TODAY anchor Natalie Morales is no more perfect a parent than any of us: Getting lost can make her lose it.
Thursday on TODAY's Take, Natalie made a highly public confession about a stressful car trip with her kids that turned into what she called "an expletive-ridden ride."
It seems Natalie's husband was out of town Wednesday, leaving her to drive the kids to soccer practice. And when rain and problems with her GPS caused a major detour on the New Jersey Turnpike, she was unable to contain her frustrations.
"It was 30 minutes of F bombs and 'G-D,'" Natalie admitted to Willie Geist, Al Roker and America. "My poor kids got very quiet — it was like crickets in the back seat. It was the quietest I've ever heard them.
"My kids are in shell shock this morning," she added.
Al was quick to own up to a parenting fail of his own, recounting an occasion when one of his daughters caught he and his wife, "being intimate."
"I realized after ... that there was a witness," Al recalled. "I think I traumatized my daughter."
Whereupon Willie shared his own story of a lost temper: that time he tried to use the pizza oven in his back yard and lost his cool. "I just took the [pizza board] and launched it into the back yard like a javelin," he recounted. As for his kids, "They've never forgotten that," he said.
It turns out Natalie never did get to soccer practice; she came home and poured a "big glass of wine" instead. And, as the Good Book says, confession is good for the soul: "I feel like I got something off my chest," she said. "It feels good."
To share the positive vibrations, the anchors invited viewers to share their own parenting fails on Facebook. It didn't take long for admissions of guilt to come rolling in.
"Love it...but nothing tops sending your son to his first day of kindergarten on the wrong day. I have the proud momma pictures of him getting on the bus and everything. Then to get the call from the office to come pick him up! I cried all day and still apologize to my now 19-year-old. Glad we can laugh about it now," wrote Diana Bullard Gill.
"I had a bad moment in front of my daughter and she repeated a select 'f' word at school the next day, I felt like a horrible mom," wrote Darlena Smith. "Your story helped me realize that I am not alone in having weak moments and that we are all human. Thank you for sharing!!!!"
Along with confessions, the post attracted supportive comments from readers who just appreciated knowing they weren't alone.
"Natalie just earned a bunch of my respect...all of it!!! What a vulnerable moment for her to tell her mom experiences that are NOT perfect! She is just like any other stressed out mommy out there! You are not alone Natalie...you are far from alone! I saw myself in that story today!! Go Natalie!!!" wrote Katie Randolph Jakab.