11 August 2001
Subject: Mean Parents
Dear Ones,
Among the "treasures" we
have saved in our "family treasure chest" are some of the cards sent
to Leavon and me by our grown son, Christian, on special occasions such
as our birthdays and anniversaries. It's not the store-bought cards that we
fancy, but those enclosed, hand-written notes which came from the heart.....
notes which said, "Mom, thank you for all your love and support. I am
proud to be your son", "I will never be able to thank you enough for
all that you have taught me, your guidance and support", and "Dad,
thank you for your guidance and wisdom. You have been the best coach, teacher
and dad that a son could have."
We would like to think that our son
said those nice things because of the love, guidance, support and wisdom we
gave to him, but in reality it was because as he later said, "Had I not
been a good boy.... had I done otherwise.... my mom would have killed
me!" Yes, we tried to be loving, supporting, etc., but we were also
strict.... firm, but fair... or as some might say.... mean parents. I got a
big kick out of reading what someone else wrote about their parents:
Was your Mom mean? Was your Dad
mean, too? I know mine were. We had the meanest parents 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. AND we had to taste everything put on our
plates. Yuck.
Mother and Dad insisted that if we
told them we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.
We were ashamed to admit it, but
our folks had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We
had to wash the dishes, make the beds, clean our rooms, learn to cook, learn
to bake, wash windows, help paint the house, vacuum the floor, do laundry,
empty the trash, mow the lawn, shovel snow, pull weeds and all sorts of cruel
jobs.
I think they regularly laid awake
nights thinking of more things for us to do.
They insisted on us always telling
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were
teenagers, Mom could read our minds.
Then, life was really tough! Mom
and Dad wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They
had to come up to the door so they could meet them. If they didn't come up, we
didn't get to go.
While everyone else could date when
they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.
Because of our mean parents, we
missed out on many things other kids experienced. None of us was ever caught
shoplifting, vandalizing other's property or ever arrested for any crime. It
was all their 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 and Dad were.
I think that part of what is wrong
with the world today is that we don't have enough mean parents.
In truth, our son was a good boy
and never gave us a bit of trouble, but I hope he learned from us and
becomes one of those mean parents.
Have a great day and may all your
Saturdays be special.
Don
Two Real Mean Parents