Mom fails: What to do when you make a mistake

There are never enough hours in the day. So of course, we forget things. Here’s how to get over the dreaded mom fail.

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t We’ve all been there. You forget to sign an important form or miss a baseball game. No worries. While your slip may feel awful at first, here are a few ideas to help make everything better.

1. Don’t assume you can’t fix it

t One thing I’ve learned about deadlines is that with a little a sweet talking, missing them can often be forgiven. Make a phone call or send an email apologizing for inadvertently missing the deadline. More likely than not the organizers of the event or activity will be understanding and remember a time when they forgot something too.

2. Come up with an alternative

t While panic may initially set in if you miss an activity altogether, you can redeem yourself. I’ve found that first and foremost, an apology goes a long way to make my little one feel okay after he’s missed out because of my forgetfulness. Next, I do my best to make it up to him by treating him to something special. An ice cream sundae or trip to the movies does wonders to help him realize that despite the busyness of life, he’s my top priority. Plus, seeing him happy helps make me feel a little better too.

3. Learning a lesson

t If you subscribe to the belief that everything happens for a reason, then you’ll see the silver lining of being forgetful. After a few too many slips, I realized that I needed to infuse a little organization into my life. Now, instead of rushing around at midnight to find a lost permission slip, I spend 10 minutes every evening reviewing and signing important papers and scheduling my family’s activities. I now feel in control of our deadlines instead of letting them control me. If you find yourself forgetting things often like I was, it may be helpful to figure out a routine that works for you.

4. Go easy on yourself

t Motherhood is demanding, challenging and exhausting and that’s on a good day. Cut yourself some slack when mommy brain sets in. I used to get so upset with myself when I’d forget to do something important. I eventually learned that beating myself up was a waste of time and not the example I want to set for my child. If anything, I want him to see that we all make mistakes and that life is better spent learning from them, not regretting them.