I am so ashamed

I am a bad mom. If there were a license for parenting, it would get revoked today. Okay, maybe I'm being dramatic, but I am feeling really guilty.

I love that my boys can read. They amaze me every day with their abilities. Well, I've had a long and fairly wretched day. I've been trying to get Sugar to sleep but she keeps playing the potty card. I've been trying to listen to Roo read, but it is frequently interrupted by Sugar's potty calls and Jamo's homework help. There is only one of me and I can't do it all. One of the kids is going to be neglected and mom is going to feel pulled in all directions and worn thin.

And on that note, I had just finished another trip upstairs to impose sleep, when Roo came up to me with a look of concern on his adorable little face. He was holding something in his hand that I immediately recognized, a tag from the mattress. Now you know where I'm going and why I'm an awful mom, huh.

He tells me his story about why he ripped off the tag and then says, "But mom, it says 'do not remove under penalty of law', so what should I do?" And in my moment of weakness, I said, "I guess we need to tell the police." Of course, wailing and tears followed, after all, what kind of mother would torment her poor son like that? I felt guilty the second I saw his face fall and the tears flow and I told him I was only kidding, and that the tag says it can be removed by the consumer and he is the consumer. Then I had to explain that the tag is for stores only, not people. Anyway, it took a bit of explaining, but he is no longer worried about prison. Poor 5 yr old boy. If I had energy, I'd probably be crying from mommy guilt, but as it is, I don't even have energy to cry.