And then came the mama freak-out moment…

I’d like to think that my friends would describe me as easy-going. I’ve got a ‘whatever’ type attitude towards most things. I don’t care where we meet, what we eat, what we do… most of the time.

I do wonder how Lacey would describe me as a mum though. I’m laid-back, I guess. I don’t wrap her in cotton wool. But I most certainly have my moments.

And my ‘moments’ aren’t limited to just Lacey either. On Christmas Eve I made a whopping big ham, and while it cooked, it sat on a big piece of aluminum foil. Once it was cooked I placed the foil in the kitchen bin and went about doing other Christmas preparations {or lying on the couch, I can’t remember}.

You know when things are oddly quiet that something has gone wrong. As a parent you know if you hear a big bang, and then silence there’s trouble. Someone has fallen, or something has happened that shouldn’t have. But if you hear crying, or a loud “Muuuuuum!” then everything is probably OK or fixable. So back to the silence on Christmas Eve. I soon discovered that Bronte {our dog} had opened the back door {we raise them highly intelligent here, or sneaky}, made her way inside and snuck back out with that piece of foil. When I went to check on her, a good part of it had been digested.

And the freak out began.

I collected the remaining foil, consulted my family, “Oh my god, she ate some foil! What will I do? Why do these things happen on Christmas Eve?!”

I decided I’d wait about an hour and see how she was traveling, and then call the vet.

That lasted about 3.2 minutes and I found myself on the phone. “Hey, it’s Chantelle, Bronte’s mum {I always say that and it’s ALWAYS awkward}….” and I told the story, frantically.

They told me to give her some laxatives, watch her and it should all be fine but if not, then we could always rush in for emergency surgery to remove it. If she got REALLY sick.

I fed her some laxatives, so over Christmas and the following days she left sparkling little deposits all over the back lawn. So very festive. All was OK.

And my most recent moment? It was just last week. Lacey was at swimming lessons. She does lessons at a small pool, with a handful of kids and a bunch of parents sitting around watching. There were 3 kids in her class and while the teacher focused on one of them, the two others stood on a platform in the middle of the pool. The little girl with the teacher was finally putting her head under water for the first time, so all the parents were cheering… and I noticed in the background that the platform was tipping over and the two other girls were falling into the {not very deep} water. Now, both girls can swim enough to look after themselves but something inside me kicked in and I freaked out.

“OH MY GOD THE PLATFORM HAS FALLEN OVER!!!!!” I shrieked, my arms flailing around pointing to the middle of the pool.

In that moment I knew I’d overreacted. The teacher turned around {they were within reach, it’s seriously a small pool} and lifted the platform up. I felt my face go red, the other parents looked at me like a crazed women, and the teacher mustered a “thanks” with a weird expression on her face. An expression that read: Dramatic much?

Hubby sat beside me, and didn’t look at me or acknowledge my reaction. All I wanted was a knowing nudge or smile. But nothing. I hoped that it would be one of those moments we never spoke about. It took the rest of the lesson for my beetroot red face to return to normal.

After swimming we did the grocery shopping, picked up some mail, had some lunch and headed home. At that stage I thought I’d made it through and Hubby wasn’t going to bring it up. But it was when the groceries were packed away, and we were sitting together that he thought he’d raise it.

“What was that at the pool? No, hang on. Let me do a re-enactment…”

And so he did. Mortified I dropped to the ground in tears of laughter, my face beetroot red again.

“Your voice turned into pitchy Mariah Carey and you were SO over-the-top. Chill out woman,” he laughed.

So, while my friends {hopefully} call me easy-going, I think Lacey is just going to tell her friends that I’m one of those mums, capable of breaking out in a freak out moment at any given time. Red face optional.

How would you describe yourself? Easy-going? Or a bit of a stress-head?

photo credit: -MRGT via photopin cc

27 thoughts on “And then came the mama freak-out moment…”

  1. Chantelle! I feel your mortification, but I’m laughing at the same time! 🙂 When I do things like that (and I do it sometimes, too), it takes me DAYS to get over it. My eldest daughter tells me I’m strict and mean, but also bursts into effusive praise of “You’re the BEST mother in the world!” on a regular basis. I believe in discipline – doing your homework regularly, doing your music practice, doing your sports practice, and doing them all before “fun” time. I limit (or ban) tv and computer games during the school week. If I say “no”, it stays “no” (unless I’m actually WRONG, but I can’t be persuaded by sweet talk or tantrums). As far as letting my children make mistakes, or fall out of trees, etc, I am fairly laid back. So long as they are safe, I’m happy for them to learn their own lessons. I believe in providing lots of love – in words, hugs, services, kisses, looks, and support. I hope I’m growing strong, independent girls who know they are loved. Time will tell.

