Parenting Guru: The great binky incident of 2010

FitsNGiggles

It all started out with the best of intentions. After a busy day of work for me and school/daycare for the kids, I decided that cooking was out of the question and we headed to McDonalds, just me and my three boys. My husband was working late that night, so it seemed like a perfectly reasonable excuse to indulge in some Mickey D's. I was feeling pretty good about my parenting skills as we got through the entire meal without an issue, which is no small feat when you're outnumbered three to one and your dinner companions range in age from 17 months to six years old.

We were packing up to head out the door when my littlest dinner date threw his binky, which normally wouldn't be a problem except it had landed deep under a booth that was occupied by another family. Retrieving said binky would've involved me asking this family to get up from their seats so I could crawl under their table, which wasn't my idea of a good time for anyone.

I quickly assessed the situation: The baby didn't seem to mind being without his binky, and we only lived 10 minutes away, so I threw caution to the wind and decided to leave without it. Within seconds my 5-year-old went bananas. He couldn't stand the thought of leaving his little brother's binky behind, and the tears started to pour down his cheeks. Nothing I was saying or doing would soothe him, and he quickly slipped into full blown hysteria.

"I've got this covered," I thought to myself. All we have to do is make it to the van and he'll calm down as soon as we start moving. As we headed across the parking lot we ran into a buddy from school and his father. Surely this would cheer him up! But as I attempted to make small talk about the binky under the booth things went from bad to worse, so we said our goodbyes and I loaded everyone into the van.

The screaming got louder and my calm reassurance that the binky wouldn't be missed quickly turned into frustrated pleas for the crying to stop. But it didn't stop, and neither did my frustration. Then the baby started crying and I snapped. I turned to the boys (the oldest one quietly observed the chaos unfolding around him) and I did one of the stupidest things a parent could do: I pounded the steering wheel with both hands and started screaming about the screaming, "IF YOU DON'T STOP SCREAMING I'M GOING TO LOSE MY MIIIIIIND!!!!!!"

Then there was silence. Sweet, sweet silence. I closed my eyes, rested my head on the steering wheel and soaked it in. For a split second I found peace.

Until I heard a knock on my window. It was the school buddy and his father, and they had the binky. I could tell by the look in their eyes that they witnessed my parenting flub, and I was mortified. I graciously thanked them for the binky, rolled up the window and pulled away, ashamed that what was supposed to be a fun outing with the boys ended in disaster.

When we got home I put the baby to bed and sat down with my older boys to tell them I was sorry for losing my cool. I explained that moms and dads aren't perfect and I asked for their forgiveness. "Of course we forgive you," they said. "Now can we have ice cream for dessert? Two scoops, please."

Smart little buggers.

Melissa (a.k.a. @FitsNGiggles on Twitter) is a Shine Parenting Guru and a member of the Yahoo! Motherboard. She shares more stories about her boys, and most recently, her quest to lose 30 lbs., on her blog, Fits "N" Giggles.