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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
they almost 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 Twinkie 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
arrested 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!
courtesy:
Sakina Walli
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