What are your treasured moments of family chaos? Tell Bassetts Vitamins for a chance to win a £300 John Lewis voucher! NOW CLOSED

[RebeccaEMumsnet]

Family life can often be chaotic at times, but often chaos can create the best family memories. Bassetts Vitamins would love to know your stories of when things didn’t quite go to plan, that you can look back on and laugh at.

Here’s what Bassetts Vitamins have to say: “At Bassetts Vitamins we know that family life is colourful and rarely straightforward. However, whilst family days out are a great opportunity to enjoy precious and active time together, families need to be ready and set to go, to deal with whatever challenges the day may bring. Our intention is to support families through the ups and downs of family life.”

So, tell us about a moment of chaos in your family which (eventually) made a funny story. Have camping trips been cut short by a tent collapsing in the middle of the night? Or an attempt to present yourself as a perfectly normal family went horribly wrong.

Whatever your treasured family chaos, Bassetts Vitamins would love to hear it, so post your story below.

All those who share a story below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 John Lewis voucher.

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

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Something i hope will be a funny story one day but at the moment makes me sad every time I look at dd2 is - last week i noticed dd2s hair was suddenly looking a lot shorter at the front and her beautiful curls at the back were gone. Then i found a big pile of her hair behind the sofa. Turns out dd2 decided to be a hair dresser . Life with dd1 is often chaotic, but I'm sure it will be a funny story one day!

I was really trying to get something done (insurance renewal or something similar) and put the kids in a room with an instruction to 'play with toys'... So I'm trying to concentrate, and they decide that now is the moment to bring out the musical instrument box and form a band. DD is on the accordion, DS is alternating between drums, tambourine and managing to play harmonica at the same time, like a one man band. I eventually throw in the towel, don some leg bells and grab a recorder and make some din myself. With all the racket going on, I failed to hear the door being knocked, and emerged into my kitchen to find a team of paramedics, who had let themselves in after failing to get an answer and who looked utterly confused at the scene and noise that greeted them. They had the wrong house, obviously. I probably looked like I needed committing.

trying to coordinate a family holiday which resulted in a few of us going to a different but similarly named campsite in different counties.

The time I went out for the day with DS2, then aged 6 months, and left his changing bag in the hall in the confusion of leaving the house. I only realised at a service station in the middle of nowhere about 1.5 hours from home It was just a small service station and they didn't sell nappies. Luckily he was in a cloth nappy with a separate cover and I was wearing a vest so could use that as an emergency fix. It held up well for the hour I needed at my university (the purpose of the trip) and when I finished and got to a supermarket, instead of buying a pack of nappies (which seemed a bit of a waste of money and I had no idea what size to get either), I bought him a pack of vests in the next size up (which I needed to buy at some point anyway) and used one of those for the journey home. It all sounds a bit crackers now but at the time I was pleased with my frugality and resourcefulness and, most importantly, DS2 stayed dry all day!

This will totally out me. I was shopping with my 4 month old, and my just toilet trained 2.5 year old. It's summer. It's hot. I'm wearing a fleece and jeans . I'm harassed. I'm at the till paying for my goods in a garden centre, screaming baby in the pram, I could vaguely hear my 2year old say something to which I murmured 'yes darling lovely '. I then heard running water and a little voice say 'finished mummy'
I look down to see my son , pants and shorts round his ankles, doing a wee in the cancer research charity bucket that was on the floor by the till. Mortified doesn't cover it.
It had one of those slanty lids with a slit, and he had aimed really well into it bless him.
I had to take the bucket to the loo to wash it. Good job it only had coins in it. Poor little ds was really pleased with himself that he had done a wee on his own

Thanks for all your stories! We really enjoyed reading them.

This thread is now closed, and the winner of the prize draw is MaMattoo.

Congratulations!

Christmas morning and all the unwrapping and toys

Camping! We'd set up but hadn't pulled the ropes out enough, the heavens opened big time! The whole tent flooded and soaked all our clothes, towels and sleeping bags. We spent the rest of the night scooping the water out with pans and spent about £30 at the launderette, BUT it taught the girls a lot about coping with problems and getting on with sorting it all out. Plus it's such a funny story now!

