MockMom

Mom Heartbroken After Missing Child’s Incredibly Mundane Trick

 

Donna Martin, mother of three, is heartbroken. “Don’t take anything for granted. Cherish every moment,” she said in a statement after admitting she missed her child jumping from one foot to the other.

Martin described the day as being typical; she sent her oldest off to kindergarten, apologetic for not having the child’s cat tights clean and ready to go but relieved the bunny t-shirt stopped the tantrum.

Martin then spent 45 minutes getting twin toddlers to the park to enjoy a warm, late fall morning.

“It’s hard to wrestle toddlers into socks, shoes, and pants, especially when there are two of them. Usually one has to poop during the process and completely undresses themselves to do so, but that’s part of the job. I’m a mother. It’s my job to sweat, sacrifice, and die a little inside every time one of my children undoes all of my hard work. It goes with the territory.”

After throwing organic gummies to her seat-belt-restrained twins, promising more snacks at the park and nearly driving into oncoming traffic to retrieve a water bottle which had rolled under the gas pedal, Martin and her children settled into their usual stomping grounds.

Another stay-at-home mom who often runs into Donna and her children said this: “We love seeing the Martins at the park. Donna just gets it. She is so prepared with extra clothes and snacks. I rely on her for parenting advice and always feel better when she reminds me that I will sleep again in 10 years or so.”

When pressed, the SAHM, who didn’t want to be named for fear of judgment from other moms, described Donna Martin as harried, sweaty, and a little distracted at times. She wasn’t surprised this happened.

“She has three kids; two are twins. I can’t imagine. She can’t even afford organic milk anymore.”

After 90 minutes of hearing her three-year-old twins, Zach and Abby, demand her attention to watch them climb, slide, skip, and jump, Martin looked down to check a text on her phone. But in doing so, she made the biggest mistake of her life.

“I missed it. Abby said, ‘Watch me! Look!’ at the same time I looked down. She had been jumping from her left foot to her right, but in the moment I took my eyes off of her she had decided to hop twice on her right foot before switching back to her left.”

After hearing screams that sounded as though her daughter had lost a limb, Martin jumped up to aid her child who was nearly three feet away. Thankfully, her daughter was not injured, just disappointed. Which, according to Martin, was almost worse.

“This was my fault. I should have been watching. I feel awful that I caused her so much pain. It’s not like she and my other two kids are not always reminding me to watch, to look, and to take pictures of them.”

Martin calmed her daughter, but when Abby couldn’t repeat the trick of hopping twice on one foot, she launched into hysterics again.

GoPro caught wind of the story after the anonymous SAHM told the tale to her brother-in-law who works for the company. GoPro generously donated a wearable camera to Martin so she would never, ever miss a moment of her children’s lives.

“Kids growing up in this day and age expect to be seen all of the time. When a child’s first word is ‘cheese’ and a toddler knows how to post to Instagram, you know it is essential to parents like Donna who want to nurture their children’s need to feel important. We are happy to help,” said Matt Black, a rep from GoPro.

Martin intends to learn how to set her children’s best moves to music, too, having stated that some indie rock would be a pleasant change from the non-stop soundtrack of Daniel Tiger she has in her head. Not that she minds, though.

“Like I said, I’m a mom. It’s my duty to enjoy every part of parenthood. And it’s true, don’t blink or you will miss it. I can’t imagine not feeling this tired, strung out, and without time to do anything for myself. I feel so blessed.”

Martin also thanked GoPro with a homemade card and a photo of her three children, because nothing says thank you for a $500 camera like a five-year-old’s artwork and a photo of three kids looking in three different directions.

*****

About the Author

Amber Leventry is a writer and SAHM. They try to be good at both each day, but never the twain shall meet. They live in Vermont with their partner, the kids, and their attention deprived dog. Their writing appears on The Next Family, Parent.co, Scary Mommy, BLUNTmoms, Huffington Post, and The Advocate. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram.