Can't Seem to Do Anything Right!!

Yes, ordered a bunch of helium balloons for my son's first communion. They the balloon people called to remind me. Ran to pick them up, forgot they had helium in them, bent over to put them in the car and they all flew away-about twentyfive dollars worth yikes...

This happens to me all of the time.
I have tell myself, "L., slow down and think" I hate when others tell me this, but I know they are right.

If I get into this cycle of silly mistakes.. .. I will go back to making simple lists with well thought out plans.

The cake from Costco, should have been placed on a towel (to grip it) either on the front seat next to you.. with the air condition running or in the back seat if there was room.. .

But to save it, cut fresh flowers strategically placed on the messed up icing, will make it even more beautiful than before!

When we are excited, stressed and busy, mistakes happen more easily..

Who put that message in your head that you "can't seem to do anything right?"

Work on that . . . and the problem will be solved.

You do LOTS of things right, I have no doubt.

Stop beating up on yourself. Love yourself.

Aww, that's not screwing up! It's not like you traumatized your kids or something. In fact, it sounds like you're good at fixing what goes wrong... 4 candles in the squished flower is a clever way to cover.

Who told you that you screw up "like this all the time"? Ditch the negative self-talk and take a good look at what you get right. I bet there's alot. Give yourself a pat on the back for being the nice sis-in-law to pick up the cake, have a good laugh at the new frosting design and enjoy some birthday cake.

i think you are being too hard on yourself and beating yourself up about small things. Have more confidence in what you are doing - you try very hard to get things done and then something goes wrong- most of the times these are not life shattering issues. So give yourself a break! I have days like that too! Sometimes rethink some of the things that went wrong - were you in too much of a hurry? didn't have all the stuff you needed to do the job properly? did something before you thought it through? If you see a pattern, then consciously try to change your behavior. If you see that you have dangerous issues - like leaving the stove on or putting the cat in the dishwasher, see your doctor!

I make more mistakes like that when I am overworked, tired and stressed. When you add "just one more" thing to your list that is too much. Maybe you need to learn to say "no" when asked, maybe you need more sleep, maybe the end-of-winter-blues (so sick of the cold here in Boston) are getting you down, maybe you have adhd and cannot finish one thing before staring another. Hard to tell from a short posting. But there are definetely days that everything goes wrong (bump you head, drop your purse, forget the phone in the car, leave my umbrella at work, etc.etc.). Those are the days I get take out for dinner for the family and change into PJ's when I walk in from work, and do as little as possible and go to bed early.

Angela is 100% right. It's the way you are seeing it. How about you GOT your SIL a cake! I bet she appreciated that. Stop trying to do too much. What you are doing is perfect!

You may be experiencing the "self fulfilling prophecy." It says that we get what we expect. Try being kind to yourself. Accept that this sort of things happens and let go of the feeling that you "can't seem to do anything right." Messing up the flower and the Ha is really no big deal. Trust yourself more.

I also agree with Susan B. Do take a look at how you're acting which may be causing this to happen. Sounds like you did check to see that everything was secure. So don't blame yourself.

oh my gosh yes. we were just at the inlaws and My bil was some sort of system for what drinks his kids get when, like milk at dinner, but not if they are having greenbeans, I"m exaggerating, but i can't figure out his system. Honestly at home we usually do juice at lunch and milk at dinner, but when we are at other peoples houses i try to be more flexible, Anyhow, DS was playing hard and i knew he was thristy so instead of milk when mil asked what drink he wanted w lunch i told her juice, and got a look from BIL because apprently it was milk time for his kids, and while he won't come out and dicate what my kids drink i do feel judgement, wouldn't you know My Ds sits down and says "ahhh but i wanted milk" are you kidding me!! and i get ANother look from BIl.

this has happened so many times that i am totally getting a complex and from now on will just ask my kids what they want and avoid looking at Bil.

Not quite the same but just dumb choices like you said, nothing earth shattering but makes me want to give up.

aw, baby. i'm sure it's just a phase. sometimes the planets are out of alignment and our brains are on the fritz. it SEEMS as if it's forever when we're in one of these periods, though!
be gentle with yourself. beating yourself up over it will not help. you wouldn't do it to your best friend, or your kids, would you?
i suggest bubble baths and extra chocolate until things are running smoothly again.
:) khairete
S.

