Friday, June 27, 2008

Asshole of the Day

Today was a loooooooong day. My 12 month old son is still sick and while on the mend, is extremely grumpy, clingy, and fussy. My daughter, after 3 days of having to primarily entertain herself, has had enough and decided today was the day to emphasize her frustration with being "neglected." To make matters even worse, my husband is working until midnight tonight.
So, in the midst of my frustration today, and in an attempt to combat a particularly nasty tantrum from my daughter I said, "If this behavior continues mommy is just going to put you into day care and go back to work." My daughter stops her tantrum and says, "I will leave day care and come to your work and find you and stay at work with you. I'm sick of day care." (Keep in mind, she's never been to day care in her life.)
This brings me to the moment where I knew I earned the dubious distinction of Asshole of the Day. Do you ever have those moments where you just feel like you've ruined your kid's world? Where if you could go and take it back, you would, but you can't?
So, I was trying to get some food prepped for dinner, since actually having 30 minutes or more at once to prepare and cook a meal is virtually impossible once children enter the picture. My daughter was sitting at the kitchen table having a snack and I had put my son in his high chair so I could chop onion, tomatoes, and avacado. Both kids were being pissy and ridiculous so I started singing a little chant; something to the effect of, "Mommy needs to get out of the house, put her kids in day care, and go to work." Or at least that was the gist. All of a sudden, my daughter turned around and looked at me, her bottom lip was completely downturned, trembling something fierce, tears were spilling over the brim of her eyelids and she said, "Mommy, I don't want you to go to work. I'll be sad if you leave me." My heart broke in a million pieces right there. I went over and hugged her and told her I wasn't going to leave, but that I was frustrated and I shouldn't have joked around with that song. She clutched me for dear life and it was at that moment I won Asshole of the Day!

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