Recently I took both kids to the vet with me. While Anika was chatting up everyone in the office who would listen to her tell them her life story, Jacob was obsessing over the water cooler and determined to pour as much water as possible all over the floor. While trying to detain him from doing such, he began to have a total melt down. During this screaming fit my dog decided to poop on the floor right in the middle of the waiting room.
So yeah. Not my prettiest mommy moment.
But you know what? During all of this chaos when I was feeling extreme anxiety and embarrassment, I stopped to look around at the people witnessing this debacle. I realized they didn’t seem to care. I’m not sure if it was due to them being parents and pet owners themselves and having total empathy for me, but it seemed to be that I was more bothered by all of this then anyone else.
So I took a deep breath, something that is so cliched but also underrated, and I tried to see the humor in this situation…something that in hindsight is easy to do, but in the moment can be tricky. I mean my dog just pooped on the middle of the floor.
So my take away from the situation for me and others? Next time you are having a hot mess mom moment, cut yourself some slack. We are all doing the best we can and sometimes the only one really judging you is you.
And years from now you’ll remember these things as funny, ridiculous, precious moments. And you’ll enjoy regaling your kids with stories of their antics.