My children range in age from 20 to almost 26. They are hardly babies. So, you can imagine my surprise when I experienced two episodes of “Mommy guilt,” within the past two weeks.

The first episode occurred when my youngest daughter called from college in Buffalo, obviously sick. My initial reaction was to get on a plane and take care of her. But, as she was so far away, the best I could do was to tell her to go to the doctor. The subsequent telephone calls about how lousy she was feeling and the  allergic reaction she developed to the medication they gave her left me guilt ridden that I was unable to take a plane to be with her.

The second bout with Mommy guilt occurred a few days later. I was rushing to get out of the house to get to court for a trial I had scheduled, when I received a call from my older daughter. She was clearly upset and told me she had been rear ended by a truck a few miles from our house.  Knowing that there was no way I could get to her and also get to court on time, all I could do was confirm she was ok, tell her to call the police, and our local car repair service. On my drive in to court all I could think about was what a horrible mother I was for not running to the scene of the accident.

Mommy guilt is strong. Does it ever go away?