"The Meanest Mother"
Written by Bobbie Pingaro 1967
"I had the meanest mother in the whole world. While other kids ate candy for
breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast. When others had cokes and
candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was
different than the other kids' also. But at least, I wasn't alone in my sufferings.
My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.
My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we
were on a chain gang. She had to know who our friends were and where we
were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour, that we be gone one
hour or less--not one hour and one minute. I am nearly ashamed to admit it, 
but she actually struck us. Not once, but each time we had a mind of our own
and did as we pleased. That poor belt was used more on our seats than it was
to hold up Daddy's pants. Can you imagine someone actually hitting a child
just because he disobeyed? Now you can begin to see how mean she really was.
We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath. The other kids always wore their
clothes for days. We reached the height of insults because she made our clothes
herself, just to save money. Why, oh why, did we have to have a mother who
made us feel different from our friends?
The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight
the next morning. We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends. So while they 
slept-my mother actually had the nerve to break the child-labor law. She made
us work. We had to wash dishes, make beds, learn to cook and all sorts of cruel
things. I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.

She always insisted upon us telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the
truth, even if it killed us- and it nearly did. By the time we were teen-agers, she
was much wiser, and our life became even more unbearable. None of this tooting
the horn of a car for us to come running. She embarrassed us to no end by making
our dates and friends come to the door to get us. If I spent the night with a girlfriend,
can you imagine she checked on me to see if I were really there. I never had the
chance to elope to Mexico. That is if I'd had a boyfriend to elope with. I forgot
to mention, while my friends were dating at the mature age of 12 and 13, my old
fashioned mother refused to let me date until the age of 15 and 16. Fifteen, that is,
if you dated only to go to a school function. And that was maybe twice a year.

Through the years, things didn't improve a bit. We could not lie in bed, "sick"
like our friends did, and miss school. If our friends had a toe ache, a hang nail
or serious ailment, they could stay home from school. Our marks in school had
to be up to par. Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black
for passing, red for failing. My mother being as different as she was, would settle
for nothing less than ugly black marks.  As the years rolled by, first one and then
the other of us was put to shame. We were graduated from high school. With 
our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was
allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out.  My mother was a complete failure
as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education. 
None of us have ever been arrested, divorced or beaten his mate. Each of my
brothers served his time in the service of this country. And whom do we have
to blame for the terrible way we turned out? You're right, our mean mother. 
Look at the things we missed. We never got to march in a protest parade, 
nor to take part in a riot, burn draft cards, and a million and one other things
that our friends did. She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, 
honest adults. Using this as a background, I am trying to raise my three
children. I stand a little taller and I am filled with pride when my children
call me mean.  Because, you see, I thank God, He gave me the meanest
mother in the whole world."

Written & Copyright by Bobbie Pingaro, 1967, all rights reserved, 
reprinted with her permission :) 

Nightscribe's Comments: 

Lessons from Holy Scripture:

Ephesians 6:1 thru 6:4:

1. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."

Proverbs 22:6: