The Shirley Journey

Finding Joy in the Journey

Mom Life on new FX show: Better Things

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Mom Life is definitely rough sometimes. The thing is though, we make it harder on ourselves than it has to be. Everyone these days is striving to be the perfect parent. I have a secret for you: there is no such thing as a perfect parent!

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We’ve all been there: the kid screaming in the grocery store because you said no, forgetting to send lunch to school, or even losing track of where your kid is for a few seconds (doesn’t it always feel like hours though?).

FX’s new comedy series from Louis CK and Pamela Adlon, Better Things, is shedding light on those days when you’re sleep-deprived and overwhelmed – and feeling maybe… perhaps… a little less than your best.

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There are so many times during the day that I’m pretty sure I’ve lost my mind and that’s with Tom’s help. I can’t imagine doing it as a single parent, like Sam Fox. Between playing mom, dad, chauffeur, and ref, she does try to squeeze in a little “me-time”. We all know how important that is!

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You can catch this hilarious and relatable new comedy series on FX at 10pm on Thursdays. Head over to the Better Things site to watch some clips and the first episode!

We received a fun box to help an imperfect parent (that’s everyone if you’re not following along) feel a bit better. And… you have a chance to win the same gift basket! The gift basket contains:

  • Ray-Ban Sunglasses
  • Chipolo bluetooth keyring
  • Leather Clutch for mom’s things
  • Emergency Beauty Kit
  • Hypoallergenic travel pillow
  • Ultra-Soft travel pillow protector
  • Essential Oils Blend Mini
  • Skinny Lip Balm
  • “Credit Card” Mints

To enter, just leave me a comment below letting me know about a time you were an imperfect parent.

 


Comments

  4. I have a lot of imperfect parenting moments, but one that I’d like to share is when I accidentally fell asleep while my son was awake. We just had our second baby and I was so exhausted! My son decided to explore outside while mommy was sleeping.? Thank god my neighbor brought him back, it scared the living daylights out of me! My most recent imperfect parenting moment ?

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    • It happens to all of us. I once read something that said, “I was a perfect parent until I had kids!”. Isn’t that the truth? I remember doing the same thing when my daughter was born. Thank goodness my son just played with his toys, but it sure scared me. I think with the second child, they should send you home with a free nanny so Mommy can rest. Lol

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  5. To many to lol.. but the one that stands out is when I over slept my alarm and made my son late foreply the first day of second grade

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  6. When I Blame of of my kids for taking something and they never touched it. I feel so bad for doing that when I lose something.

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  7. I can think of many times but to name one… hmm. Probably not believing my daughter when she told me she didn’t do something when I was totally convinced she did and finding out she in fact didnt. She was grounded for something she wasnt involved in :/

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  9. I locked my 3 year old in the house while I checked the mailbox on my phone and forgot my keys they were on the table.

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  11. I think we’re all imperfect parents every day! Nobody can do it all. But one of my lows was the time I forgot it was “early release day” and didn’t make it home from my daughter’s preschool before my son got dropped off by the bus. They have early release every Wednesday and he is my first child to go to school. I somehow thought it was Tuesday and totally forgot. He was a kindergartener. He was only home alone for 5 minutes but it was raining a little and he was screaming, “Mommy!” Looking for me. We have a safety plan and he remembered it, but our neighbor who he was supposed to go to if there was an emergency wasn’t home. By far, this was one of my worst parenting moments of my life. I still have anxiety over it and worry all the time. And I still feel horrible! But it helped me grow as a mother and my son was okay, so that’s what matters. :-/

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  12. The time when my daughter was blamed by her sister for something she did not do. And I believed her sister!! I should have investigated more…..

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  13. I can think of a few times I have been an imperfect parent. I’ve lost my temper, I have had nights where I didn’t want to cook, help my kids study and help with their homework. It’s nice to see I’m not the only mom who goes through stuff.

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  14. I’m never a perfect parent. I think it’s important that my kids see that I’m not perfect but that I never stop trying.

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  15. One time when my daughter was about 2, she was sick. Up all night every hour on the hour. By about 4am I was pretty frustrated. She was crying and I went into her room in the dark, told her to go back to sleep and fixed her blankets. She started to fall back asleep, so I snuck out. She started crying about a half hour later, so I went back in and this time flipped on the lights. Turns out she was crying because she had thrown up in her bed! I was so tired, and it was dark, I had no idea she had made such a mess! Poor thing! And I had told her to go back to bed! After bathing her and stripping the bed, dosing out some medicine and rocking her back to sleep, I sat back and just felt awful about not turning those darn lights on! GAh!

