On another note, if I'm chatting with a mom and her kid runs up and says someone pushed him I usually respond with "oh that was probably my son who did that..." .....probably not the best response.....

We banned soda from kids at home, they can drink on the rare occassions we eat out, but never at home...

@rwiedenfeld - I agree with you. Although I totally get feeling imperfect and not a part of the *mommy* crowd. 

Ohhh I'm so happy to read this! I'm that mom too! Brooklyn who is 6 has had to have three crowns this year! I always looked at other people kids with full mouths of shiny silver teeth and thought oh that poor kid they don't take care of their kids teeth! WRONG B has ALWAYS brushed and flossed etc... grinding was our culprit! She ground her way through her damn teeth!! 

I'm not a perfect mother by any stretch of the imagination. I screw up, I make bad decisions and don't always have the best judgement. I also never strive to be perfect because I'd rather not deal with the disappointment I'll feel when I don't achieve it. I just try everyday to teach my kids right from wrong. I try to instill in them empathy and gratitude. I encourage good manners both at home and away. The list goes on and on. I don't dwell on my mistakes, I make an effort to learn from them. Now, before I sound like a self righteous freak, I'll move on ha ha. I think we all try to do our best when it comes to raising children. None of us have all the answers, and any mom who tells you she is perfect is lying through her teeth (and probably has more imperfections in her life than most people lol).

There were a few things in the OP that I didn't like:  First of all, you encouraged your child to lie, and you're proud of that? I don't know about anyone else, but that seriously makes my stomach hurt. Teaching a child that it's okay to lie is only going to lead to confusion and stress for the child (i.e. "You can only lie when I tell you to."), and will come back to bite you in the butt at some point. Second, what does home school have to do with anything? Third, what kind of example are you for your child when you show you're okay with her deliberately being mean to another child? That little boy was upset, and calling him names just makes you, for lack of a better description, immature. Fourth, what right do you have to judge another mother for the way she handles her OWN child? Based on the description of the other moms at the zoo compared to how you described yourself screams jealousy, and I guess the best way we handle jealousy is by cutting others down, even if it's only in our minds.....

@jenniferamberh - "we are all just learning as we go." I totally agree.

@syringesofglitter_x@xanga - Really? You are going to read about 2 situations from her entire life and have the nerve to judge her and say she is a bad parent? I guess you've never had bad/embarrassing parent moments. 

ya know, it's not like your daughter actually HURT the kid.  She just laughed that he was hurt.  Most kids laugh when someone gets hurt, or when someone falls down.  My almost 3 year old nephew laughs HYSTERICALLY at Spongebob, Tom & Jerry, & Brobee on Yo Gabba Gabba when they cry/fall/do something stupid.  If your kid were legitimately the bully and physically hurt them, then I'd step up and apologize and make her apologize too.  But obviously the kid had his feelings hurt.  I'm sure they weren't really judging you, or at least not too horribly.

Also, I know some grown adults who'd totally lie to get their own stuff for free, so HEY a win is a win!!

rehearsing what to say to the Dentist about what happened to the tooth and flat out lying to the Dentist about what happened???????......then you wonder why your child lies to you???????????.........you just taught them to lie when its convenient.............

Why are the moms who have it all together irritating? 

I don't even bother to try to fit in on the playground.  I don't and I am over it.  I mean I've worn wedges before.  If I thought I could catch my son in heels I swear, I'd wear them on purpose (while carrying the pomeranian in a purse to add to the she must be a bimbo look).  I've only ever seen one other mother on the playground that I think I would have liked.  All the other mothers were watching in horror b/c we were letting our sons wrestle on the slides when the oldest may have 3 (for the record, I was standing right there and could have caught them at any moment).   I get the feeling that even if our boys were older, pre-teens, these mothers would have been horrorfied that we didn't say "ZOMGZ you'll break you necks and your eyes will pop out."  I was too shy to ask if she would be my mommy friend.  I really wish I would have.

@rachmorgan01  I agree. We all have had that moment where our child does or says something that leaves you going "Oh my! did he/she really just say/do that?!" & you feel embarrassed or you wonder where you went "wrong" in your parenting style. I don't mean to sound like such a bitch about this post, but I feel if the author was a little less proud of what she did & said something like "I shouldn't have lied to the dentist & had my child go along with it" you know, admit that she made a mistake, instead of acting like that was a cool thing to do, & had she not referred to a six year old child as a "stupid crybaby" while trying not to have her "cover blown" my outlook on this post would have been entirely different. I just got the sense that she was proud of her behaviors & that of her child - which in this case isn't something you teach/be proud of --  your child lying or try to "hide" from when your child accidentally or purposefully bullies another child & you certainly never refer to a hurt child as a "stupid crybaby."