Hello friends,
Recently I booked a special trip with my 8 year old son Jack. Â We were going to Cancun, Mexico to meet up with friends of mine and help on a service trip. Â We were spending 3 days helping to support a Dad with 3 boys and rebuild their house and their lives.
We were SO excited. Â Jack was excited to finally join me on some of my favorite work. Â And I was excited for Jack to meet some of the most inspiring people in my life and some of my favorite friends. Â For him to be in that energy was a dream come true for me.
I woke up at 5 am, bags were packed, grabbed our passports and O! M! G! Â My sons passport was expired!!!!!!
Holy SHIT!
Worst Mom EVER.
Worst day EVER.
Have you ever had one of those epic mom fails? Â Probably not as big as this one. Â This makes missing Zoe’s first recital because you got the day wrong look like peanuts. Â Or leaving the hockey equipment at home when you arrive at an away game look like a slight oversight. Â Totally forgivable.
This. THIS was a fail of EPIC proportion.
At first I was just going to stay home with him.  Forget the trip all together. How could I possibly go WITHOUT him?  This was planned for US, not just me.  But I was bringing important equipment down for the experience.  More people shouldn’t have to suffer from my fail.
As the reality of the situation hit me I started to shut down. Â I went to the airport, found the nearest bathroom and wept.
Why is this happening?
Did I make the right decision?
How could I let this happen?
Will he ever forgive me?
Will my husband ever forgive me?
How can I recover from this?
I wiped my tears, settled down on my flight and made a plan.
Here’s how I chose to recover from this EPIC Mom Fail:
#1. Stay in the present moment.Â
Thinking about what SHOULD have been or could have been was not healthy. I had to try and stay in the present moment.
#2. Close your eyes and forgive.Â
Beating myself up about it wouldn’t help anyone. It would only make me frustrated, upset and irritable.
#3. Let it go and TRUST the Universe has a bigger plan.Â
Elsa is a genius. When I let it go I started to see why this was meant to be. As the days unfolded I realized how much more I could do with Jack not there. It didn’t make up for the missed experience with him but it did profoundly impact these boys lives in a much bigger way than I could have with Jack along.
#4. Safeguard your happiness.
When I first arrived, even with this plan, I was sulking. All I could do was look around and think about how much better it would be with Jack there. How much fun he would have. How it would impact him. I had to shake it off and do things to bring myself joy. A walk on the beach. Morning yoga. Laughing with friends. A margarita the size of my head. Whatever it takes. Focus on your happiness because it’s your JOB and your job only. No one else will.
#5. Make a new plan.Â
I talked with Jack and asked him “what can I do to make this up to you?”  We had an overnight in the city, he got a hamster (ewwww, major sacrifice) and there was a visit to Chuckie Cheese (even bigger sacrifice!!!!)  Jack forgave me. And we’re excited to plan another trip to go on together.
I hope you don’t ever have a Mom fail of epic proportion. But if you do follow these steps and you’ll hopefully get on the other side of it a little faster.
Share with me, what was YOUR epic Mom fail? Because we’re all in this together and I could use the camaraderie. 🙂
Loving this life, fails and all,
Steffani