Have you ever really screwed up as a mom? I do it a lot. And it is always with Luke. Luke wakes up every morning on his own, showers, gets dressed, eats breakfast and brushes his teeth. He is a mother's dream child.
This morning, I wandered out to the family room right before it was time for him to get picked up for school. I remembered it was April Fool's Day (I don't even like April Fool's Day) and said to Luke and Sammie "Guess what guys! You aren't going to school today. We are going to Disneyland on an airplane!" You would have thought Luke won the lottery. He was so excited. He was jumping up and down and screaming. Then I yelled "April Fool's Day!"
Sammie didn't even care but Luke looked completely deflated. He went in the pantry to get his shoes and didn't come out. I opened the door a few minutes later and he was quietly sobbing. Yeah. I am the worst mom on the planet. Of course, I hugged and kissed him and apologized 19 times. I begged him to forgive and told him how sorry I was. He was so crushed. Finally, I told him I would take him to Walmart after school and buy him any item he chooses. That's all I've got. I've got to buy his love back.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who royally screws up like this.
18 comments:
Brooke--
Your story reminded me of the Jack Handy clip from Saturday Night Live:
One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going
to take my nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old
burned-out warehouse. "Oh no," I said, "Disneyland burned down."
He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a
pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but decided to go home instead.
Brooke- I love your blog. Do not beat yourself up over this! Someday you will both look back together and laugh. In the meantime I like the Walmart idea and maybe throw some candy in the deal too. If it makes you feel better I drew moustaches on my kids faces in the night and Macey woke up hurt and offended. I told her to take a joke- how nice am I??
Oh that is so sad! April Fool's sucks and I won't have anything to do with it. He'll get over it in a few years. Kids are resilient.
Thanks for sharing. I got a good laugh. Luke will be just fine. I am sure you are beating yourself up over it more than he will ever remember. I think as mom's are too hard on ourselves. I hope he has fun at Walmart!
That is awful. As someone who regards DisneyWorld/Land as the third most holy place on the earth, I find this completely offensive.
And totally hilarious!!! :) Poor, poor Luke. You might have to pony up and take him for a quick weekend to the Mouse's House.
My son Jack, 20 months, loves to play with our oven-like put pots and pans in it. And the child safety lock totally broke. Today i caught him right before he was about to stick his first pan in it and convinced him to close the oven and put the pan back-I was amazed he actually listened! Then i awarded him with half of a hershey kiss (i ate the first half-didn't want him to choke duh!) I felt like I was awarded him like a dog. It doesn't help that literally his favorite game is fetch either. Thanks for your blog!
Oh my, that is hilarious. Every year I tell Dallan on April 1st I am pregnant and I think he wants to go cry in the pantry too. :)
Dude!! Don't you know the rules of AFD?? You promise/convey something that sucks, so the kid gets relief when the jig is up!! You don't promise something amazing, only to pull the rug out from underneath them--especially the good one!!
He is going to be blogging about your betrayal well into his 30's.
I agree with the Mostess. You gotta tease with something really awful - then reality is good. Ever since you told me about this today, I've been trying to figure out how your dad & I could get him to Disneyland one of these weekends - we would surprise him, of course! We'll take him to In&Out tonight and let him play the Wii at our house and make cupcakes. . .not quite Disneyland. . .
Hmmm...Emi said Luke was crying uncontrollably at school. Now we know why.
It's almost as if he won something in Art Express and then didn't. Sorry about that.
I totally feel for you right now! Maybe because I'm a first time mother now, anytime I read about a kid crying I nearly cry myself. (Before I couldn't have cared less!) It's true that Luke may remember this forever, but he'll will also remember how bad you felt and how you made it up to him. Trust me on this one, I've been through this myself as a kid! It has nothing to do with you as a mother, this is just a part of life. You are an awesome mom.
He will also remember how his grandma made it up to him by actually taking him to Disneyland!!! What a grandma! Do you think she'd consider being my grandma, too? :)
YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
awww that's super sad and funny at the same time! i yelled at my kids in the van today and they both started quietly crying and said "mom you always make us sad" - ouch.
Parenting is way to hard sometimes!
At least once a week I find myself half way into a rant or trying to bribe my kids when I stop and think...I really suck at being the parent. You are not alone my friend and you are a fantastic Mum.
SewSara,
Your comment cracked me up! That is so something my kids would say to me. All these comments made me feel validated, so thanks, Followers of Brookie!
Sad! But he is just fine and it will be a good story that he will probably tell for the rest of his life. I love your little boy! And I wills say it again: he is lucky to have you as a mom.
Will your mom take me to In-n-Out, let me play Wii and make cupcakes with me? That sounds better than 101% of my normal Friday nights... My friend got his kids ready for school and out at the bus stop an hour before they were picked up...they were mad...awesome April Fool's Day!
Oh, that is sooo hard! We all blow it once in a while....but you are a great mom. Hope the shopping trip to Walmart worked!
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