If there really were a Mean Mommy University.....

I think I'd be graduating Summa Cum Laude!

For once, I got enough sleep. For once, I didn't have a backache.  For once, my youngest son was in Grandma-heaven for a few days and we might be able to plan a "level 2" hike up to Lava Lake I keep hearing is so great. Surely the two other boys that stayed home could do it if we took breaks on the way up. Well, my hiking plans did not work out. Since I had only one son today until 2 I tried to think of what special thing could we do that would be just right for an 8 1/2 year old so I asked him to go biking with me.

Then I got the call from my older son at Grandma's that he was going to the pound to pick out a German Shepherd - whoa, what? No Way! We don't have a fence and we already have 8 years of struggling under our belts with an extremely dog-agressive boxer that has recently developed incontinence. He knows I want a dog I can walk safely too. He's well aware of the reasons we can't, but still had to make me the bad guy in his sudden quest to add to our K9 issues. Mean-Mom Season 14, episode 1.

.......calming down and getting back to the biking.....

I was really proud of Wyatt - he got all ready, shoes and helmet and even pumped up his own tire. I was really looking forward to riding with him because we normally have to watch his younger brother and go much slower and exercise "extreme caution". This time it would just be "caution".  This time he had his older brother's bike and I found myself able to ride like a grown-up just to keep up with him!

What went wrong? How could I turn out to be Mean-Mom?  I made the mistake of giving him the option of going into the minimart - while I stayed in the doorway and guarded the bikes-and let him pick out a candy or drink with a dollar I saved for him.  ****SCREECH!***** Can you hear this whole fun adventure making a 180? Suddenly the poutfest started. He didn't want to go in alone. I said I'd be right there and could see him. I wanted to give him a tiny bit of independence but only with me watching him from about 20 feet in the doorway and he threw a fit! I said it was okay and he didn't have to and changed the subject to asking him where he wanted to ride next. Straight home! He even darted across a road with a car in the distance. Not exactly trying to kill himself but just enough that he knew he was breaking my rules. All the way home he told me how mean I was!

What is it with the kid-guilt?  Each day when I get up, if I'm not recovering from night-shift hours, I'm thinking I should clean the house all day but change my plans to be what they want to do - go swimming in the pond, geocaching, biking, shopping trips that include Game-Stop. I don't get it!  I think I should go shopping for my cap and gown now....Mean-Mom Season 14, Episode 2.

Then the funniest thing happened **Cue harps and angels singing** and my oldest son came home and handed me the Mean-Mom Poem!  If you haven't read it - click here. Priceless!

I know I am not alone in this-check out other Mean Mom stories at the blog Mean Mommy University Are you a Mean-Mom?