Please share your humbling parenting moments to make me feel better

Anonymous
I was supposed to meet with a friend today. But the My Little Pony's plastic tail broke off, and we can't find it. My kid is having a meltdown and won't leave the house without the tail. I tried carrying her screaming and flailing to the car, and gave up. Yes I know it sounds ridiculous.

I could go on. Please share your parenting fails so I don't feel alone.
Anonymous
I forgot to bring home my daughters dinner one night. Picked up food for everyone else. She’s 14. Her order just slipped my mind.
Anonymous
I joked with my daughters that singing is none of our fortes. While this is true, and should not have come as a surprise, it was definitely said in a joking manner at all of our expenses as we were singing in the kitchen. Anyhow, I went to the kids elementary school and every kid had written down some thing they wanted to overcome. My kids said: , even though my mom thinks I’m not a good singer, my dream is to be in a band one day. 😩
Anonymous
I don't see any parenting fails here, OP. Sometimes kids are just little stinkers you have to deal with!
Anonymous
What, you want the entire list? I have teens and tweens. I'm just so beaten down I can't even remember specifics of humbling. Just know I have been humbled.
Anonymous
I once drove from DC all the way to Baltimore to go to port discovery kids museum. My little kids were so excited until I realized I forgot my wallet. DH was traveling, couldn’t tell me account numbers (didn’t have ID anyway). I had to beg the garage driver to just let me out of the parking garage.
5 years later and my daughter still checks to see if I have my wallet when we leave for an outing. :/
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I don't see any parenting fails here, OP. Sometimes kids are just little stinkers you have to deal with!


You missed the second one where the person forgot her daughter's dinner. How is the daughter the stinker?
Anonymous
Too many to list but the most memorable and public one was when my DD was about 3 (she’s 17 now) and she was helping me make dinner. I was chopping vegetables and told her repeatedly not to reach for the knife. She did it again and I slapped her hand. She was shocked and heartbroken. For about the next three months, every time I asked her to do anything, she’d say, “Okay, Mommy, please don’t hit me”. It happened in public quite a few times and her little voice asking not to be hit raised more than a few eyebrows.
Anonymous
The whole family went to church one day but I had to stay for a meeting afterward. My DH took the older 2 home in his car but the toddler was kind of wild so I kept him with me. Small church, during the meeting he kind of ran around the hallway and played with the toys. Meeting ended and I went home. Looked in back seat and the car seat was empty. Simultaneously my phone rang…my friend who locked everything up had the toddler. She laughed. I cried. Kid, now in college, still remembers it. I scarred him for life.
Anonymous
DS was 5 and obsessed with his new motorized Jeep. He wanted me to watch him shift into reverse and back into his pretend parking spot. Said I need to get some things done first. He said don’t worry about later now. Words to live by. He went on to get a junior racing license and raced in competitive tournaments.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Too many to list but the most memorable and public one was when my DD was about 3 (she’s 17 now) and she was helping me make dinner. I was chopping vegetables and told her repeatedly not to reach for the knife. She did it again and I slapped her hand. She was shocked and heartbroken. For about the next three months, every time I asked her to do anything, she’d say, “Okay, Mommy, please don’t hit me”. It happened in public quite a few times and her little voice asking not to be hit raised more than a few eyebrows.


That is hysterical!!
Anonymous
Not sure what you mean by humbling! I have parenting fails every day. Here's two from the past 12 hours:

6.20am this morning - three year old has crawled into our bed during the night and is now bugging me to open the bedroom door. I'm exhausted because the baby is teething and he had a rough night. Eventually I leap out of bed in a fit of anger and throw the door open, slamming it against the wall. Poor DD cries at her mother's tired rage display! I actually felt pretty bad about that one...

A few hours later.... baby is racing around the floor while I'm trying to change his diaper and clothes. While I try to wrestle on his new clothes mid-crawl, he loses his balance and face-plants. Also cries!

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I once drove from DC all the way to Baltimore to go to port discovery kids museum. My little kids were so excited until I realized I forgot my wallet. DH was traveling, couldn’t tell me account numbers (didn’t have ID anyway). I had to beg the garage driver to just let me out of the parking garage.
5 years later and my daughter still checks to see if I have my wallet when we leave for an outing. :/


Ah this reminds me of something that happened last fall.

We were going to do our annual trip to Cox Farms. It is like an 80 minute drive for us. It was a weekday and I checked the website for the hours before I left and there were tickets available but for some reason (I guess because it was a weekday) I really didn't think they would sell out.

We were 70 minutes into the drive when I realized that maybe I should have pre-purchased the tickets. I checked on my phone and the tickets were sold out. It was so sad after all of that long drive!

I think I may have been more disappointed than my kid. But for months after anytime we had plans my kid asked me if I had pre-bought tickets.
Anonymous
When DD was in K she was invited to her first school party of the year in a class with all new faces. It was a PJ party scheduled for Saturday morning. I accepted the invite and accidentally made a note in my phone's calendar for Sunday, not Saturday.

So, the day after the actual party she's all dolled up in her cutest jammies and super excited. We arrive, gift in hand, ring the door bell and no one answers. We wait and wait and eventually leave with DD in tears. I get home and find the invitation and realize my mistake. DD is 13 and still likes to guilt trip me on this one. For years after she obsessed over dates/times for events, lessons and parties and made me feel like a crap parent.
Anonymous
Oldest DD is a bit dramatic. When she gets the slightest of bump or bruise, she needs the whole comfort, cuddle, ice pack and attention treatment. Has been like that since she was a baby. She was 3 and fell out of her bed in the middle of the night. It was a toddler bed and not a huge fall by any means. Cried for a while and was in "terrible" pain. I gave her ice and got her into the best sleeping position. She cried and was upset but eventually fell asleep. Woke up two more times in the middle of the night and so I gave her tylenol to help the pain. When she woke up the next morning she was still in a ton of pain and could not move her arm easily.

Turns out she broke her collar bone. I totally thought she was being her dramatic self and did not believe she was really hurt.
I then cried the entire way home from the hospital after the x-ray because I felt like such an awful parent.
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