This past week kicked our butts and we got a tiny glimpse of how hard single parenting is. For starters, Mr. Ice Cream and I both got knocked down by pretty serious colds plus there was a major grant submission at work that meant working on the weekend and a few late nights. The result was one adult, with barely enough energy, running after a toddler and a second adult, coughing up a lung, working long hours.

I thought I would talk about some of my mom fails because it is so easy to develop an unrealistic perspective that everyone around you is leading the perfect existence, especially based on their social media posts. Well balanced (home cooked) meals, perfect parenting, gorgeous (and perfectly organized) house! But the reality is a much less edited version that doesn’t always feel “blog worthy.” Then I remembered one of the reasons it is so therapeutic to blog is that there are so many other moms out there that feel the same way and it’s so much better to know you aren’t alone. So here it is, mom fails from last week:

1. We brushed Max’s teeth 5 out of the 7 days.

2. Max had microwave Mac & Cheese for 3 days.

3. I forgot to bring extra clothes for Max at school so 3 days in a row he came home wearing daycare pants.

4. Max started saying “Roomba play with Max?” (Roomba is our vacuum cleaner)

5. Any more than one pile of clean laundry feels like an overwhelming pile that is impossible to tackle. This week we let 3 piles build up.

6. Max’s daycare teachers told me they can tell we are working on “potty training” at home because Max is improving, but aside from buying a “potty” we haven’t done anything.

7. This might be more of a personal fail, but Mr. Ice Cream and I have run a NCAA tournament pool for the last 10 years, and this is the first year we didn’t have time to set it up. Mr. Ice Cream sets up the backend (scoring system, website, etc) and I handle the brackets. It’s the perfect activity that combines my love of college basketball and Mr. Ice Cream’s love for tech. I feel strangely sad that it didn’t happen this year, but it’s not to say we won’t try again next year.

What’s your secret for getting through a tough week? Please share!