The following came through one of those meaningful email chains that I received and (without taking credit) I thought it would be most appropriate to put it up (with minor modifications) in view of the coming Mother's Day as a tribute to all Mean Mums!
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Someday when my girl is old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell her, as my Mean Mum 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 …
not to be silent and let you discover the hard way 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.
to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children must learn that their parents aren't perfect.
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| A Mean Mum with her daughter |
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.
These 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 Mum mean? I know mine was. We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids had a Pepsi and a Twisties for lunch, we had to eat proper, boring meals.
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!
While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were working. Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalising 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 Mum was.
I think that is what's wrong with the world today.
It just doesn't have enough mean mums!
22 April 2011
