I’ll be honest, I had never heard of the term “do-over” before moving to the United States. I remember the first time I heard it I had a long list of moments scrolling through my mind that I would have liked a do-over for. Most of them have to do with parenting…
One in particular comes to mind when our daughter was just a couple of months old. She’s 16 now, but it’s something we still talk about. Actually I can laugh about it now, back then – I was simply horrified and thought for sure I was in the running for worst mother of the year.
See my husband had a co-worker that ended up leaving their workplace and opened a restaurant in a small town about an hour and a half outside the city. We decided to drive out when our daughter was a few months old to eat there, as we had not yet been there and they had not yet seen our daughter.
Parenting came with a bit of a learning curve for me (well I guess it does with everyone!), and since generally our daughter was really laid back and easy going, when things went wrong…they really went wrong. And that evening, she was a little stinker…literally.
Full. Blow. Out. If you’re a parent, you know exactly what I mean. There was no salvaging the cute, adorable little outfit she was wearing, because really a public restroom sink…not cutting it, when you’re trying to wrangle an infant into a clean diaper and get out a clean outfit.
| Umm…so a brief message from Frigidaire (I could even have used this to clean her up!)
The Frigidaire Gallery™Dishwasher gets dishes fully cleaned the first time, so there are no dish do-overs. Nearly half of adults admit to re-washing and/or re-drying dishes after the dishwasher cycle has been completed. To prevent dishwasher do-overs, Frigidaire® is stepping in with its new Gallery® Dishwasher featuring the OrbitCleanTM Wash Arm, ensuring dishes are cleaned right the first time.
Okay back to our regularly scheduled blog post:
Oh um yeah, that’s where I epic parent failed. I DIDN’T PACK AN EXTRA OUTFIT IN THE DIAPER BAG!!! Really, I mean who doesn’t check the bag before leaving home to make sure there are extra clothes in it when you have a baby (me apparently)?!
So here I come walking back from the restroom, with my baby who is now only wearing a disposable diaper and paper towels, back to the table where my husband’s friend is introducing all of the staff to him waiting for me…
This, this my friends, is a do-over moment if there ever was one. Until I no longer carried a diaper bag, EVERY time we left home my husband asked me “do you have a couple of extra outfits in there?”…sigh….
So if I had a do-over on that moment, I’d make sure I’d have half my daughter’s dresser and closet contents packed in that diaper bag. Along with a wet bag so I could have salvaged the oh so cute outfit that I ended up having to toss. I know, I know it’s really a paltry thing in hindsight, but at THAT moment, I was so embarrassed and horrified I was speechless (and those of you who have met me in real life, know that almost never happens!)
So make me feel better…what’s your do-over parenting moment?
I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All the opinions expressed here are my own.
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