parenting fail #274

While the numbering system here is not particularly accurate, there have been a number of parenting fails over the past few years. It happens. We, as moms, tend to be hard on ourselves and see things like the occasional McDonald's drive-thru run or lack of a Cricut for scrapbooking as our own parenting fails.

This evening it became clear that Little Miss J was on the verge of nuclear meltdown so Gus drove her and I back to the hotel for some chillaxing time. She was screaming her face off in the backseat first about "Juliet do it" referencing the fact that we didn't let her buckle herself into her seat by herself followed by a broken record recording of what sounded like "big cock." Having become somewhat immune to the toddler tantrum, I ignored her and inappropriately giggled to myself about "big cock."

As the screams continued, Gus managed to deciper that she was saying, "feet" rather than referring to her "big cock" or lack thereof. It turns out she was saying "feet stuck," which indeed they were - at least one of them. Her carseat was in the middle seat in the back and she had managed to get her left leg wedged behind the driver's seat and couldn't extricate it on her own. Once her leg was unstuck, tantrum over. Magic.

In one of the many parenting books I perused, I'm sure I read somewhere that I should check to see if there is actually something wrong before letting my kid cry it out. In my own defense, after my cross-country adventure I'm not thinking entirely clearly and am so exhausted that I can barely think straight. But nonetheless failure noted. Sorry, Little Miss J! You were right. Your foot was in fact stuck.