I was frantically wrestling my daughter into the car.
Then, I looked across the car and saw an empty car seat.
My eyes darted around and he was nowhere in sight.
Only an hour earlier, I was rushing into the grocery store worried about how we were going to pay for everything we needed.
So many things were on my mind that day: the dinner I had to make in just a few hours, the fight my husband had just the night before, and feeling like I wasn't cutting it as a mom.
That's a lot to worry about for one shopping trip, but it was kind of a constant thing at that point.
Under the pressure I just couldn't be myself, I had to be what everyone else needed.
And I cracked under pressure.
Remember that empty car seat?
Yes, I was so preoccupied with other things that I left my only son in the grocery store.
How could a mom do that?
People told me that it happens all the time, but does it really? Or are they just trying to make me feel better?
I truly felt like I was a bad mom and that my kids deserved better than what I could offer.