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  16. We try really hard to set everyone up for success–for example, we don’t leave breakables on low surfaces. But when you leave a whole pot of caramel within easy reach…

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  18. I have a ton but one that is terrible that I always seem to resort to is bribery. I will let you eat this candy if you do this type of bribery. Last time I was at a dodgers game and my family wanted to leave so I had to bribe them with buying them a souvenir in order for them to stay.

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  19. Mommy had to give herself a timeout in the laundry room since I got angry/overtired when my toddler had back to back tantrums…

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  21. I once forgot I’d told my daughter I’d take her to the park. The next day she asked why we didn’t go. Broke my heart

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  22. When I totally forgot about my daughters play till 1 hour before I had to be there. I barley made it I felt terrible.

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  23. I’m most imperfect when I get impatient and raise my voice at my sons. My older son is more sensitive and has told me he hates when I do that and it broke my heart. I try to remember that moment before I yell or raise my voice.

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  24. I forgot to pick up my kids from school one day. I fell asleep and when I woke up it didn’t register that they were supposed to be home. They were hysterical and thought something had happened to me! lol.

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  25. I forced my daughter to take music lessons even though she didn’t want to just because I had always wanted to take them as a kid but my family was too poor. Needless to say, all I did was waste my money and she was so unhappy and quit as soon as she could.

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  27. I’m a full time stepmom and feel inadequate most of the time, lol. I guess I feel guilty at times for not wanting to go to certain events like the school carnival.

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  28. I have three children and my biggest parenting blunder was the time that I was walking into my garage and there was a huge black racer snake. My toddler son was right next to me and I may have inadvertently pushed him towards the snake as I screamed and ran back into the house. He is 11 now and loves to remind me of the time that I threw him to the snakes. Not my finest moment!

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  30. I feel like an imperfect parent most days, but when I get a chance to sit back and relax, I realize it’s not that bad.

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  31. I think I’ve been an imperfect parent throughout my parenting as I found what will work for one child does not necessarily work for the other child(ren). I just keep on learning one day at a time.

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  32. Hmmm…just one time I was imperfect? My husband usually does bath time, but when he had his wisdom teeth removed I allowed my LO (she was 10 months old at the time) go 5 days without a bath. I sponged her off with a wet wash cloth every day, but between working more than full time, taking care of my husband, and being a mom, baths didn’t happen as regularly as usual.

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  34. Gee when haven’t I been an imperfect parent. My son who is 14 reminded me today of the time that I was putting his pajamas on and zipped his privates on accident. Mind you that was at least 10 years ago but apparently I’ve scarred him for life 🙁

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  37. I am an imperfect parent just about every day! I have a 2 year old and a 5 month old and they both need things at the same time. It’s a constant game of who to help first and then feeling bad for the other child. I do my best every day though.

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  38. I feel like every day I am an imperfect parent. But, I think that’s OK. I try my hardest and love my kids with all I have, and they won’t ever doubt that. That’s all that matters. One time that does stick out was when my son was in the NICU and my daughter (3) didn’t really understand why I couldn’t be around. It’s hard to feel like an adequate parent when you can’t be two places at once, and even when I was with one of them I only felt like half a parent. It’s hard. We’re all imperfect parents, but we’re trying.

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  39. I’m pretty sure I’m imperfect on the daily! Just this morning we woke up late and had to rush to get everything done and we’re all yelling for no good reason! It all worked and got on the bus on time! It’s a daily struggle sometimes!

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  40. I didn’t get either of my now college aged kids driving in high school. I feel like I really held their lives back by not giving them that freedom until they were already in college.

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  41. I was helping out our town build a new playground and forgot to come home to nurse the baby to sleep! She fell asleep just fine (11months) but I felt terrible!

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  42. I’m a single Mom with an (Full-time) absentee father. Once I was at work and my 14 year old son wanted to fix himself an after school snack – when he reached for a can of Ravoli, he accidentally hit the can next to it and the can tipped over and landed on the top of his bare foot. When he called me at work crying because it hurt so bad and wanted to know what to do. I started crying to because I wasn’t there with him to take care of him. I told him to put on ice on it and once it was numb to call me back and let me know how he was. After he iced it for 10 minutes he said it felt better and that it would just leave a bruise and the swelling was already going down. I hated that I was over 50 miles away and couldn’t immediately be there for him. To this day, it killed me that he was in pain, and that I wasn’t there for him when he needed me.

