Perhaps it is human nature to take comfort in the shortcomings of others. This seems to be especially true when it comes to parenting, when too often we feel like everyone else has the right answers.

During this past holiday season, we offered our blog readers at stltoday.com/parentstalkback a little gift. We asked them to post their worst parenting failure, and we would pick one lucky winner to receive a Zhu Zhu pet, the "it" toy of the season.

Some of the stories were jaw dropping, while others made us chuckle. But, they all made us feel better about our parenting failures. Here are our favorites:

"I went out to lunch with my sister to celebrate my birthday. My oldest son was in kindergarten, and I knew I needed to be home in time for the bus. Checked the time on my watch, things were good, until I checked it again and it was the same time. Rushed home to see "Mommy where are you?" scrawled on the front porch, no kid in sight. I did find him, but it was the worst feeling not knowing where he was."

- Mom of two boys

"I felt like the worst parent when I accidentally destroyed my 5-year-old daughter's tooth. She recently lost a tooth, and it was drying on the kitchen window sill. I somehow knocked it into the sink but didn't realize it until after running the water and garbage disposal! I immediately had that awful feeling that something was wrong. She took the news very well, especially after I offered to write a note to the Tooth Fairy. On top of that, the grinding of the tooth clogged up the disposal. I think my husband was more upset than my daughter!"

- Catherine L.

"When my son used his potty chair on his own for the first time, the bucket was not in it, and his poop hit the floor. To his credit, he tried to clean it up himself. Unfortunately, he used his socks. He then decided to try and clean the socks ... using the wall. He finally called Dad in, and I promptly vomited in the bucket that should have been in the potty to begin with."

- B. Cameron

"One night after going out with my friends and family I returned home to find a drawing that my daughter had made for me that evening. It said ... 'I'm at the beer bar! I like going out with my family. Surprise! I like my beer. It tastes good. I'm having fun!' Along with the caption was a drawing of Mommy holding a beer and saying 'Yum Yum.' Not exactly the picture of Mommy that I had in mind!

- Mom of two

"I'm a single mom of two and am always rushing to keep things organized. While driving my boys to school, I remembered that I forgot the soda I volunteered to bring for the school party that day. I quickly pulled into our local grocery store, told the boys to hang tight and I would be right back. I knew not to park in the no parking zone, not to mention leaving them in the car, but I was running really late and bad judgment won. I learned my lesson though because to my horror when I came back out less than 5 minutes later, our local police officer who we all know well, was leaning against my car with the keys in his hand. How embarrassing to be scolded in front of your kids who you are supposed to be setting the example for ..."

- Jenn

"When my daughter was in kindergarten, they were having a Mother/Daughter Tea Party for Mother's Day. When she brought home the invite, I jokingly said that I don't like tea. A few days later one of the teachers asked to talk to me because my daughter had been crying. She asked the teacher if they could serve Bud Light at the Tea Party instead of tea, so her mom would come. Talk about feeling terrible!"

- Deb Dougherty

"This is only funny in retrospect because my son is OK, but it was the worst parenting blunder of my life (so far). When he was an infant, I was trying to get him into a baby carrier (like a Snugli, or Baby Bjorn), and I couldn't figure it out. If I put him in it before I put it on, I couldn't get it strapped. I decided to put it on and then put him in. I lifted him up really high to drop him in the pouch - and yes, the ceiling fan was on and whacked him in the back of the head. After many, many tears (mine and his) and a panicked call to the pediatrician, he was fine. But I threw the baby carrier away and never, ever used it ever."

- L.G.

"When my daughter was a baby, she was a bad sleeper. After another restless night, I got up and took my daughter to the living room. I changed her diaper while she laid on the floor. In a daze, I delivered the diaper to the kitchen trash can and when I got back to the living room, my daughter had disappeared. I thought I was losing my mind and had forgotten where I put the baby! All of a sudden, the cloth flap on the bottom of the couch was moving - she had rolled herself under the couch! I can tell you that I was wide awake after that!"

- Ellen

"I don't know what my worst was, so I'll go with my most recent. I was doing a painting project with my 5-year-old and some of her friends when the baby woke up from a nap. I left the room for 5 minutes to get the baby and came back to my daughter covered in paint. Into the tub. ... She immediately whined about the temperature. Frustrated and in a hurry to get her back to her play date, I told her I'd make it warmer but didn't want to hear her complain it was too hot. Two minutes later she was complaining. "What did I just tell you?" "No b***hing." Uh, yeah. That is what I said. Busted. "That's right, but it's a bad word. Don't ever say it again." And I'm pretty sure her friends overheard the whole exchange."

- cd We picked Deb Dougherty as our winner, because not only did her entry demonstrate her own parenting failure, it also involves public humiliation and tears. Well done, Deb. Maybe the Zhu Zhu pet helped erase the memory of this childhood trauma. But we doubt it.