In case you are wondering if I make my child a priority then let me tell you a little bit about me. I am the Vice President of site council (PTA) at my child's school. I am a girlscout co-troop leader. I have never, not once missed a soccer game, baseball game, football game, dance recital, or school play. I attend class field trips, and bake cupcakes for school parties. I cook family dinners, and breakfast, and lunch. I make sure my kids brush their teeth, and wear their bike helmets. I sit outside for at least 5 hours a day and make sure they don't get hit by a car while they are playing outside. I apply sunscreen and make sure they are drinking enough water. I make sure they practice their reading in the summer and help them with their homework in the school year. I make sure they have clean clothes and a clean house. I take them on play dates and special family outings. I am not saying that I am a prefect mom. I am not. I make mistakes every day. I am human. My children ARE my number 1 priority.
In March of 2012 my husbands job was changing, I was 6 months pregnant with my youngest child. I had a 2 year old and a 4 year old at home. If all of this wasn't enough we received notice that the owners of the house we were renting were moving back to the area and wanted to live in their house so we needed to move. On a Friday, at the end of that month my husband changed jobs. On Saturday, he loaded up a truck with the boxes that I had packed and moved us across town. On Sunday he left on a month long business trip, leaving me, pregnant with 2 kids and a house full of boxes. On Monday, I cleaned the old house, took my daughter to the Dr. where she was diagnosed with Flu, and then drug her to the final walk through on the old house. The next morning I woke up took my son to school, then headed back home to take care of my daughters and unpack the house. typically I would have spent a school day running errands, like grocery shopping, I wouldn't have returned home until after picking up my son. A friend came over to help me unpack since I was pregnant and shouldn't be moving heavy furniture and boxes alone. I was out of my routine, I was busy, I was pregnant, and maybe a little stressed. At 1:50 my friend ask, what time do you need to go get Your son? I replied not until 2. She told me what time it was and I couldn't believe it. I immediately called the school and ran out to the car to got pick him up. I was 20 minutes late, since our new home was across town. I had forgotten to pick up my son. Did I forget I had a son? no. Did I forget he was at school? No. But I had forgotten to look at the clock and pick him up at the appointed time. I felt horrible. He was fine. He was in a safe and familiar place. When I picked him up he was playing with his teacher. I was very apologetic and she told me not to worry that in her 20 years as a teacher this sort of thing happens at least 3 or 4 times a year in her classroom alone.
My story had a happy outcome. My child is safe. If I had forgotten him in the car that would have been a tragidity, but really what I did and a parent who forgot their kid in a car both did the same thing. We were busy, stressed, and we forgot. Does this mean we don't deserve to have children? Does this mean our children are not our number one priority? Does this make us bad parents? No. This makes us human. We made a mistake.
Let's encourage each other, not tear each other down. Please share if you are human or know someone who is human and may need to know that they aren't alone. Even the best of us make mistakes.
