Mothers’ Day is this Sunday. So I thought it would be appropriate to provide my readers with a little story which shows the perspective on life from a Mother’s point of view. Most of us never really understood the logic that motivates a parent until we are a parent ourselves. Many people are upset that the children today seem to be more disrespectful than those of a generation ago. Children are being tugged in every which way by media and other technological options, making it very difficult to be a parent. It’s easy to bring a child into the world today, but it is quite another thing to provide him/her with the type of upbringing which will enable the child to meet the challenges which develop during the course of his/her life.

This message, which was obviously written by a Mother somewhere, says it all. Enjoy it and send a copy to your Mother this Sunday.

“I loved you enough...to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.

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, 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. 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 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 Labour 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 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. 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.”

Perhaps that is what the world needs today - more mean Moms.

This Sunday, treat your mean Mom to something special. And when she refuses to allow you to sit down to the dinner table with your hat on, give her a big hug and thank her for being so mean.