6 Moms Share the Times They Felt Like Total Failures

1. “I was a second-time mom, feeling confident and like having an infant was “old hat.” My baby boy’s fingernails were so long and I was a seasoned parent, after all, so I wielded the nail clippers like an expert and gave him a trim. My own sleep deprivation came into play here, as I had forgotten that you shouldn’t clip a newborn’s nails because of how they are attached to the finger relatively high up when they are so young. To my horror and shame, my munchkin had little cuts on all of his fingertips where I had separated his nail from the finger before I realized my mistake.”—Dwenna, 42

2. “My 13-year-old daughter fell on a friend’s trampoline and hurt her wrist. She could use her hand, move her fingers etc., so I told her she was fine. She continued to complain about the wrist hurting, so two weeks later I took her to the doctor. He ordered an X-ray, which showed that her wrist was broken.”—Margaret, 60

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3. “Unless you keep a leash on a small child, it is literally impossible to keep track of them at all times. But you’re supposed to anyway, right? Well, this one time, I was at the local cafe with my 3-year-old son, and I turned to order, and he took advantage of that minute or two to disappear. He was there one minute and gone the next! I semi-calmly walked the perimeter of the place and checked the bathrooms….nothing. Then I started freaking out, thinking he could have easily left with some stranger while I was ‘calmly’ looking for him. I started yelling his name, interrupting everyone at their meals and the manager to ask if they’d seen him, until I finally found him hiding behind a low wall. I felt so ridiculous and so upset, we just walked out the door without eating.”—Jen, 33

4. “When my daughter was young, she had difficulty separating from me, would not talk to strangers, and was very angry all of the time. Year after year, we told ourselves it was just a phase and that she would grow out of it. It wasn’t until she was 17 and diagnosed with depression and anxiety that we put the pieces together. Her childhood was extremely difficult for her and the rest of our family. If we had known to get her help earlier, her first 17 years would have been much better for all of us.”—Stephanie, 48

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5. “I thought my house was baby-proofed until the day I walked in the kitchen and saw my 1-year-old eating OxiClean out of a box. I panicked and called Poison Control, and everything was fine, but I felt terrible. Within another year, I had to call again when I found a bottle of bright red cough syrup spilled all over him. I guess I’d left the cap off in the middle of the night. I couldn’t tell if he’d actually drunk any, but having to call Poison Control again was awful. I thought they might start to wonder about my fitness as a parent!”—Abby, 31

6. “I accidentally slammed my 5-year-old daughter’s hand in the car when we were rushing into the grocery store. I felt so insanely guilty about it that I bought her a new Barbie to compensate.”—Cynthia, 39

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