I can totally relate. I feel like I'm always doing dumb things and sometimes I even ignore my gut for no apparent reason.

Is is possible that you're distracted, stressed, tired, lacking focus, etc.? I find that when I'm like that is when I mess up. I try really hard to be "present" and only think of the thing I'm currently doing or working on. It helps to focus and put all other thoughts aside for that period of time.

Don't be so hard on yourself.
Things happen. Life happens.
There's nothing to perfection.
It's life's little imperfections that make a great story!
You didn't make a stupid choice. It just happened.
Give yourself a break for ALL you do.
Have some fun today. Smile & laugh. LIfe can be brutal and it can be
short so choose to be happy!

Everyone does this stuff. It's training your mind to not focus on the negative that needs to change. You don't screw EVERYTHING up. You, like everyone else, screw SOME things up.

Ha...you sound like me :) I get it, everyone makes errors or "poor choices", but like you I think how many times are my efforts going to mean well, but I get little success?? There really isn't an E for effort in life & it's frustrating. If you're like me every thought, effort & breath goes into what you are trying to accomplish, but the end result is f***. Sorry I can sympathize, but have no resolution.....if you come up with one, please let me know! & If I was you I would go with the candles where the screw up is & breathe...it's all you've got at this point! I have scaled down my expectations of myself, but it's really no fun because I still don't get what I want accomplished :( & sometimes the little I do still turns out wrong so what's the point?!? Just remember...are they going to eat it or hang it on the wall?...it's little consolation but it helps..

Sounds like you're too hard on yourself. Do you tend to be a perfectionist? Maybe even avoiding doing something or procrastinating getting started for fear that you might mess up? Do assume something will go wrong, and then think, "Of course it did." when it does?

You got your SIL a cake, which is awesome. Instead of fretting about the HA think about how FUNNY that actually is. HA! :-D

You sound like me the day of my daughter's birthday. I picked up her froggy-shaped cake and put something on top of the box and squished the eyes. I was bashing myself the entire time. And then everyone said what a great cake.

The issue, as others have suggested, is feeling overwhelmed and not taking our own time out.

Try and stop the negative tape of "can't do anything right." That usually starts in childhood, if I could boldly insert some psychobabble.

Been there, trying to do the best I can vs. not doing anything right.

Its just a learning experience.
From now on, with cakes, put them in the front passenger seat and hang on to it if need be.
Sharp turns and such.
Target is 30 seconds from my house and things get all jumbled in that short trip.

it comes from our brains being too full with everything else. it doesn't mean we are stupid or flaky. just taking on so much.

i normally do fantastic at work. on top of things. make lists. in complete control. my boss does not have to ask me twice and if she says it, i always get it done, usually super quick.

when i start to notice things at home "slipping" - forgetting conversations that i had with hubby. forgetting to make ds's lunch for school (forcing him to eat school lunch...grr)....that's how i know i've reached my limit and need some R&R. if i don't get it? i start to notice things at work falling through the cracks. boss will ask me to do something and a day or two later i'll realize i actually forgot to do it. i HATE THAT.

our brains simply cant fit everything in at the same time. stress makes it infinitely worse. that's my theory. and i'm sticking to it!

I guess I'd practice looking at stuff differently. Didn't you notice the cake was sitting where stuff "might" fall on it? I would normally notice stuff like that.

Accidents do happen no matter what sort of care we take of things. BUT looking at situations with a different attitude will often spot a problem and then you can take care of it.

So next time you are about to put a cake in the vehicle look at the environment it will be sitting in. Are there items sitting higher than the cake> what if you have to hit your brakes, will it slide off and hit the floor? Will the cake slide from side to side when you make turns?

Try to think out all the things that "might" happen and see how secure the cake is.

Once you start getting in the habit of looking ahead like this I bet you'll start having less accidents.

Lol, You should have seen my college graduation cake.. My dad went to the bakery to get it, put it on the seat next to him.. some car pulled out in front of him and he hit the brakes and poof there went the cake.. However it still tasted good.

Don't worry about it. :)