Hmmm...plaque or trophy?

I win the "real bad mommy" prize.

My daughter was very scared of going downstairs alone. Her bedroom is down there, so often, in order for her to retrieve a toy or something else she needed, she'd ask me to stand at the top of the stairs and watch her go down. If I'd talk to her while she was down there, she'd wait until she got back upstairs to answer, because "they will hear me if I talk when I'm down there!"

One day, she was heading back upstairs after one such daring foray. I have no idea what possessed me to do this. I really didn't expect the reaction I got. But I knew I shouldn't do it. I said, very casually, "Hey, look out behind you." She screeched and bolted up the last few stairs as if a demon were chasing her. I really had only expected her to sarcastically reply, "Oh, cut it out, Mommy..." But her terrified reaction was just awful. I am the world's worst mommy.

Note from The Baddest of the Bad: This entry epitomizes the world of difference between Hellparents and Real Bad Mommies. A Real Bad Mommy is self-aware enought to feel terrible when she screws up -- and we ALL screw up. A Hellparent just doesn't get it.