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  44. When my kid got “honor roll” and i dint even think to take her out or do anything with her. it dawned on me weeks later and i eventually celebrated her success. But man am i annoyed i didnt think about that imediately.

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  49. There is this one time I was trying to take a selfie of my baby climbing on my back ad hugging me and when I snapped it she tripped and fell on her face. The picture caught her on the ground in mid crash. awesome mom!

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  50. A time when I was an imperfect parent? Psssh, do you want an essay? I’ve given the kids hot dogs for dinner, lost my temper more times than I’d like to say and snuck the candy to the nearest closet.

    Am I the perfect parent? Absolutely not. I am a great one though and my kids are so loved.

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  52. I feel like I am an imperfect parent every time my husband gets deployed. It is hard to manage everybody’s feelings during a difficult time!

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  53. I’m definitely an imperfect parent. I do at times lose my temper, but I’ve worked very hard to make that a very rare occasion.

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  54. Once I saw a house caught on fire, and I said, “dang!” Now my 18 month old things all fires are called ‘dang.’ Lol (wish she didn’t know that word!)

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  55. I don’t have kids but I had a cat and I took her to have dental work but she died from complications the next day. I felt awful. She was 14 but still. Babysitting when I was a teen was interesting. I recall a little girl throwing her chicken nuggets. And not wanting to go to sleep and screaming and screaming. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you.

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  57. A lot of times, I hate to admit it. I try really hard. Sometimes, I can get impatient when my daughter zones out and won’t listen and I have to repeat myself.

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  58. My daughter is super scared of going to the doctor. So, many times I will bribe her by telling her I will get her an ice cream when we leave. I sometimes get weird looks from her doctor when I do this. It makes me feel like an imperfect parent but at least my daughter is happy.

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  60. So many times have I been an imperfect parent. Dealing with a teenage daughter and not being as patient and understanding as I should be is probally at the top of the list.

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  61. Parenting is really, really hard. I don’t think anything could prepare you for it. Not boot camp, not jump training, not becoming a EMT, doctor or fireman. It is just plain hard. Sleepless nights, fussy kids, and the ever ending list of undone things that continues to grow with each passing minute. I think that patience is the hardest lesson any new parent learns. Being patient and knowing when someone needs a pat on the back instead of punishment. These are the hard lessons that make for good parents. Learning to be prepared was a hard one. I was raised as someone who was prepared for any and all emergencies. But it took me a while to learn to be early, to prep the kids up, and make sure that they arrived to all activities and events including school and clubs feeling ‘ready’ not rushed. This took a while, and I still slip, but bit by bit I have learned to teach my children through example. I know this isn’t a specific time and event, rather a time frame. Early parent verses experienced maybe?

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  63. I have been an imperfect parent a few times, but the most memorable is when I was so busy yelling at my kiddo that I put on the coffee maker without the glass pot underneath and since my back was turned, the coffee poured for a few minutes before I realized it and it went all over the place!

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  64. It happens a lot. I find myself being grouchy when my kids try to avoid going to bed. By that time, I’m too tired to be my kindest self.

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  67. I’m not a parent yet, but I do have a lot of little kids in my life and I don’t think anyone is a perfect parent, aunt, grandparent, etc. It’s all about doing your best and loving them.

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  68. Today I let my little climb into her highchair by herself, she slipped on the way up and hit her knee really hard. I felt so bad because I wanted to let her be independent but I should have helped her into the chair!

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  70. A few years back I had taken my son who was 15, his friend same age and my daughters 8 and 7 on a road trip from where we live in northern New Hampshire to the sunny beaches of Florida. The trip was awesome but on our way home I sopped at a gas station in North Carolina to gas up. bathroom break and snacks. I finished what I needed to do looked in my van saw my three kids and off I went. We were on 95 for about 10 minutes before my son asked where his friend was. OMG I left him at the gas station. I got off the next exit and headed back towards the gas station if I could only remember what exit I had taken for the gas station. After a few wrong exits and almost 45 minutes after I left him we found the gas station. The whole ordeal didn’t seem to bother him. He thought it was funny while my heart was pounding out of my chest from fear. My kids are older now and they still tease me about this.

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