I’ve been a mother to my beautiful little Tiffany for more than three years now, so take it from me: Those thoughts in your head telling you you’re an unsuitable parent never go away. When I first became a mom, the pressure from other mothers to breastfeed almost made me give up parenting altogether. When Tiffie was two, I would lose countless hours of sleep mulling over which preschool to enroll her in. And, as if my insecurities about motherhood couldn’t get any worse, I recently rewatched that movie Poltergeist, which made me aware that my sweet Tiffany might sucked into our home television screen. I actually caught her the other day, watching an episode of Bubble Guppies with her hands pressed up against the TV, and thought to myself, What if she gets sucked in there?
I know a great mom wouldn’t let this happen to her kid, but truth be told, sometimes when I’m making dinner or need to grab a quick shower, I leave Tiffany in the living room alone with the TV on. Would it make me a horrible parent if one of these days she gets sucked up into the screen by a ghost that preys upon young children, sometimes manipulating electronics in the process?
It’s too much to think about. On top of failing to breastfeed Tiffany, enroll her in a good school, or feed her strictly organic foods, I may now have to admit to my whole group of mom friends that my daughter was abducted into my television screen by evil spirits. How embarrassing.
Again, I know this isn’t something anyone wants for their child, but am I really that bad of a mom if it happens? Am I a complete failure if Tiffany ends up floating in the netherworld for the rest of her half-life, screaming for help that will never come? That’s just a lot of pressure to place on a parent.
Honestly, some days I just need someone to tell me I’m doing an okay job, even if my daughter does get sucked into the TV by evil ghosts. No one is perfect! I don’t need judgment from other moms when I can already hear the faint shrieks of my oh-so-precious Tiffany as she tries to communicate with me from the spirit dimension. So lighten up!
Like any other parent, all I can do is try my best. Sometimes your kid eats a Cheerio off the floor of McDonalds and you just have to hope they don’t get sick. And, before you ask: Yes, I’ve already hired a psychic to help me in the event that Tiffany does get dragged into the TV by a tortured spirit.
At the end of the day, it’s important for me to know I’m not the only one there dealing with this and in writing about it, I hope other moms will take comfort in knowing they are not alone in occasionally exposing their children to this abject horror. Nobody gives you a manual for raising kids! Someone’s gotta be the parent whose kid succumbs to a paranormal phenomenon and gets sucked into the TV, and if that someone is me, then maybe that does make me a “bad” mom. Hey—I’m only human!
