How {NOT} to be the Perfect Mom Giveaway with Jill Savage

What is your most imperfect mom moment?

Have you ever nearly clipped the end of your newborn’s fingertip off while trying to trim her fingernails, drawing blood and causing her to scream in pain?

406378_1_ftcHave you ever told your pre-schooler, while they were riding round and round on a fast-twirling merry-go-round, to “Jump!” into your arms so you could catch her {but failed to anticipate that when she jumped at the command,the momentum of the twirling would actually send her soaring waaaaay past you and onto a cement patio where she would get two terribly scraped knees and a a sprain left arm?}

Or how about this one, ever bake homemade bread from scratch for company, only to leave out the yeast and then wonder why it never rose in the pan and looked like a big sunken mess?

Has a vice-principal ever had your number on speed dial due to the antics and pranks of your middle-schooler?

Did you yell at your child for something that was an accident because you were actually upset about an issue with a friend but took your anger out on them instead?

Have you neglected praying for your child because you were just plain too busy?

Have you looked around at a mom who has seemingly perfectly obedient children and thought to yourself, “As a mother, I’m a failure. And my kids aren’t far behind.”

Well….. I can answer a hearty “Yes” to ALL of the above happening at our house. The truth is, there are no perfect moms. Just women who play them on TV {and  some who play them in real life!}.

2013posterncMy perfectly imperfect friend Jill Savage, founder of Hearts at Home, has written a wonderful book for all of us in the “Messed Up Moms Club” and she is giving away two copies of it here today.

And if you can get your sweet self to Rochester, MN the weekend of November 8-9, you can hang out with Jill and me, along with our two imperfect friends, comedian Anita Rentfroe and author and actress Candace Cameron Bure.

The Hearts at Home North Central Conference registration closes October 23 so make plans now to join us!!! Click here for more info.

And if you’d like to be entered to win one of Jill’s books, leave us an “imperfect mommy moment” that YOU have experienced. Winners announced Monday.

92 Comments

  1. I was a single mother of 2 boys for many years. When I was about 7 mos. pregnant with my youngest son, I had a two bedroom apt. on the 2nd floor. I was going to do laundry and my oldest son who was 3 yrs. old at that time, was helping me as much as he could. I sent him down the stairs ahead of me and before I knew it, I started to roll the bag of laundry down the steps. The bag caught up to him and he tumbled down several stair. Praise God, he had not a scratch on him, but even as I post this, I still feel the ache in my heart because this could have been much worse. I felt like I was the worse mommy ever and still apologize to my son today.

  2. My children are now 16 and 19. Over the years there have been many imperfect Mom moments. One of the funniest had to be when my son phoned 911. You see, we had taught him that when something “bad” happened, that was what you did. He decided that his younger sister, who was probably no older than 3 at the time, squirting his personal hair gel all over the bathroom was a bad thing! He proudly announced to me that I should not worry because he had taken care of it and phoned 911. Sure enough the phone rang and 911 returned his call to see if there was an emergency. Needless to say, the first thing I did after apologizing to the person on the line was to sit my young son down and do a better job of explaining just what a “bad thing” really was!

  3. So many moments to choose from… my highlight would have to be when I locked my daughter and I out of the house. Had her strapped in the van and ready to go and was excited to be leaving the house on time (for once). My husband was at work 30 minutes away and I needed to be somewhere. Like every good parent all of the doors were locked and our windows latch so there’s no way to break into them w/o breaking the panes. So, as I was starting to cry the neighbor across the street pulled up. He had to break a window in the garage and climb through to go into the house for me. My other shining moments seem to stem from our ‘your fine’ method of handling sickness/injuries. Mostly w/ my 2nd – ended up w/ pneumonia after I waited 4 days to take her to dr after fever started. She’s also the one who got chicken pox from the vaccine and had to go to ER for high fever cause we weren’t giving her a high enough dose of Tylenol or Motrin. Thankfully they’ve both made it this far and God has blessed us w/ a 3rd who will be here in Dec.

  4. Too many imperfect mom moments to name just one. :-) Thanks for all the encouragement over many years of imperfect mothering.

  5. Our first son was about 6 months old and my husband and I were taking him for a walk. We didn’t strap him into the stroller, just sat him in. As we were going down a step, he slid forward underneath the lap tray getting stuck by his head underneath. Thankfully he didn’t fall completely out, wasn’t hurt, and it just scared him, but that new mommy moment taught me to always use straps, even if you think you might not need them! :(

  6. I felt awful when I left my daughter for a couple minutes (just to use the bathroom) with her grandparents and a friends dog. One minute late the dog had bitten her. I felt so much guilt for this, luckily she is doing well with dogs now and is no longer scared of them just cautious, which in some ways is good. She wasn’t hurt as much as scared. but it gave me a lesson in trusting others, as the owners assured us the dog was great with kids.

  7. I love all of your stories. Oh my every day is an imperfect mom day. Morning rush is one thing I really detest. I know my neighbors can hear me in the morning trying to get the three older ones for ready for school. I know more mornings than not, my kids go to school with the clothes on inside out or shoes on the wrong feet. One day recently, my son came home and said, “Mom when I went to the bathroom this morning, I got so embarrassed”. I had no idea what he was going to say next. He said, ” I went to go to the bathroom and realized I still had my pajama shorts on”. He showed them to me under his shorts. Oh well, at least they are mostly clothed.

  8. My son was such a daredevil when growing up. It seemed that we were always going to the ER to get him stitched up or x-rayed or wrapped up. One summer we were on vacation and he decided to go off with his longboard. He crashed and had a big gash in his knee. I was so tired of ihis antics and didn’t feel like dealing with going to an. Er on vacation. i told him to deal with it and we would go to the doctor when we got home. It had started to heal by then so it was too late for stitches. He still has the ugly scar to prove it!

  9. I have many imperfect moments, as well. The worst and most embarrassing would have to be the many times I have lost my temper with my kids and in the middle of my rant, realized people were watching my inappropriate behavior. Not only a bad mommy moment, but also a horrible witness. My temper has gotten better over the years, but I still have imperfect mommy moments.

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