This weekend my son (age 10) wanted to go solo in cooking muffins for breakfast. He loves to help in the kitchen and had watched and helped me over a dozen times. I gave him instructions and let him go at it with encouragement to ask me about anything he didn’t understand. He assured me (quite like a typical male) that he had it and didn’t need directions or my help…

A few minutes later I started smelling something weird. The silicone muffin pan he used was putting off awful smelling fumes and the remnants of the muffin mix that didn’t make it into the pan were starting to burn. I went into the kitchen to investigate and found that he didn’t exactly follow the instructions.

The muffin batter was watery because he put 1 ½ cups of milk instead of ½ cup of milk into the muffin mix. He argued that he did it just like he was supposed to and it wasn’t his fault it didn’t turn out right. I explained that he put too much milk in the mix and that trying to watch his favorite show on TV was not a good combination for a would-be chef. Paying attention to his food was important as was asking for help if he wasn’t sure.

He has a temper like his mom and was very upset, so I told him to excuse himself to just go play or something. The thought of throwing the too-watery batter away was ridiculous but I was able to salvage the muffins with some quick thinking. Fortunately I had an extra package of mix but it was not the same flavor. My son was baking banana nut muffins but the extra package was Strawberry Cheesecake muffin mix.

I dumped the new mix in the watery batter and it absorbed the extra liquid beautifully. I sprayed my old muffin pan (never using that silicone pan again) and poured the mix into each cup then I put it in the oven. In 10 minutes or so the muffins were done and smelling really good. My daughter, who normally doesn’t like muffins, tasted one and said they were very good. She liked the combination and actually ate two or three, maybe more.

The muffins were saved thanks to Super Mommy!

My son was still feeling dejected because his attempt at making muffins failed. He wore and angry frown and sulked. I asked him why he was still upset and he rambled on about how he followed the instructions and did everything right and how it wasn’t his fault, blah, blah, blah. I explained that in life things go wrong but we have a choice to either stay mad about it or learn the lesson to move on.

I asked him what lesson he learned. He said that he should be more careful (notice he didn’t say he should ask for help or direction, LOL!). I agreed with him and told him it was okay and he’d do better the next time. The frowns disappeared and he went on about his day forgetting the muffin disaster of 2011.

Hopefully we can all take a lesson from this muffin incident. We don’t have to be upset and angry about the mistakes we make for days, weeks, months, or years. It does not solve anything but can make the situation worse when we dwell on them. It’s better to learn the lesson and move on with our lives. Just learn the lesson so when we are confronted with the same or similar situation again, we will know how to respond or behave and will have great success!

Samantha Gregory

Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.

Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.

She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.