Some day when my
children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent saying
things as to where you were going, with whom, and what time would you be home. . .
I will tell them. . .
I loved you enough. . .
to insist that you save your money and buy a bike for yourself even though we could afford to buy one for you.
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, disappointement and tears in my eyes. Children must learn that their parents aren't perfect.
I loved you enough. . .
to let you assume the responsiblility for your actions when the penatities 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 where 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 ask them. . . . . . .
Was your Mom mean?
I know mine was.
We had the meanest Mother in the whole world!
While others kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs and toast. When others had pepsi and twinkies for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches.
And you can guess our Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. you'd think we were convicts in 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 floors, do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake for hours 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 teenangers, 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. While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13 we had to wait. Because of our Mother we missed out on alot of things other kids experienced.
None of us have ever been caught 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 our Mom was. I think that is whats wrong with the world today.
