Disclaimer; all moms work – whether they’re stay-at-home or in the workplace, their days are filled with planning, scheduling, strategizing, etc. This blog post is specific to moms in the workplace but there are some things in it that will apply to stay-at-home moms too.  Thank you to the moms’ (Julie, Pat, and Jen) who contributed their stories for this blog post. I’ve altered their names for privacy.

You get home and cannot for the life of you remember how you got there. Sound familiar? You’re probably an overworked, sleep deprived, and over extended mom. You play wife, mother, chauffeur, chef, scheduler-in-chief, house cleaner, laundromat, peacemaker, career woman, and more on a typical day. So it’s no wonder you end up doing things that only other moms can completely understand and not pass any judgement. We set out to discover what those things might be by speaking to real working moms and drawing from our own experiences.

Here are 9 hilarious (and sometimes not) things we found out working moms do:

1. Fall asleep in strange places

It’s the end of the day, you’re tired and sleep deprived and you can’t wait to get home. So you hop on a bus or train, take a snooze and wake up startled wondering where you are and what the heck happened!  Well, this was me a few weeks ago. I fell asleep on my train ride home, missed my stop and woke up at the end of the line! I got home 40 minutes later than usual.

2. Stick a load of laundry in the washer then forget all about it

Julie does it all the time. She tries to accomplish as much as possible before she leaves the house. She’ll stick the kids baseball uniforms (that are needed the same night) in the washer then forget to tell her husband to put them in the dryer when he gets home. Of course, when evening comes along, they can’t find their uniforms! Essentially, she thinks she’s helping…but really not!

3. Wear your clothes inside out

Between getting your kids ready for school, packing lunches (and sometimes your own), making breakfast, and thinking about your day ahead, it’s surprising that moms don’t’ leave the house nude! Not too long ago, I wore my blouse inside out only to discover it half way through the day. Mind you, no one mentioned it to me even though one person had noticed it.  I found out because I happened to look at myself in the mirror and thought something about me seemed strange. My friend didn’t say anything because she wasn’t sure and didn’t want to offend me! Not cool.

4. Miss the turn to your kids school during morning drop off

Yup, that was me too…I remember hearing a little voice behind me saying “mom, where are you going?” We had a good laugh about it but it reminded me that I needed to be fully present.

5. Send your kids to school with empty lunch boxes!

Julie not only sent her kids to school with empty lunch boxes, but also with yesterday’s leftovers! Ouch!

6. Volunteer for school events but fail to show up

Imagine receiving an email from your child’s teacher while you’re at work asking “Julie, are you still joining us today on our field trip?” only to realize that you’d completely forgotten about it! In Julie’s defense, she had signed up for the event at the beginning of the year and hadn’t realized how much she was already doing!

7. Look for things when they’re on you already

C’mon, own up (I am)! How many times have you looked for your cell phone when you’re speaking to someone on it or searched for your glasses when you have them on? I feel completely loony when I do it. Plus, I have a hunch someone watching my strange behavior would be thinking the same thing too. Sigh!

8. Misplace your keys “again”

Pat’s kids have been tardy at school only a few times. But it’s not because they’re slacking.  They would have perfect attendance if mom did not misplace her car keys and cannot locate spares ones. Her kids excuse when asked for the reason for their tardiness “car trouble!”

9. Wear mismatched shoes to the office

Once while rushing to get out of the house grabbing baby and work stuff, and baby, Jen put on one black pump and one navy and didn’t notice until she was on her train ride heading to the city.  After she finally sat, got comfy, and was 4 stops down the line, she looked down and realized that she had two different shoes! She had to go through her entire day like that as it wasn’t worth the effort to go back home, loose her parking spot and pay more fare.  In her own words “I figured there were worse things than two different shoes and at least I would make it to work on time.” We love Jen’s attitude!

No matter how organized moms try to be, it’s often that we find ourselves running around like headless chicken!  We may laugh at the funny things we do because of our hectic lives but it should serve as a reminder to step back and take care of ourselves. With Mother’s Day in a couple of days, we must remember that taking one day out of the year to celebrate is well and good but not enough. We have to dedicate some time everyday (even if it’s just 15 minutes) to revitalize our mind,  body, and spirit. After all, a happy mother equals a happy home.

I dedicate this post to 3 moms in my life who inspire me the most; my mom and my sisters, Josephine and Esther.  Happy Mother’s Day to you, our gapmuse moms, and all moms around the world. We love you and appreciate everything you do to nurture us, love us, and ensure we become successful and good human beings.

Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful mom (top) and beautiful sisters, Josephine (left) and Esther (right.) Thank you for being my best mom role models! 🙂

How about you, gapmuse moms, have you done anything hilarious that you would like to share? Please tell us your story so we can get a good laugh too. After all, laughter is the cheapest and best medicine.

Be inspired.