As mothers, we’ve all had the experience of having our child humiliate us in public. The stories become family folklore, and I have passed down to my own children the story of the time that their aunt, then my three year old little sister, was watching my swimming lesson from the pool gallery, and yelled out to my mother sitting beside her, “Why is that fat ugly girl swimming in the same water as Jennifer? I don’t want her in the same water as Jennifer!!!” I’m sure my mother would have preferred that the earth swallow her up right then and there, than having to sit stoically for the rest of that semi-private swimming lesson.
I am in the midst of raising three children, and I consider myself fortunate that most of those “could you not just die?” stories are second- and third-hand versions…until last week.
With two older brothers, my poor daughter spends a lot of time at hockey arenas. She’s very patient and seldom complains. But she is GLUED TO ME most of the time. As the mother of two goalies, I often find her demand for attention a healthy diversion, but there are times when I’d like just a little bit of “me time” at the game.
For instance, there are occasions when nature calls at the arena and I try to squeeze just me into a stall. My daughter didn’t go for that last week, and insisted on trying to squeeze herself into the stall with me. Exasperated, I asked her to please wait outside the door.
“Why?” she demanded.
“Because I’d like a little privacy,” I muttered.
“Why? It’s just your private parts. I’ve seen them before and they’re nothing special,” she retorted AT FULL FIVE YEAR OLD CHILD VOLUME.
Just like my own mother 35 years ago, I prayed that the floor would open up and swallow me whole so that I would not have to walk out of that stall and past all those other snickering hockey moms waiting in line.
Instead of of filing that story away for another few decades before I share it with my own grandchildren, the folks at Living Well have launched a contest whereby you can submit your story and win prizes (including a $5,000 cash grand prize)!
Whether it’s your child having an epic meltdown in the supermarket aisle, making a blush-worthy comment in public, or instigating a dreaded call home from the teacher, “mom moments” happen every day – and sometimes, all you can do is laugh. Or, better yet, share these moments with other moms who can relate. Beginning today, October 12, and for six weeks, LIVING WELL, an online resource to connect Canadians to the experts and topics they need to know to live well every day, is inviting Canadian moms to share their own ‘Mom Moments’ for the chance to win a $5,000 cash grand-prize or one of six Johnson & Johnson Inc. product prize-pack giveaways valued at $500 each! Visit each week at www.LivingWell-MomMoments.ca as our LIVING WELL Mom Moment Ambassadors will reveal the topic of the week Enter online and encourage your family and friends to vote!
Because you can’t die of embarrassment…but you can cash in on the story!