You know how it is. You want to be a good parent. You pour all your energy into it. You love, you discipline. You do fun things, you're enthusiastic, you love having kids and you enjoy being with them!
But then the house has to be straightened up. In my world, getting five kids to help clean up is like pulling five unconscious sumo wrestlers up a steep hill with a rope. Sometimes loud voices prevail. It was at the tail-end of a the kind of awesome day I could easily have won a Good Parenting medal for, that the kids were helping me clean up the house. I heard Xanthe say to a big sister, "Mama is mean." And the big sister replied, "Get used to it. She's always mean." Here I thought I was June Cleaver and it turns out I'm Miss Hannigan?
Just like that, eight hours of smooth sailing, wiped out by one rogue wave. I really want to be good at the one role that I value above all others. But how? When it comes right down to it, being mean is part of my job as a mom, therefore I will periodically be hated and despised by my children, the very people I love most in the world. That hurts! I want to be nice all the time, I do! These kids are so much fun. But we all know kids whose parents are nice
(read: indulgent) all the time, right? I'm trying to raise responsible, bright, thoughtful, kind, accomplished and intelligent kids here, but so far, we're still working on the basics: "Pick up your coat." We're
way behind! Of
course I'm stressed! We're still on Lesson One, Picking Up Your Coat, and I just know we should be on Lesson 500 by now. My kids have all this potential to be the kind of decent human beings who put their coats away and I'm ruining them because I'm no good at teaching the lesson. Can someone please tell me how to be mean in a nice way? Is it possible to be a responsible parent and still be universally adored at all times by your offspring? That's all I want. Oh, and world peace.
