Give me your "bad mom" list?

My daughter came to wake me up one morning and I told her I would be right there, I rolled over and went back to sleep. When I did get up she had fed her brothers cereal on plates (they were in the dishwasher, she couldn't reach the bowls) and then they had pudding for dessert.

I send my kids outside by themselves.

I have definitely sent them to Grandma's for a break.

I gave them potato chips and cookies for lunch once - it's what they wanted and I just didn't care.

If I don't feel like taking them to the park (or we don't have time), I tell them it's closed. The oldest are starting to question that one.

Can't say how many times I've picked up food, pacifiers etc from the floor and put them back in their mouth.

My husband and I take 2 long weekends a year and go somewhere without the kids. We have also gone on vacation (7-10 days) without them.

I have given my kids medicine to make them sleep, only a couple of times, but I did it and might do it again!

I leave my TV on all the time as background noise and now my 6 yr old does it too. The TV is always on and he never watches it but likes the background noise.

I don't make him pick up his toys every night, only when it bugs me I can't walk into my family room or company is coming.

I let him eat whatever he wants. If he wants cookies on his dinner plate next to his chicken he gets it. I don't want food to be an issue so everything in moderation.

I don't do anything about his liquid consumption at night despite his needing to wear a goodnight to bed. I find being thirsty horrible and unnecessary so what if he doesn't wake up he is only 6 and some boys pee at night until they are 10.

I don't buy toys every time I am out but I go crazy for Christmas, Easter, birthdays etc.

They are only kids once and I want them to have great memories of being a kid.

Nora Roberts! I don't see how anyone could not love that woman's talents!

I turn on the TV to get a break for a 1/2 hr or so when I get home from work.

When she was a baby she rolled off my bed more than once.

The other day she took a sip of wine at the bottom of the glass and said "This is yummy!"

I've given her candy as a bribe.

*I sometimes put his Yo Gabba Gabba show on just so I can get a break.

*I normally give my son a daily bath before bedtime but there has been days when I'm too tired and have skipped it until the next day (and there are times I even skip soap and just let him have a water bath).

*When he was a newborn he rolled off the bed.

*I've given him chocolate.

*When he was a newborn I let him sleep on his tummy despite his doctors advice not to (it was the only way he liked to sleep).

*My son has had fast food (even though it's a very rare occasion).

*I've actually let my son stay in his pajamas instead of changing him into an outfit while we made a quick trip to the store.

-I didn't read to my oldest two as often as I should have when they were toddlers

-I never cook my kids foods that I don't like such as rice, they've never had it unless it was served at school lunch

-I once lost my son (one of the twins) when he was 6 in the water park of six flags and couldn't find him for 10 minutes...longest 10 minutes of my life.

-one time I got so caught up in my older sons baseball game I forgot I lost track of time and picked up my son 30 minutes late from a birthday party.

-I have snapped at my kids when I was in a bad mood, I apologized but still I did it

-I've failed to give my kids messages when a friend of theirs I didn't like called

that's all I can think of but I'm sure there is more.

edit: just want to add, I don't spank, never have and my kids are far from holy terrors. It's possible to have good discipline without spanking. my boys are 16, 16, 13 and 11 and are all well behaved and respectful....I just hate when people make blanket statements that suggest if you don't spank your child will be a terror, that's simply not true. There are other ways to discipline. it's lack of any discipline that breeds terrors.

edit2: apology accepted :)

I am not a bad mom but there is one thing that I do that I regret all the time. When my 3 year old has completely gotten to my very last nerve and decided to throw an M-80 firecracker on it, I turn on the TV and plop her down in front of it. This happens about once a day which is too often in my opinion, But my 3 year old daughter talks and talks and talks. My wife and I were watching her last night amazed. She talked for about 3 hours straight.

