I Loved You Enough

Last night Matthew had his DS taken away from him. He was just getting too mouthy, wouldn't listen and was basically being at brat all day. Both Rob and I had had enough. Sending him to his room wasn't working anymore. So we took his DS away and you would have thought is world had come to an end. Sometimes it is so hard to punish them and alot easier to just give in. He was sent to his room to go to bed and he had put is PJs on (inside out and backwards) then came to me crying. "Mommy, do you think you can wrestle Daddy tomorrow to get me my DS back" . He finally calmed down, went to bed and realized you have to earn it back. It made me think of this poem my Mom always had on the fridge.

I loved you enough
Some day when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell them:

I loved you enough to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.

I loved you enough to insist that you save your money and buy a bike for yourself even though we could afford to buy one for you.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep.

I loved you enough to make you take a Milky Way back to the drugstore (with a bite out of it) and tell the clerk, "I stole this yesterday and want to pay for it."

I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that would have taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment and tears in my eyes. Children must learn that their parents aren't perfect.

I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.

But most of all, I loved you enough to say NO when I knew you would hate me for it. Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm glad I won them, because in the end you won, too.


Erma Bombeck