Oh my gosh, so this meme brought up a particular memory of me as a much younger mom, with a much younger Matthew, who was just holding onto her sanity by a thread. I was working 10-hour shifts as a restaurant manager (13 if you include travel time) and trying to raise my little boy with my then Twat of a husband - who is now my ex.
I was exhausted and Matthew was starved for attention.
I only got one day off a week, and this was usually spent curled up in a ball on the couch, watching reruns of Days of our Lives and The Bold and the Beautiful.
This particular off day, I decided to do a bit of grocery shopping - to get myself and Matthew out a bit. Omg. What a disaster.
So, Matthew and I entered our local super market and the shit started almost immediately.
Matthew grabbed a toy car off the shelf, which I could not afford, and insisted that he wanted it. I managed to pry it from his hands, but when I got distracted for a second, he took the opportunity to grab the toy again and was frantically trying to free it from its packaging. I managed to get the security guard involved and poor 4-year-old Matthew got the fright of his life. So that solved the toy problem, but it didn't end there.
Next, I needed some dry goods and could not avoid the chip aisle. I knew I was heading into dangerous territory. Matthew grabbed multiple packets of chips and I had to say no, over and over.
Then we got to the refrigerated section of the shop and Matthew found the ice-creams. "I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream"? Yeah, that's pretty much where we were at this point.
I said no.
He freaked out and had a floor tantrum.
The whole store was now aware of the two of us and I was mortified.
We eventually made it to the front counter to pay for my goods, and Matthew grabbed a "sweetie-pie" which is a marshmallow and wafer-filled chocolate and is very fragile and expensive. I said no again for what felt like the 50th time that morning, and Matthew had a tantrum about it for what felt like the 50th time that morning. And I swear, he looked me dead in the eye and slammed it onto the counter, flattening it.
At this point, I boiled over. I asked the cashier, who had been a saint, to please give me a minute as I took Matthew outside and gave him one of the only hidings of his life.
I got back into the store to a round of applause from staff and other patrons.
Matthew was dead silent after that, but my troubles didn't end there.
I waited for my (ex) husband to pick us up, outside the shop, and one of the bags broke. The bag that broke contained a bottle of milk, a bottle of tomato ketchup and (a much needed) bottle of wine. And there it all was. Splattered all over the pavement.
Matthew started crying because he thought it was his fault, I started crying because I couldn't afford to replace the groceries.
Luckily, the store manager who had been watching the whole event from when we walked into the store, felt so sorry for me that he replaced all my lost/broken groceries for me.
It's a day I'll never forget and it's a reminder to me, and the many friends, especially new moms I've spoken to, that it's ok to not be ok, and sometimes, you'll just be a big mess.
And sometimes, you just need a fat glass of wine 😂😂❤️
