I RECENTLY heard a rather comforting story on the news; the British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife went to the pub and accidentally left their daughter behind when they went home.
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One can only imagine the terrible feeling they would have had in the pit of their stomachs as they raced back to the pub where they found her quite safe being cared for by the staff there.
A heart-stopping story for any parent, yet like I said I take a little comfort in this story.
Now before you all race to your laptops to fire off outraged emails to me, wondering what kind of person could feel such a way after hearing that story, let me tell you why.
The story lets me know that even the best parents can mess up.
This was a display of normal parenting shenanigans from one of the world’s most powerful couples. Fantastic!
For those who don’t have children this story has probably outraged you, but you have to understand the reason this kind of thing happens. It is because parents accumulate a brain fog, that people without children cannot possibly comprehend.
You are tired in a way you have never known before.
Think of it as being like five years working the night shift where you don’t get to sleep during the day to catch up.
You short term memory is effectively erased for a few years.
Every parent has messed up in some way, and every family has at least one story.
I know a dad who left the pram in a hardware store, then took his newly acquired tools out to the car and headed home, realising once he got there that HE was the tool and beat a speedy return to the store.
The margin for error is greatly increased with the number of children you have.
Try getting a bunch of kids organised and out the door.
They can run off in different directions or not come out of the house at all. Clearly the odds are stacked against me and my large brood, and I’ve probably lost each one of them for a moment, at some time or another.
If you happen to see two small blonde toddlers sitting in the display of bicycles in Kmart they’re probably my boys, having taken advantage of the moment I looked away for half a second.
Parents are extra busy these days and it is important not to beat yourself up about it. Often a hectic lifestyle is unavoidable, bills need to get paid and dinner needs to be cooked.
There is not enough hours in the day to fit in all a family needs to do.
Parents know this and try to squeeze it all in anyway because that’s what good parents do.
Mistakes are to be expected along the way, hopefully with little consequence, other than a story to tell them once they are expecting their own children.
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