Sometimes motherhood gets a bad rap. I mean, we are the ones that have to make our kids eat their veggies, do their chores and go to bed. We have to learn to say “No,” and “No,” and then some more “No.”

And we know that’s a good thing, that kids need their veggies and they need their sleep. But sometimes you can see it in their little wimpery faces:

“You’re the meanest Mom, ever!”

And you know what? I’m okay with that. Really. I have a force field that shields me from Mean Mom comments. I am impervious.

“Dear Child, you may think I really don’t care. Okay, well, I really DON’T care if you don’t want a shower or you don’t think you need to sleep. But I DO care about whether or not your body gets what it needs and whether or not your heart learns to be obedient and thankful and whether or not you feel taken care of. Because I care. I CARE. But it’s bed time, and that’s that.”

So have at it, darling little child of mine, whom I love enough to feed broccoli and brush out tangles and clip fingernails and send back to bed repeatedly (with a pop on the rear if your behind forgets where it is supposed to be)– go ahead and think I’m just being mean. But it’s not true. Because I love you.

A whole heckuva stinkin’ lot.

Love,

“The Meanest Mom – EVER.”

P.S. – One day you’ll have your own kids who think YOU are the meanest mom EVER — and it will all make sense. Pinky promise.

Photo Credit: From Flickr via CC 2.0

I enjoy listening to my six year old pray and to how she says things. While the most endearing part was definitely when she told God how much she loved him because he gave us the world and everything and added, “X-O-X-O,” this was probably my favorite “funny” line:

“I love life, because it’s FUN, and um, my mom helps me sometimes.”

Recently, assessing Princess for her main learning style only confirmed what all the years of ceaseless drawings have been telling me: She likes to draw.

Well, okay the assessment said a little more than that, but that was the main thing that stood out to me as I read through the results and looked at the drawings scattered around our house.

I’ve long wondered what to do with all the drawings. They can’t all fit on the fridge. Shucks, in one day she can make more than what will fit on the freezer door. I’ve added a “gallery” in the school area with some fishing line and thumbtacks along the top of the wall. But even this is insufficient.

I confess I secretly throw most of them away when she’s not looking. Otherwise we’d be overcome with papers! Seriously, her drawing habits alone are enough to justify a switch to recycling.

I present my evidence to the court: (click to enlarge)

So what’s a girl to do?

Finally I got an idea. I’m going to make her a portfolio with a 3 ring binder and some cheap sheet protectors. She’ll get to decide whether she wants to put a drawing in there or throw it away (or recycle it once I get that system in place.) And when it gets full.. well, we’ll see how long it takes for that to happen. Either we’ll create a new one or she’ll have to switch to a one-in-one-out rule. Until then, we’ll finally have a home for drawings!

One more, check out her portrait of Big Daddy:

(He was on the phone, a grimace was the best I got.)

So tell me.. what do you do with your children’s drawings?