We decided to take off to Scarborough for the day it was beautiful and we settled down onto the beach
Our 2 year old son was running round like a little pocket rocket and he suddenly disappeared he must have found the only dip in the beach that was full of freezing cold sea water and he had gone in head first to say he screamed like a banshee was an understatement as he always hated getting his clothes wet and he was soaked to the skin Luckily i hadn't changed him into his swim trunks so off camne his clothes and on went trunks with my hubbies shirt on top he looked a right wally but he was happy and we also got some great photo's which we can use as bribes when he is older
Also he has never gone near the sea since so safety wise it worked a treat

Getting to Maternity for our son's birth. The hospital was 7 miles away and the car had been almost buried in snow overnight. After digging the car out, we drove very cautiously in Blizzard conditions and the possibility of delivering the baby in the car was ever present. Got there in the end and Charlie arrived weighing in at a massive 11lb.

It was hilarious catching my 3 year old son sitting in the middle of the bed, surrounded by my make up. He had it all over his face and hands, and bedcovers ! He said, I just wanted to see if I could do what you do Mummy xx

My son is recently potty trained and his grandad taught him how when they are out on long walks to do a wee standing up - he called it 'magic' We were recently visiting family and it was my SIL birthday so she was having a barbecue, there were people everywhere coming and going, loud music, chatter and all of a sudden there was a shriek 'he's weeing in my plantpot' my son hadn't been able to ask where the toilet was so did magic in the garden haha

Our first Christmas together after we married, we had all our (7)children and 3 grandchildren staying. I was super organised, made stockings for everyone, had enough food to feed a small country and decorated inside and out, with 2 trees. It was to be a perfect bonding time for our two families. On Christmas Eve, as everyone was gathering, I began to feel unwell, I struggled through Christmas Day trying not to own up to the immense pain I was in. By Boxing Day I had a rash and realised I had shingles, I could hardly stand, but I lay on the settee and listened to all his and my (grown up) children working together to produce a second massive roast dinner, and the grandchildren playing happily, that cloud definitely had a silver lining!

Family chaos is the norm here but the one I most remember was camping in Austria.....in -15! We had an absolute blast but by god it was cold.

My most treasured moment was finding my lost car keys in the compost heap. Don't ask.

the day we were due to move house three years ago and woke up to 2 feet of snow and of course everything had been booked so we had to move all the furniture and move house in snow! it carried on snowing all day too :(

Christmas Day is always my favourite family chaos! We always have a game of bingo that includes aunties uncles cousins and the next door neighbours as well as there family, there is never a dull moment and I love every minute of it!

when my 3 year old tripped when paddling in the sea and was soaked from head to to, my husband had to give her his shirt to wear so had to walk back to the hotel half naked, bear in mind in was in winter and in Scotland

Definately Xmas Day! Seeing the kids on excitement overload at their presents and discovering Santa has visited during the night! Its a day where we relax a bit more and let them be loud, crazy and excited and its just lovely!

I love the morning rush :)

This happened quite a few years ago in the middle of the night when my boys were younger. A bat got in through the bathroom window. It flew around the landing for quite a while, it then landed on the hall floor pretending to be dead! None of us would touch it apart from my youngest who picked it up with a towel and put it outside lol I was screaming like a girl as I do not like moths etc!

Trying to pitch a tent in a thunder storm in France with a 2 and 3 year old!

when i realised that the holiday I thought was due to start on a sunday including flights and for which I had not yet packed, was actually due to start on the saturday, infact 6 hours from when I realised :-o Queue frantic packing, much arguing between me and dh between who was to blame and our son teasing and finding the whole thing so funny! We got to the airport with about 15 minutes to spare!

Everyday seems chaotic with 4 children - a15 year old son, 14 year old daughter and 9 year old twin boys!

years ago when I was younger i was sat in the car with my mum and my nephew and niece (aged 6/7). I sat in the front an the kids were strapped in their chairs in the back.

About half way down the motorway I heard the kids giggling and it felt really breezy - we had the window open cos no ac but then my nephew tells us that the back of the car has fallen off - we didnt believe it

Until I looked behind and saw that the boot was wide open - the latch had broken. We had to pull over to the hard shoulder - we then found out that the little gits had been throwing stuff out the boot so not only did we have to tie the boot closed but we also turned up at our destination missing half the kids clothes!