Then be thankful for Dirt Is Good for You: True Stories of Surviving Parenthood, a new collection of brutally funny, nakedly confessional essays that originally appeared on the Website babble.com. In these excerpts, moms reveal the parenting evils they've committed:
- Snubbing the mommy community: "My breaking point occurred one drizzly afternoon, when the baby and I were on our way to a [new moms] group. Instead of heading to the host's apartment, I found myself driving to my favorite bar, enjoying a glass of wine and a few minutes of reading with Roscoe sleeping in his stroller. There was...not a single word about bouncers or strollers or acid reflux.... It was beautiful — like listening to the ocean at night." —Kim Brooks
- Spoiling thy sons: "As I began lightheartedly pulling the soppy clothes out of the dryer so that my boys could have warm socks, I was suddenly crippled by horrific visions of my sweet little sons at age 30, griping to their wives that they needed their clothes to be warmed each morning because that's what their mother did for them. Oh, my god, I thought, I'm raising mama's boys. I had mysteriously grown apron strings, despite the fact that I don't cook." —Emily Mendell
- Prioritizing thyself: "As a new mom, I regularly left my daughter to shriek in her bouncy seat while I scarfed down my lunch or took a shower. Occasional neglect seemed like a relatively minor maternal sin, especially since it was the only way I got anything done. Wasn't it in my daughter's best interest to ensure our toilets weren't condemned by the health department?" —Elizabeth Blackwell
Have you committed any of these parenting sins? Any other ones you need to get off your chest? Confess them in the comments anonymously! (Don't worry, we won't judge — you're in good company!)
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