At What Point Do They Revoke My Mommy-Card?

Moms are tired, exhausted and constantly multi-tasking while trying to do their best in front of everyone.  Every day.  But sometimes we fail and we need to fess up and let other moms know that it’s ok to make mistakes…here’s my most recent failure.

Thursday nights are busy at our house…straight from work to daycare to home to swim lessons by 6:00.  The “home” part is always the tricky part.  I try to get out of work early enough to be able to sit the kids down at the table for a quick dinner before loading up for the pool.  However, that plan doesn’t always work.  Take tonight as an example.  I was cruising on time and then WHAM! the construction that normally ends by 4:30 was still going strong causing a one-lane closure near daycare causing a late momma.  As time ticked by I knew I was not going to get dinner at the table tonight.  However, I wasn’t angry because I was in my AC in the van while the fully clothed cop directed traffic while dripping sweat in the 100+ weather.

So, it suddenly became “treat” night as I turned into McD’s which is so conveniently located right next to daycare.  This happens probably twice a month…my kids getting McD’s…so I knew they would be thrilled with Happy Meals for dinner.  I ran into daycare, snatched them up, and headed home to get the swim bags.  We’ve done this before…they sit in the car in the garage and finish the Happy Meal while mom grabs the bags, grabs dinner for Henry and waits for dad to pull in.  No. Big. Deal.   Usually I keep the van door open and the door between house/garage open so I can hear/see from the kitchen since they love to bicker, etc..  I chose to keep the car doors shut today because the garage was sweltering and I wanted to keep them as cool as possible in the AC and they were as happy as could be chomping on their McD’s.

So I was gone all of 5 minutes and back I returned to find Stella in absolute hysterics.  And Charlotte grinning ear to ear. 

Conversation:

Me, the mommy – Stella, what is the matter?
Stella – Charlotte…fed…Henry…her…cheeseburger (through SOBS)!
Me – What?  (Thinking I heard wrong, but immediately looking from Charlotte to Henry who seems unphased – he sits next to her in the car.)
Stella – I was so, SO mad.  She fed him and I told her not to. (More sobs)
Charlotte (Big grin) – Henry want more…He like it!
Me – WHAT? (Thinking WTF? What have I done? Why did it never cross my mind she could do this?)
Me – Charlotte, WHAT did you feed him?
Charlotte – Some bun.  He hungry.

Yikes. Strike (insert some number larger than it should be) against mommy.  Lesson learned.  No more unattended kids in the car for 5 seconds let alone 5 minutes.  Thank you so much Grandma Dot and Grandma Virginia for being our guardian Angels today and watching over Henry while he had his first taste of McD’s. 

For the record…he did smile, so I’m guessing he was thinking “I’m lovin’ it!” in good ol’ McD’s fashion.