Life
Before children, my memory was nearly spotless. I could recall grocery lists, every last childhood conversation (well, almost), and why I walked into a room at any given time. Now? Yeah, now I can't remember what I had for breakfast. In my ten years of parenting, I've done some absent-minded things, thanks to mommy-brain and as a result I'm a true believer in the body's need to rid itself of whatever it deems "unimportant," like your PIN number, to make room for things like making sure your children, you know, stay alive.
This forgetfulness can be caused by a number of things and, in my case, it's always been my habitual need to multitask. Sleep deprivation, lack of exercise, poor diet, anxiety, and stress can literally erase things from your mind — at least temporarily. When my kids were infants and the mommy-brain was in full effect, there were times I couldn't remember where I last put the keys (I still do this), or my phone. I ended up forgetting the names of people I know very well, discounted memories of events from recent history, and would have to check and double check if I'd paid certain bills, locked the door, or turned off my hair straightener.
While it was worse during pregnancy and immediately after giving birth, I still suffer from, and blame, mommy-brain on the regular. With our kids' intermixing schedules, work, and my brain's need to still, you know, keep the kids alive, I don't have room to remember much of anything else. Thankfully, I know I'm not alone.
Patty
"I forgot to feed my toddler. In my defense, he had fallen asleep about an hour before lunch and slept until about three in the afternoon. When he woke up, I couldn't figure out why he was screaming bloody murder. It took me about another hour to remember he never had lunch."
Trisha
"The first time I was exhausted, and hadn't had much sleep in a few days. [My baby] was probably a few weeks old and I was in her room rocking her to sleep. At some point, I had fallen asleep and when I woke up she was sleeping on the floor."
Michelle
"I was looking for my youngest child and asking people where he was. They told me, 'You are holding him!'"
Dena
"When my son was a 4-month-old baby, we took him on an ambitious outing to a local farming community. He was wearing tiny jeans for the first time, and I was so distracted by the cuteness that I left my credit card at a store for three days, and even then I only realized it was gone because the owner tracked me down via the internet to let me know where it was."
Sarah
"The most absent minded moment I had was when I was about 7 1/2 months pregnant and still working as a server in a local restaurant. It was the beginning of November and, since I live in Florida, that meant it was the busy season with snow birds and tourists flooding our sunny state. I had a huge table solo in the back room, which was for large parties, and I had entered all 20+ orders on one ticket since it was a business event and they just wanted one check.
Minutes ticked by and the diners became antsy. I went to the back to ask the kitchen staff what was taking so long. That's when a co-worker walked up to me and asked, "Did you know 63's order is still on the screen?!" Turns out I never sent it and they all got free desserts courtesy of my mommy brain."
Brooke
"I once sent my kid to school in Build-A-Bear socks."
Anonymous
"One night when I was exhausted, I went to grab the baby bottle from the fridge, not bothering to double check why it felt so heavy. By the time I sat down to feed the baby, I realized it wasn't the bottle of formula I thought I grabbed. It was a beer."
