Dear Stressed Out Teenager:
Your mother certainly does sound mean! I guess you have quite a rough life.
Let me share a story that was written by a person who had a mother that sounds
like she was just as mean as yours.
The story was called "The Meanest Mother In The World".
I had the meanest Mother in the world. While other kids had candy for
breakfast, I had to eat cereal, eggs and toast. While other kids had cakes and
candy for lunch. I had a sandwich. As you can guess, my dinner was different
from other kids’ dinners, too.
My mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You’d think we
were on a chain gang or something. She had to know who our friends were and what
we were doing.
I am ashamed to admit it, but she actually had the nerve to break the child
labour laws. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make the beds and learn
how to cook. That woman must have stayed awake nights thinking up things for us
kids to do. And she insisted that we tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth.
By the time we were teenagers, she was much wiser and our life became more
bearable. None of this tooting the car horn for us to come running; she
embarrassed us to no end by insisting that friends come to the door to get us.
I forgot to mention that most of our friends were allowed to date at the
mature age of 12 or 13, but our old-fashioned mother refused to let us date
until we were 15. She raised a bunch of squares. None of us was ever arrested
for shoplifting or busted for dope. And who do we have to thank for this? You’re
right, our mean mother.
I am trying to raise my children to stand a little straighter and taller and
I am secretly tickled to pieces when my children call me mean. I thank my
blessings for having the meanest Mother in the world. What our country needs is
more mean mothers like mine."
I really don’t know what to tell you, "Stressed Out Teenager". I
guess you’ll just have to tough it out for a few more years. Let me tell you,
though, as you get older, you’ll be very surprised at how much more wise your
mother seems to become.
On a final note, it could be worse. You could have a mother who just doesn’t
care about you.
Robert Kirwan: Editor