I don't think this makes you an awful parent, and as u were only listing the bad stuff I'm sure there is a list as long as this that's just positive things. Children watching cartoons is not bad, as long as they are not violent cartoons. A lot of cartoons on CBBC are actually good for their development. However giving children unhealthy stuff (and I don't mean occasionally) is bad. (this goes to some of the commenting mums as mainly) Even if they don't get fat, children stuffing their faces with cheetos will mean they don't get proper nutrition they need, can get bad teeth and are a lot more likely to develop diabetes or heart disease when they are older. And as for organic food, people don't know what it is but slag it off. Organic food means that when it is made they don't pump them with E numbers and put a lot of sh*t in it. Or when vegetables or fruits are grown they are not sprayed with chemicals. So basically the way food used to be, before everything was processed. And no it is not actually a lot more expensive, a lot of the time the same price. And anyway it's your kids you;re talking about, surely they are worth that much extra cost? Cut back on your cigarettes, drinking, make-up or nights out. (Again this doesn't apply to you only, a lot of it goes to other people commenting on this) And no spanking is not okay. Of course they behave well, cause you are putting fear into their lives. I have a child of my own, and it is no way to deal with anything. My baby is 16 months old and when I explain something to him he pays attention and I have NEVER hit him, nor will I in the future. Just give them love and respect (yes you need to respect babies, they can sense your tone of voice, they are not stupid, just young) and you will get good behavior as a result, as you will have earned their respect towards you. And about time to yourself. Yeah you need it sometimes, everybody does. But don't make a habit of leaving your child with other people, even if it's family. If you want so much time to yourself, than don't have children.

kinda fun :)

Oh and i just want to start off by saying I LOVE NORA ROBERTS and have over 50 of her books well more than that if you count them individually because a lot of 3 books in them!

*I quit pumping and gave him formula because it was easier. He was born early and i wasn't making enough anyway. He got about 3-4 weeks of breast milk.

* i only plan to do a few weeks of breast milk with this child too, if at all --haven't decided.

*baby food comes in jars :)

*I allow my son to watch cartoons on a daily basis (not all day though, but a few episodes)

*He also will watch my soaps with me

*nothing was on tv one night so i turned on "My redneck wedding" and i have never heard my son laugh so much ever!

*Im a working mom (you wouldnt believe how many deam that a bad mom)

*Sometimes im just so tired and worn out, i dont keep on him about certain things like i should (ex potty training)

*We spank for certain misbehavior or when time outs arent working (now im sure someone will call cps on me)

wow i could go on forever, but i do not feel like a bad mom at all..... :)

EDIT---what is CIO???

These are not "bad" things, they are normal things that happen to all of us at one time or another. This is the course of life. A bad thing would be doing drugs in front of or with your kids. Selling them on the black market, etc. Or giving them sedatives because you can't handle life (like my mom did to me).

I used to let my son run around naked at the beach when he was little. Much to the chagrin of curmudgeony people, he had a blast and there was nothing wrong with it. Bad mom, no way. More like REAL mom.

Ugh.. here goes

-I let my son watch TV when we get home so I can smoke a cigarette.

-My son has fallen off the bed twice because I am a heavy sleeper and he is all over the place resulting him crashing to the floor and me waking up to hear him crying.

- I've given my son a little bit of coffee and sweet tea.

- I stopped breast feeding after a few weeks because he wouldn't latch on and I was sad and felt very disconnected from him.

- I once hit my son in the hand lightly to tell him to stop doing something

- He's eaten fast food a few times because I am a working mom who became lazy and didn't want to cook.

and lastly

-Put my son in front of the television so my husband and I could have sex... he kept tempting me with sex and I can't turn that down!

I agree that these things don't make me a bad mother, but announcing them on here people will ASSUME that you are a bad mother. When I started coming on here and sometimes still now, I feel like a lot of mothers on here try to be perfect with shoving their views down others throats and trying to make them feel guilty for the choices they make as a parent. Now and this has taken me a long time to realize... I love a lot of you on here, but fudge you for all the times you've made me feel like a bad parent for the choices I have made. I am just me and my son doesn't love me any less for the choices I have made in how I want to raise him.

EDIT: I don't believe in spankings, but I do believe in CIO. My son was colicky and after hours of trying to soothe him, I put him in bed and let him cry it out. I am happy about the choice I made because it has taught him to self soothe and his temper tantrums only last a few minutes. He also will put himself to sleep because of it. I BELIEVE in a child learning to self soothe!