Someday |
Someday when my child is old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell him:
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 sometimes and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep.
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 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 child is old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell him those things.
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 eggs and toast or at least, cereal. 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 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 dishes, make the beds, and learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and 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. 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.
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.