9.27.2007

Superstar Parents!

I was talking to my sister-in-law the other day and she was saying that she feels like blogs usually end up feeling like a big showcase for parents to brag about how wonderful they are by showing all the great things they do with and for their kids.

Just to contradict that theory, I wanted to tell you about mine and Jeramy's parenting week, last week. Let's start with me. In the course of five days, while under my care, Finn had three little mishaps. Number one - he rolled off the bed. Well, he actually launched himself forward and slid down, landing on his feet then pouncing forward ending up on his hands and knees. I do have a good defense to that one, which I won't bore you with. Number two - he fell down three stairs before I caught him. No defense at all! Number three - he somehow pulled the baby monitor out of the plug and put the cord in his mouth giving him a little zap. No defense - I was three feet away from him the entire time. (I made Jeramy stick it in his mouth and he said the current wasn't very strong)

Now, Jeramy's bad parenting moment. He only has one, which almost shouldn't count since he stuck a cord with a live current in his mouth to make sure his baby didn't fry his little brain!. We were at Nordstrom Rack last week getting Jeramy a few new clothes. We had gone out to dinner with the kids and Ella had behaved horrible. Then we had a few other errands we had run, so by the time we were at the Rack she had really worn Jeramy down. She went with him into the dressing room and was crawling under all the stalls and was completely ignoring anything he said. They came out of the dressing room to show me some clothes and Ella started tormenting Finn, who was already having a meltdown. It was too much for Jeramy and he let a naughty word slip (very quietly, I didn't even hear). No sooner was it out of Jeramy's mouth, Ella let out a big gasp and as loud as she could says "Mom, daddy said @#&$!" So completely mortifying!

So there you have it! No superstar parents here. As you can see we have moments when we are the worst parents. Such as yesterday when we had a crazy-busy day (school, soccer, ballet, pictures, young womens, playdate - husband in London) and Ella had two fast food meals and for a bed time snack - an hour past her bedtime - a pink iced cookie and a mini chocolate donut. Not my finest or proudest parenting moments, but you know, they happen so why pretend otherwise! Being a parent to little kids, I'm learning you just can't take things too seriously. There's actually a lot of humor and fun to be found amidst the chaos!

Now, partially to make me feel better, partially for pure entertainment and humor - I want some bad parenting stories! Post a comment with your best ones and we can all bond via our bad parent confessions.

5 comments:

The Kerr Family said...

Eric and I always say that we're winning the "Parent of the Year" award on the days when their meals are a little less than stellar--we've had donuts and cookies a few too many times.
Recently Miles has been heard around the house saying, "What the hell? Where's my ...(insert lost item here)" Oh, yeah, we couldn't be more proud. And unfortuntely in almost nine years of marriage that's not something I've ever heard Eric say.

Laura Lee said...

Life is just to short not to capture the greatest moments of our kids. Megan and Emily are now in 2nd grade - growing mature little girls. I wish I had a blog about them from the time they were born - it makes my heart ache to look at little toddler pictures and know I will never get those years back. Since I did not keep good record of all the cute things they said and did. Our family blog really keeps me going in the journal and history department. I also love reading others. I feel like I know your cute family and otherwise would have no clue about. I don't think there will ever be a perfect parent - I'm scared to think about what the girls will say about Sean and I after they are grown adults!!! But we can always work towards being that perfect parent.

Jeff and Katy said...

No stories here (of course), but I loved hearing yours! The prospect of having kids and having to live up to my sisters (that includes those of the "in-law" variety) is somewhat daunting! It's good to know that at least occasionally your kids get the chance to eat like Aunt Katy does far too frequently.

Yum, iced cookies and donuts...

:)

mkimble said...

We have many superstar parenting moments in our house but my most memorable one was walking into the kitchen and finding our then 16 month old holding a HUGE knife. Not the little steak knife, but the more of the butcher variety. Thank goodness our day did not include a trip to the ER. We just don't realize how fast the grow...or how far they can reach.

Marilee said...

Tam, I know that you know that there isn't room enough in the comment section for me to share with you my bad parenting moments! As a brief, I'll fill you in more later, here are just a few...when Spencer was a baby (crawling age), I had a Salt City Candle burning in his room on the corner of the futon. Forgetting all about it I left him playing on the floor to go get something from the other room. Spencer crawled over, and pulled the candle off the arm rest, spilling hot wax all over his arm. Miraculously he wasn't burned AT ALL! Another took place a few weeks ago with Logan (3 years old) when I entrusted my 9 year old to playing with him at the playground while I watched Annie's soccer practice. After checking on him two different times I became "lazy" and didn't go back for a third check until Annie's practice was over. As I headed to the playground to get the boys, I saw Logan, wondering between cars in the parking lot saying "where is my car" to all the people who were walking to their cars. My 9 year old was no where in site. Talk about a wake up call for me!! I've certainly cracked down on my supervising my three year skills since then. So now that I've made this "brief" version of bad parenting a not so brief version, I'll end with a simple word that will say it all. You are the only one who will understand what I'm talking about when you read the word and easily be able to correlate it to bad parenting. Are you ready? The word is "ANNIE". Need I say more? PS- I miss you! Let's talk soon! :-)