Have you ever felt such deep guilt toward your child that it brought tears to your eyes? Wished you could rewind time? As a mom, I've experienced those pangs of guilt occasionally, but one incident nearly broke my heart.
Parenting is full of small mishaps—innocent mistakes that trigger intense remorse. Like the time I turned too quickly with my little one in my arms, bumping their head on the doorframe, or buying the wrong formula and not understanding their fussiness right away. Moments like these sting.
Recently, our little Puli was unwell, but we completely missed it. She sounded a bit hoarse, but that's common, so we brushed it off. Straight to the nursery, dinner, bath, and bed. She just wanted extra cuddles and was getting cranky. 'Come on, settle down!' No fever, eating and drinking fine—must be toddler antics. No way were we falling for it. Bedtime it was.
When she fussed in bed for half an hour, we waited it out until she quieted. Even her nighttime grumbles stopped quickly, so we didn't check. Oh, how I regretted that come morning! Walking into her room, I saw Lulu beaming at me—covered head to toe in dried red spit-up. Her hair, cheeks, nose, hands, mattress, sleeping bag, blanket, and crib bars were all a mess.
Tears streaming, I scooped her up and held her tight. She, oblivious, thought it was playtime. My heart ached—what a failure I felt as a mom.
I swiftly bathed her, got her comfy on the couch, and scrubbed everything clean. That day, I barely left her side (much to her playful annoyance, haha). For the next three nights post-incident? I was in her room more than mine. Every peep sounded like more spit-up, and she milked it for attention. Turns out, guilt has its perks—a thriving, energetic toddler and one exhausted mom with epic under-eye bags 😉.
