Truth Bomb: 6 Reasons I Am Totally OK With Being A "Mean Mommy"

1. Because telling my son "no" means that I love him.  Often times B will say "mommy you're so mean" when I am telling him that he can't do something.  That's because I want him to learn to be safe and be respectful.  I love him.  I want better for him.  Telling him he cannot jump off of things or run around a restaurant is to teach him to be better and to act better.  My love for him is more important than being easy on him or making my life easier by letting him run rampant like a wild animal.
2. Because his behavior now can shape who he becomes in the future.  I want my son to learn to love school, learn to love being in social situations, learn to make the right choices in these situations and learn to behave.  I communicate with caretakers and teachers about his behavior daily and if he isn't behaving the way I expect him to (with regards to safety and respect) I have to reprimannd him.  He has privileges taken away (like his iPad or whatever toy he's obsessing over at the time) as a consequence for poor behavior.  I'm not asking for perfect.  I'm asking for him to learn to make good choices. Progress not perfection.  Kids will be kids.
3. Because I am his compass and his anchor.  As his parent my job is to guide him through life and to be the one who grounds him when he needs it.  I don't mean ground him like punish him but to ground him as in giving him the basic knowledge about life.  This is the task given to us as parents, and its one I don't take lightly.
4. Because 99.9% of the time I get a huge return on my investment when it comes to discipline.  He's a great kid.  I do not have a lot of issues with him, but that being said it takes effort to get good results.
5. Because being "cool mommy" isn't on my list of priorities when raising a strong-willed, intelligent, creative and curious young man.  My priorities are to facilitate his best traits.  I'm not concerned with B "liking" everything I say or do, I am concerned with the love we have for one another.
6. Because I respect my son.  I listen to him, I communicate with him, I try my best to recognize who he is as a person, but sometimes telling him "no" or "not right now" falls out of my mouth way too easily.  I am responsible for recipricating respect when he is behaving well, and rewarding that with more autonomy and independence. Again, progress not perfection.