From the moments of infant blowouts and leaking breasts to the toddler years of curiosity and to the days of school-aged kids to angst-ridden tweens, moms have the awkward odds stacked against them. With each passing parenting season, awkward mom moments change and evolve—always catching us off guard and making for a quick chuckle and shake of the head. In the spirit of National Awkward Moment Day, March 18, I am going to share a few awkward mom moments of my own and a few from friends.
Awkward Mom Moment: Daycare Pick Up
One day at daycare pick-up, my children’s teacher tells me that my preschool aged twins had convinced a half a dozen of their friends to all take off their shoes and throw them over the playground fence. The teacher mentioned that she retrieved about 10 pairs of shoes on the other side of the fence.
A few days after the shoe incident, I was called at work to be informed that one of my boys peed outside at playtime. My initial response was, “peed his pants?” Nope, he had walked over to a grassy area, pulled down his pants, and peed. Nevertheless, daycare pick-up that week just kept getting more awkward.
Awkward Mom Moment: Mispronunciations
I highly recommend the book, “Those Darn Squirrels”, but beware the main character is named Mr. Fookwire (sounds like “book”).
One day, a friend went to pick up their toddler from daycare and the teacher pulled them aside and said that her son was using the F word a lot that day and shouting about squirrels?” My friend was very confused. It took her until that evening to piece together that her kid was telling the other kids about Mr. FOOKwire.
Toddler talk for Mr. Fookwire sounds a little bit more like Mr. F***wire.
Awkward Mom Moment: Human Anatomy
My friend’s 3 year old yelled loudly that someone walking near us had a big butt. My friend responded and told her that we don’t talk about other people’s bodies and then her child doubled down and started yelling “But it is mom! It is a big butt! She has a big butt!”
Awkward Mom Moment: Public Restroom
In a public restroom, my child was in the stall with me and was waiting for me to finish up in the restroom as he had already gone. He faced me, placed his hands on my legs then got really close to my face and said, “Don’t pee in your underwear, only in the potty. Underwear dry?” I nodded and stifled a laugh while he smiled and said, “Good job mommy!” I couldn’t help but hope the woman in the stall next to me has potty trained a kid or two and can relate.
