I Am that Mother!

Have you ever, and I'm sure you have so don't feel guilty admitting because I know I have, found yourself judging a parent for not being able to control her child?  Have you ever seen a 2 year old child wandering the neighborhood with their dog shirtless and wondered what kind of parent lets her child do that and doesn't know where the child is?  Have you ever looked at a mother with two out of control children (ok well maybe just one of the two) who is almost 7 months pregnant and wondered what she was thinking having another child when she can't even control the small brood she already has?  Well if you haven't, go ahead and look at me and wonder and judge.  Because I am that Mother!

Today, while I was doing laundry Jack followed me to the basement.  I figured allowing him to play unattended while I changed the sheets on my bed upstairs would be fairly harmless but man was I wrong.  I went downstairs to find him and he was no where to be found!  Tom came to help me look because sometimes you may find him hidden in obscure places one wouldn't normally find a 2 year old like on top of the cabinets for instance.  We then heard a voice outside yelling in some unidentified language that doesn't even closely resemble English coming from outside and we knew we were in trouble.  Now if you don't know, I live in a townhome and don't have much of a backyard to speak of so this was a time to panic!  Mind you, he had refused to put his shirt on so he was shirtless and shoeless.  Apparently the dog had some sense to not let Jack out of her sight and followed him down the small grassy walkway of backyards in the neighborhood towards the street.  Tom was able to snag him before he actually succeeded in running away but only just barely.  We brought him back in and he proceeded to take his pants and diaper off.  So now Tom is running to the hardware store to find some sort of extra locking mechanism to put on the back door so that I might have a little peace of mind.   Mother of the year award right here and this was only about 20 minutes of our day so that can leave you to wonder what other failures I face each and every day.  

Being a mother has taught me to never ask those questions.  Mothers really do have their children's best interests at heart but sometimes they have children (Jack) that challenge every fiber of their being and they are just doing the best they can.  But in case you are wondering, yes I do ask myself every day what on earth I was thinking when I thought I could handle this.

And if you do happen to see Jack wandering the neighborhood, please kindly retrieve him and return him home!