Mean Mom!!

I found this article on a youth worker’s website that I frequent.

It made me giggle!! It also made me very proud of this mom who held her teen accountable to the rules that she set for him. It’s a bit of a harsh punishment, admittedly, but if more of us held our kids accountable to this level, I suspect they would disobey us far less frequently!!

It reminds me of parent I once knew (I won’t name names to protect the innocent!) who held his son similarly accountable when he was directly defiant to the parent’s direction. The young man, who was about 16 at the time, had asked to get his ear pierced and the parent said a definite “No!” The young man went ahead and got his ear pierced anyway. The parent said, “No problem—but I’m taking your car keys until that hole in your ear grows back!” Needless to say, the young man immediately removed the earring, but still he had to live without his car for several weeks! That would definitely be a lesson the young man would remember on obeying his parents!!

It’s tough to punish our kids and to take things they love from them—we want them to be happy and to have the things they want. However, it is in our children’s best interest and it is following God’s word (Proverbs 22:6; 29:15) for parents to be tough on our children when they are in our homes. If we hold them accountable to following our rules, then they will grow into disciplined young men and women who understand what it means to obey the rules and laws set down before them.