" I bet you're a GREAT mom!

Oh, some of my worst times were as a young mom with two or three toddlers in a store, and one would throw a fiery temper tantrum. SO embarrassing! People would stare, my face would turn red (partly out of humiliation, partly out of anger--wonder where they got it from?) I would get so frustrated. I was in a hurry! Had things to do! Brazelton always said, pick the child up, leave the store, and let him know you understand how awful it must be to be so frustrated, and tell him we can go back into the store when he's done screaming. Ugh! As if! I would call my husband at work and he'd chastise me for taking the children out when they're tired, etc., and I'd get more frustrated. But he did give me good advice: if people are looking at you, they're looking to see what you're going to do about a screaming child, NOT because your child is screaming. So act CALM!
Every time I followed all that advice, I felt like I would rather be swallowed up by the floor, but it worked and then I would feel really proud of myself.

Believe me I've done my fair share of yelling at my children, too. My children graduated from temper tantrums to misbehaving in the stores--running, pushing, grabbing, yelling--you name it. Never saw anyone else's kids act like mine did. (Part of the problem was that they could make me laugh, much to hubby's consternation.)

Oh, I could fill up volumes on this page. But you know, part of our jobs as moms is to disappoint our children all for the greater good. "

" One of my mom's stories about being a bad mom happened when I was about two. We were in Costco and she turned suddenly and her elbow hit me in the eye--I was sitting in the cart and was right at that level. I wasn't badly hurt, but she felt awful. Later, as we walked by a middle-aged woman, I looked at her and asked, "Mama, can you please not hit me anymore?" Talk about embarrassment! "

" Ha...amatuers..Here is a really bad mom moment.
My son was 3 and a half, and no matter how early I told him to get his shoes, get dressed, we're leaving in 30 min., 15 min., 10 min., I was always late as he seemed to enjoy the power he had to make everyone late and have all the attention centered on him.
One day in frustration I told him, "One of these days I will have told you to get ready, and if you are not ready, the family will leave without you."
The very next day I said, "Put on your shoes, we are getting ready to leave." He messed around, and I went to the back yard to turn off the water. After about 5 mins. I heard terrible, hysterical screaming, and ran up to find him with his shoes on, in the carport, thinking I had left him.
After that incident he was very paranoid for a really long time that I would abandon him. Yes, I did psychological damage to my child. I felt like the worst mother in the world.

On the upside, he never made me late again, and learned to tell time, just to make sure I was not late.
From that moment on, if I was 2 minutes late picking him up at day care he would start crying. We solved that by telling him I would be picking him up 30 min. later, so I was always early. :)

He is 19 years old now, and a really fine young man. So even those bad mom moments when you think, "Man did I mess up on that one", with love and support from us, our kids somehow muddle through. "