And the Bad Parent Of the Year Award Goes to...

Posted by ZenMom Saturday, January 30, 2010


Bet you guessed Brittany Spears.  Nope. That was a couple of years ago.  How passe.

Or maybe Brangelina.   Will they stop having kids already?

Or maybe one of those moms on Jerry Springer.  You know, the one that needs a paternity test to figure out which five guys is the father of her 3 year old love child.  She's also the one to get into a fist fight with the other two ladies trying to figure out the same thing.

And the answer is...none of the above.  As of this afternoon, its settled.  Its me.  Big time.

It all started on Wednesday when I got a call from school.  I should be used to these by now.  But the nice nurse at Pond Boy's school called to tell me he had a little accident in gym.  Seems he had a run in with a basketball and he jammed his finger.

She said he was fine, it was OK and he was coming home with some ice.  No biggie.

I promptly examined it, and yes indeed it was swollen.  But so are a number of other injuries we see around here.  So being the decisive person I am, I told him, "Let's wait till you dad gets home."

Now there's one thing about my dearest hubby.  He's a minimalist in the way he approaches problems.  Most things are fine until proven otherwise.  So when, after examining the injury, he proclaimed "nothing but a sprain"  I should have said something.

Like that happened.  I was too busy making dinner, supervising homework and after-school activities and thwarting the Little Stinker's efforts to torture the cat.   I got sidetracked, OK?

Fast forward to three days later.  I'm in the kitchen with Pond Boy when I notice something funny about his hand.  Was it always that blue?  I don't remember it looking like a balloon before?  I know my memory is a little fuzzy these days, but something was most definitely not right.

So one trip to Urgent Care and two hours later we got the verdict.  Its broken.  Its also out of place.  He was put in a splint and first thing Monday morning we'll be making a visit to the hand specialist.

So now you all know my dirty little secret.  I let my son go three days with a broken hand.  Isn't that special?  I'm the proud recipient of the Worst Mother of the Year award.  And its only January.  Can't wait to see what the rest of the year will bring.


Feeling Really, Really Stupid,
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16 comments

  1. Susan Fobes Says:
  2. Don't beat yourself up about all this. I mean tbe nurse-a medical professional said it was nothing to worry about! I can also guarantee you that all of us has done something similiar. My son started complaining one morning that his ear hurt a little. I took him to the doctor and not only did he have an ear infection, it was so bad they were worried about the ear drum rupturing. (Oh, and did I mention that I waited a couple days when I could fit the appointment into my schedule?)
    The fact is you did notice something and took care of it...

     
  3. Janie B Says:
  4. Oh, poor baby. He'll be fine. Don't blame yourself. He won't.

     
  5. Amy Says:
  6. Well, the nurse said it was nothing and the hubs said it was nothing sooo don't blame yourself for this one. When you realized something was wrong you took action.

     
  7. Lee Says:
  8. You can't blame yourself! After all, who knew! I tell my kids that unless they are bleeding or vomiting blood not to bother me...

     
  9. I would feel awful too and beat myself up over it. You're a good mom though....I don't doubit it for a second. We've all done versions of this!

    If it makes you feel amy better, I've zipped up my son's jacket and got his skin caught in it..twice. I've sent him to school thinking he was faking illness, only to have the nurse call to tell me he has a fever. I could keep going....

    You're a great mom!!!

     
  10. Unknown Says:
  11. i'm glad to know i'm in good company. my son had his hand slammed in the car door (not by me) and i told him to put an ice pack on it and he'd be fine. he tends to be a little dramatic about injuries and illnesses and i wasn't buying it. the next day i sent him to school and the nurse called me because his hand looked like he was wearing a boxing glove. i batted my eyes to the nurse and acted like i had no idea he had even hurt his hand.

     
  12. Gina Says:
  13. Eh...it happens. He's still alive and kickin', right? :)

     
  14. June Says:
  15. I know the guilt of feeling like a bad mom but there really was no long term damage done, right?

    And I have a feeling if your son was actually complaining about it you would have taken notice sooner.

     
  16. Anonymous Says:
  17. Happy to pass that torch on to you...been there, done that! Sometimes, you just have to wait out the drama to see how real it is!!!!

     
  18. Blogs Says:
  19. That's the glory of life....no one is perfect....We make mistakes and learn from them;) Hope the finger is feeling better;)

     
  20. I would feel bad too, but this really isn't your fault in my opinion. Both the nurse and your husband didn't see the finger as being badly injured. I think every mom can relate to a story like this. Hugs. :) You're a great mom!

     
  21. Kinderbloom Says:
  22. Great blog. Just following you from twitter moms. My blog http://kinderbloom-kinderbloom.blogspot.com/

    Have a great day!

     
  23. Something similar happened to a friend of mine. Her daughter got hit in the hand with a kicked soccer ball, and she said it didn't hurt or anything, and after a couple days, it just looked horrible, so they took her in and it was broken. She had to have surgery. When they don't complain of pain, sometimes you just don't realize it's more serious than it is. And doctors always tell you if something is broken you wouldn't be able to use it, like when my dad broke his ankle, twice, and was walking around on it. Obviously, not true.

     
  24. Helene Says:
  25. Awww, try to not to be so hard on yourself. You had no way of knowing it was worse than a sprain. And if he wasn't complaining about it being painful, how could you have known?

    Seriously, it's something I would've done too.

    If only our kids came with manuals, right?

     
  26. Gibby Says:
  27. Ah, I feel your pain, but I agree, don't beat yourself up about it. My daughter fell of a swing and landed on her wrist. It took several hours of her crying on the couch with an ice pack for us to determine that maybe it might be worse than we thought. Sure enough, it was broken, and here we just attributed her tears to her infamous drama-queen reactions. Oops.

     
  28. Theta Mom Says:
  29. I agree with the others, don't be too hard on yourslef. Who would have known???

    And I am finally able to follow blogs again! I can finally follow you!!! YAY!!!!!!!! :)

     

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