Diary of a Bad Mommy (Volume 10)

For me, afternoons are the worst. That icky time between 2:00 and 5:00 always gets me down. I have no idea why, but I can get really grumpy around that time of day. My kids are usually whiny and grumpy too. And the phone rings off the hook, starting at about 2:00 or 3:00 every day. If you know me, you know that the sound of the phone ringing drives me to drink. Add this to my normal afternoon slumpiness and it's not good. Today, with Avery home all day and it being a bit too cold for them to stay outside for any length of time, was an especially rough one.


Sometime around 3:30, I found myself yelling at my kids. I'm not proud of it, but it happens. They had made the 50th mess of the day, left it sitting, and were in the midst of asking me 407 questions, while I answered the third phone call in less then 3o minutes. And I lost it. I just started bitching and didn't stop. I was on the phone with a friend and I forced her to sit and listen to all the bitching.


I felt bad, but not bad enough to stop. I kept going until both girls had retreated to separate corners, in tears. I was happy though, because finally, all the crap on the living room floor had been put away and the kids were out of my hair. Until Avery brought me this note:


My heart softened. This had to be some sort of an apology note. I thought I could make out the word "whining." I called Avery over, just to make sure. "Can you read this to me?" I asked her.
She took the note, and in a very stern voice said "Ok, Mom. I wish you had fun and were good enough to play with us."

Just for that, I'm not writing them an apology note either.