I am so sad right now. I watched Oprah today as I worked on my laptop, and it was an episode about a mom who left her little girl in the car All Day while the mom was at work. So sad.
The mom, a school principal, was herself on Oprah talking about that horrible day. The mom was supposed to drop her little girl off at the babysitter on her way to work. Apparently the dad usually did the dropping off of their two daughters in the morning, and as part of their daily routine the mom picked up both her daughters from their daycares on her way home from work. That morning the routine was interrupted because the dad had a dentist appointment. So the mom had to drop off the two girls. But the routine she followed every morning was too ingrained in her mind--the little two year was asleep in her car seat, and as mom got on he road towards her job as a school principal, she kept going. Mom did not drop off her daughter. She forgot the baby was even in the car. The little two year old died from heatstroke and her mom never remembered her daughter was in the car in the school parking lot. It was not until that afternoon when a teacher walking past the car saw the baby inside, and ran to tell the mom that her daughter was in the car.
As horrible as this is, I feel for this mom. I know I have gone into auto pilot so many times. We get into such a rush...we need to get so many things done....how many times have I jumped ahead in my thoughts to the next task I have on my list that I forget what it is I am supposed to be doing at the moment?
This mom will live with the horrendous guilt all her life. The "what ifs, the how could I's" will never go away.
This was a sad reminder to me that I have to reprioritize my days. I have to slow down, learn to say no, learn to not worry if I don't do everything I wanted to get done in my day. Moms are not super-human. Accidents can and will happen if we try and be perfect, if we steam roll our way through our days trying to be the perfect mom and the perfect wife and perfect in our jobs.
Slow down. Take a breath. The most important things in our lives are our kids, right? Chances are your little ones already think you are the most perfect mom. Ever. So who really cares what anyone else thinks of us anyway.