Great Moments in Parenting, Part 1

We all have them. We all have those moments when we wonder how we were ever allowed to be parents at all.

When my daughter was in Kindergarten, my husband was deployed and my son was just getting the hang of potty training. One afternoon during my daughter's soccer game, my son had to use the bathroom. As most of us know, when a two-year-old says they have to use the bathroom, you run to the nearest toilet.

It was about that time that I had finally convinced my son to stand up to pee. He was proud of his new found skill, but I was in a rush.

He finished and leaned forward to flush without pulling up his pants. He slipped and was falling forward when, like any good parent, I grabbed him to keep him upright.

Except I overcompensated and overbalanced him. And I sent him head first into the toilet.

Yes, I gave my kid a swirly.

But it gets worse! Not only did his face get submerged, on the way down he knocked his cheek against the porcelain and ended up with a nasty gash. From the inside of a public toilet!

I did the best I could to clean him up, but I still had to walk back to all the other parents at the soccer game with a wet and bleeding child.

I'm still waiting for my mother of the year award to show up for that one.