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 make you go pay for the bubble gum you had taken and tell the clerk,
"I stole this yesterday and want to pay for it."

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 another's property or 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!

Not enough Mean Mom and Dad's in the world. They are a endangered species, they can't pass the poltical correct test. That said, nice post.

Amen!!

Certainly do miss my mean Mom. Nice post Ace.

Amen brother

*inspired*


*beats kids* lol

didn't have that much,,, i turned out fine.. i think parent over protect to much if you following thease.. should just make them where tracking devices =p

Great post Ron and oh so true.

Both of my parents were mean. And look how I turned out. Okay, so that's not a great arguement. LOL.

I remember my Dad charging me 15c a kilometer to drive the car AND I was limited to a certain amount of mileage per week, PLUS I had to wash and vacuum the car once a week. I thought he was a major league prick. I also had to work an hour at the lake to get the boat for an hour.

Guess what? If I had kids I would make sure that they learned the same values I did.

My Dad was ahead of the game. Of course he was an Engineer and that had a lot to do with him being concerned with wear and tear on his vehicles, but also he wanted me to learn how to organize my trips, so that I spent the least money, was the most efficient with the gas and created the least pollution.

I drive a company vehicle and could go all over hell's half acre at no cost to me however, would it be fair to my employer or to the environment? No, it wouldn't.

So today I still plan my routes, use the least gas and make my driving count. I also shop at a certain grocery store so that I can get discount gas coupons and I do enough shopping so that I can supply the other drivers with coupons also.

Amen brother.

Now that I am a "mean" Dad, I can TOTALLY relate





Yeah, just wait until you have children... LOL

LOL@Manny. You got it. I don't have kids and probably never will. However I still have a responsibility to society to preserve what resources I have and I buy and to teach those that are coming after me (whether they be nieces or nephews or other people's children) to be responsible for their actions and for the resources they obtain and use. I am embarassed to admit that Canada is one if not the worst producer of garbage in the world. We squander our natural resources and manufactored goods at a ridiculous rate. I thought my parents were cheap but they were smart, frugal and had the best interest of themselvees, their kids and society in mind.