone else has had a kid strip down in a fast food play place!
I can relate to so many of these! The baby slid off my lap, I tripped with the baby while going up the stairs and watched her roll across the floor, thankfully unhurt! When my son was 13, he and I got out of the van on opposite sides and I hit the button to lock the doors. I walked around to see what was taking him so long only to discover his finger was caught in the door and he couldn’t get it open since I had already locked it! Ouch! Not to mention yelling at the children in anger because they aren’t handling their anger right. Or taking that same son to a therapist to learn how to control his anger and feeling totally responsible (the therapist didn’t say so though).
Oh goodness… The list is long… Snipping my daughters fingertip when cutting her nails for the first time. Getting soap in my baby’s eyes when giving her her first real bath. Throwing toys in my girls room and then getting angry when my daughter expressed her anger by throwing a toy. And on and on. Blessed to know I’m not alone in parenting blunders.
I have several moments! I remember when boys and I were in a grocery store, I would constantly tell them, “Do not touch it! You will break it!” Then few minutes I found myself breaking a bowl there!!! Boys looked at me with the look, “Now who is talking?” I actually cursed at them and said it was their fault! But a moment later with a profound apology, forgiveness, grace, and mercy just fell from their mouths. :)
My heart goes out to all the other imperfect moms! Why do we have all this pressure to do it so “perfectly”??
Ah, just yesterday I spanked my toddler for getting out of bed when he came to tell me he pooped. I’ve been late more times than I can count for picking up a child. I’ve forgotten papers for school, lunches, and even a child once (or twice) at school.
A shout out to all the other moms who are doing your best out there. Keep up the progress! Thank God for our savior who fills in the spaces!
When my oldest daughter was about three went missing in our back yard. We had moved to Florida not too long before.and our neighbor hood was one that was in between the good neighbor hood and the bad one with a lot of junk happening. our back yard was feneced in, went out to check on her and couldn’t find her anywhere. I was yelling and Yelling for her and no answer, I felt horrible was praying and crying. Finally a young girl a cpl yards down said I saw a little girl go into the laundry room a while ago. She was hiding in between the washer and dryer. She thought it was funny, NOt Me so much! And like alot of other people more things then I could record. God bless us all, and remeber to cover them in Jesus Name at all times no matter how old they are.
I’ve lost my temper too many times at one of my kids, when I was actually upset with someone else (or just really super tired from being up all night with the baby!)
I rarely “make” breakfast in the morning. Breakfast usually consists of me tossing a cereal bar or pop tart into the car with a sippy cup of milk.
One morning, in the not too distant past, I didn’t remember to “make/toss” anything into the car. We were running late and there was no time for my trusty, yet yuckie, standby of the McD drive thru.
My four year old daughter quickly solved the dilemma by locating a baggie of weeks old Starburst candy tucked between the already gooey seats from a recent evening watching her brother’s basketball game.
“I could just eat some of this,” she suggested.
“Quick!” I insisted, “but only a few!”
As we pulled into car line at preschool I was mortified as I peeked once again into the rearview mirror to find once tiny and rosy cheeks filled to overflowing with the candy. She was sucking back the drool of pure sugar slime as I frantically dove into the glove box to retrieve some saved McD napkins.
“Spit it out, honey! Spit it all out!” I shouted. “Hurry, hurry!!” (before someone notices that I’ve singlehandedly derailed your entire future in this one “what was she thinking” imperfect mommy moment).
In the matter of mere seconds I had managed to perform the diving, twisting, cleanup acrobatics that would make a Cirque de Sole performer with an affinity for tidiness blush.
Phew! Crisis averted. No one would ever know that moments ago I had almost sent my dear daughter into a sugar coma.
“Good Morning!” beamed the teacher as she opened the car door to retrieve my darling, yet undernourished child.
“Good Morning!” my daughter echoed leaping from her car seat (that I’m not 100% confident is installed correctly).
“Look what I got for breakfast,” she exclaimed opening her tiny had to reveal nearly a bazillion pieces of Starburst wrapper paper that quickly took to the wind spreading colorfully across the pavement.
The teacher and I exchanged a glance. I read in her eyes what looked to be pity meshed with a smattering of disbelief as she closed the door.
I couldn’t get out of that parking lot fast enough. While part of me knew I should pull over the car and try to retrieve the colorful litter I maneuvered the cones and surrounding minivans with professional driving precision.
For weeks after “the incident” I prepared Julia Child-esque breakfasts complete with scrambled eggs and toast hoping that my daughter – my four year old daughter – would think to mention that, “she’s not normally so scattered. As a matter of fact just this morning I was enjoying a lovely free range quiche with fresh squeezed organic OJ when she brought over the latest Turtle magazine to help begin my early reading.”
Although the morning cooking was short lived I still catch a glimpse of one of those colorful wrapper papers tucked tauntingly under a bush at the preschool from time to time….
Love love love!
There are so many it’s hard to think of just one. Just this week my 6 year old son has gotten upset because I can’t go on his field trip. I’ve had moments where I’ve screamed then later had to apologize. Glad God’s mercies are new every morning.
my son had colic as a baby, so screaming was a natural, normal, everyday, all-day occurrence. There was a time when around 1 year, he was going on a few hours and I thought he must be having one of these really bad days. The next day he did the same thing around bed time and I ignored it assuming colic had reared its ugly head again. By the third day I had tried everything, so we got in to the doctor. It turned out he had a double ear infection and was strep positive. Needless to say, I felt like mom of the year that day. He was fine after antibiotics and a few days of pain management.
More recently, both of my sons were screaming at each other (for fun, but I didn’t know that) so after a few of those screams, I just let loose on both of them (because I was having a day of rejection and hurt from my friends) screaming and yelling like a mad-woman. I saw the looks of abject FEAR on their faces and broke down. It took a while to get out of them that their screaming was all a game with each other because they were afraid to tell me for a few hours. i felt like such a failure!
I only realize now that every mom has had those days – it takes so long for anyone to admit they have had a mom-ent like that! So glad you are ending the cycle here! :)
How many did you say we need to share? Oh, see mine are too many to enumerate :) It seems too often like everyday. At times you improve on one area and then tend to neglect or fail in a different area. I did cut one of my kids’ nails too short when he was still a baby then there are unglued moments that make me vent on them poor kiddos… shame on me momma. :( and I do look at other moms who seem to have their half a dozen kids in control when I only have three who seem to be out of control at times. However, I’m an imperfect mom indeed who is still under construction… so God still has a lot of molding to do with me. Your book give away would be very helpful… THANK YOU in advance!!!