  2. Chantelle – I can so relate to this, especially the pool incident. I have banned myself from watching my girls ride most of the time because one small stumble or trip and that’s the end of me and they are absolutely oblivious to it all and just continue on their merry way. I have got better over the years but my husband would say I am the stress – head in our little family:)

  3. my dog has eaten all sorts of interesting stuff. He thinks he is human.

    one christmas he hooked in to a rather large box of liquor chocolates (that I didn’t care for) and probably ate at least half the box including the foil wrappers before i noticed. I was beside myself.

    He then ate a whole batch of patty cakes that were cooling on top of the stove.

    He then ate some duck that was resting on the kitchen bench.

    And lastly, half a loaf of bread and an almost new tub of butter.

    we’ve learnt to put things away needless to say!

  4. So sweet! I can totally relate to that. Especially the beetroot face. When I do something that makes me blush, I literally have to talk to myself (in my head!) telling myself to breathe and calm down. The best thing is that you can laugh about it!

  5. But you should also add funny to the description of yourself. I was chuckling away reading this one, I love that you can laugh at yourself. I like to think that I’m easy-going and most of the time my daughter says that I’m a nice mum, but I am prone to random bouts of shouty-ness!

  6. I’m with you, I consider myself pretty chilled, that being said, I am suppressing a ranging stress head. I can see every little thing that can go wrong in almost every situation and each and every time, I have to tell myself to just deal with it, if and when it happens. So on the outside I’m like “yeah, whatever” on the inside, I’m “holy cow, omg, OMG!”

    • oh you are the same as me…xxx its really hard isnt it:) my two are driving now, and that brings a whole new level of anxiety bubbling through 🙂
      My boss told me one day i looked so calm and collected making all my coffee orders, but secretly inside i was swimming like a little duckie round and round in circles 🙂

  7. I think I’m relaxed, but I think a lot of other people might describe me as ‘highly strung’.
    Our old labrador (of course) once ate a knee high stocking, that had to be pulled out of the other end, at the dog park. Gee those stockings can stretch a long way.
    xx
    Yay for festive dog poop!

  8. What a great post! I think most Mums/doggie Mums have shared similar experiences. We’ve had sparkly poo at our house too! Thanks for brightening my day.

  9. I’m usually fairly easygoing with well hidden stresshead tendancies. The sparkly poo, I know it well… sadly, not from a dog. Cam likes to sit there and strip the tinsel from the string and eat it by the handful. One memorable note to school “Dear Bec… does your Christmas tree have pink tinsel by any chance? I’ve only got red and silver here yet there was a pink festive tinge to the nappy this afternoon. Cheers!” Apparently I make them laugh?

  10. That is hilarious in a good way Chantelle! I love reading your “Bronte” stories as I can so relate (we have a lab also who is 7 months) our Marley is such a baby and sometimes cries in the night just because she wants a cuddle. She is a wee bit naughty too, wrecked many, many things and wow ALWAYS hungry!!. But we still love her dearly. Your swimming story reminds me of .. well.. me! I’ve often wondered if I’ll end up in the water at swimming lessons 😉

  11. I suffer with anxiety and want to be a relaxed parent but it’s so hard, I watch my husband looking after the kids casually at the playground and have to bite my tongue to stop from ‘back-seat parenting’. I don’t want to wrap them up in cotton wool but find myself doing it if I’m not careful and that’s no good for them or me.
    My anxiety is as a result of having overly anxious parents who taught me through their actions that everything outside the house is scary and you can’t trust anyone. I am desperate not to pass this on to my kids, but it’s hit and miss!

  12. Ha ha ha, reminds me of a school sports day when one of my sons who was sporty but was always beaten in to second place by the same child was seemingly to me ahead in a running race. Well, I was on my feet cheering and shouting and clapping only to realise they were just running to the start line!!! That was over 20 yrs ago and I think my face is still pink from it.

  13. Hi Chantelle…wonderful post!!!!
    I can relate to EVERYTHING you’ve said. I am a stresshead… I was always worried about my kids safety and always overacted if I thought something was dangerous.( usually it wasn’t)….Now I’m overprotective of the great grand kids …….
    Our 9yr old Jack Russell eats some weird things at times…some dogs never grow out of this…
    Have a good day

    • Im a stress head too and thinks about all that *might* happen. Just had to say we also have a jack russell and i ask you? Where do they even find half the stuff they eat LOL

  14. It doesn’t go away. Even when they’re 18 and try to get away by moving to college. I’ve tried to control….stifle it…..can’t. But take heart, I’ve yet to be disowned.

  15. I like to refer to them as a grab-bag of funny stories my kidlets [and your Lacey] will look back on with a smile; You have a magical way of connecting through words Chantelle; thanks for sharing and good luck x

  16. Too funny! You had me laughing out loud, I think I would have been the same at the swimming pool 🙂 Just love your posts, you have such a way with words 🙂

  17. I’ve been lurking on your blog for a few weeks now, but the humor in this post drove me to come out. I think every person has had their freak out moment. Mine usually happen in the car when my husband is driving and does something I don’t expect. My reaction is one as if we’re all going to die, when in fact, we are all perfectly fine. He makes so much fun of me and that drives me a little more insane than the surprise itself!

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