momp conf quote

Every year I like to do a round-up of my best mom fails. In more recent years, my kiddos have actually started taking great pleasure in pointing out all the ways they’ve been let down over the year. Here are their top picks for 2018:

 

The Lava Lamp Christmas Present

My 16-year-old daughter requested a lava lamp for Christmas when she was 12-years-old. I didn’t get it for her then. But I did provide her with a beauty this year, which she liked to point out, was four years late and no longer wanted. Good thing it wasn’t wanted, because I ended up breaking it. While reaching for my wine glass. That’s two mom fails for the price of one!

parenting fail - lava lamp

 

The Left-Over Soft Drink Situation

Our family was heading into a pizzeria and the nice family leaving their table had a couple of jugs of half-full soft drinks left on the table. I instructed the server to leave the drinks there and just bring around some fresh glasses. Apparently my kids found it offensive that I expected them to drink strangers’ left-overs. Sounds a little privileged, if you ask me!

parenting fail - left over soda pop

 

The YouTubers Excursion

I reluctantly brought my tween daughter to meet some of her favorite YouTubers. I thought it was going to suck, but in the end, I befriended said YouTubers…..much to my daughter’s disgust. Apparently she is still cringing over this picture.

 parenting fail - utubers

 

The Beaches Turks and Caicos Renege

I was invited to speak at the fabulous Social Media in the Sand Conference in 2017. I had told my biggie kids that I would bring them along. But, Mother Nature did a number on the Caribbean and the conference got postponed to 2018. Well, by that time, I didn’t think my big kids could miss school anymore since they were nearing the end of high school. As such, I said “So long suckers, I’m bringing the three little ones!”  They thought the sibling swap-a-roo lacked some basic parenting rules, such as following through with promises. Meh.

Capture turks

 

The Concert Boast

By dumb luck, I was at a conference and somehow landed a ticket to the Ed Sheeran concert that was in the town I was presenting at. So I went. While I was there, I wore my “Bad Mom” shirt and taunted my children all night on social media that I was at the concert, and they were not. They really appreciated that one.

parenting fail - bad mom

 

So, sometimes we fail, but mostly we win at the parenting game. As I often say: I gave up on mom guilt four kids ago.

Wishing all you moms a fun and guilt-free 2019! As you were.

Author

Julie Cole is a recovered lawyer, mom of six and co-founder of Mabel’s Labels. She has helped her company bring their product to a worldwide market, gain media recognition and win countless awards. Julie is no stranger to the media, having appeared on NBC’s The Today Show, HLN’s Raising America, Breakfast Television, The Marilyn Denis Show, CP24, among many others. As a blogger and writer, her articles have appeared in The Huffington Post, Today’s Parent, The Globe and Mail, Profit Magazine, Working Mother Magazine, Chicken Soup For the Soul - Power Moms and numerous websites. When she’s not juggling her busy family and professional life, Julie is an active volunteer and engaged community leader, who is passionate about women’s issues, mentoring young entrepreneurs, poverty alleviation and social justice.

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