Trev
03-19-2006, 01:19 AM
MEAN MOMS
Someday when my children are old enough to
understand the logic that
motivates a parent, I will tell them, as my Mean Mom
told me: I loved
you enough . . . to ask where you were going, with
whom, and what time
you would be home.
I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover
that your new best
friend was a creep.
I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours
while you cleaned
your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes.
I loved you enough to let you see anger,
disappointment, and tears in
my eyes. Children must learn that their parents
aren't perfect.
I loved you enough to let you assume the
responsibility for your
actions even when the penalties were so harsh theyalmost broke my
heart.
But most of all, I loved you enough . . . to say NO
when I knew you
would hate me for it.
Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm
glad I won them,
because in the end you won, too.
And someday when your children are old enough to
understand the logic
that motivates parents, you will tell them.
Was your Mom mean? I know mine was. We had the
meanest mother in the
whole world! While other kids ate candy for
breakfast, we had to have
cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi and
a ####### for
lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess
our mother fixed us
a dinner that was different from what other kids
had, too.
Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all
times. You'd think we
were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our
friends were, and
what we were doing with them. She insisted that if
we said we would be
gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or
less.
We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve
to break the Child
Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the
dishes, make the beds,
learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty
the trash and all
sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at
night thinking of
more things for us to do.
She always insisted on us telling the truth, the
whole truth, and
nothing but the truth. By the time we were
teenagers, she could read
our minds and had eyes in the back of her head.
Then, life was really tough!
Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn
when they drove up.
They had to come up to the door so she could meet
them. While everyone
else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to
wait until we were 16.
Because of our mother we missed out on lots of
things other kids
experienced. None of us have ever been caught
shoplifting, vandalizing
other's property or ever arr ested for any crime. It
was all her fault.
Now that we have left home, we are all educated,
honest adults. We are
doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.
I think that is what's wrong with the world today.
It just doesn't have enough mean moms!
Someday when my children are old enough to
understand the logic that
motivates a parent, I will tell them, as my Mean Mom
told me: I loved
you enough . . . to ask where you were going, with
whom, and what time
you would be home.
I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover
that your new best
friend was a creep.
I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours
while you cleaned
your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes.
I loved you enough to let you see anger,
disappointment, and tears in
my eyes. Children must learn that their parents
aren't perfect.
I loved you enough to let you assume the
responsibility for your
actions even when the penalties were so harsh theyalmost broke my
heart.
But most of all, I loved you enough . . . to say NO
when I knew you
would hate me for it.
Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm
glad I won them,
because in the end you won, too.
And someday when your children are old enough to
understand the logic
that motivates parents, you will tell them.
Was your Mom mean? I know mine was. We had the
meanest mother in the
whole world! While other kids ate candy for
breakfast, we had to have
cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi and
a ####### for
lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess
our mother fixed us
a dinner that was different from what other kids
had, too.
Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all
times. You'd think we
were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our
friends were, and
what we were doing with them. She insisted that if
we said we would be
gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or
less.
We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve
to break the Child
Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the
dishes, make the beds,
learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty
the trash and all
sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at
night thinking of
more things for us to do.
She always insisted on us telling the truth, the
whole truth, and
nothing but the truth. By the time we were
teenagers, she could read
our minds and had eyes in the back of her head.
Then, life was really tough!
Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn
when they drove up.
They had to come up to the door so she could meet
them. While everyone
else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to
wait until we were 16.
Because of our mother we missed out on lots of
things other kids
experienced. None of us have ever been caught
shoplifting, vandalizing
other's property or ever arr ested for any crime. It
was all her fault.
Now that we have left home, we are all educated,
honest adults. We are
doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.
I think that is what's wrong with the world today.
It just doesn't have enough mean moms!