All parents are mean for a reason. As we grow into adults we know why our moms and dads were mean. Someday 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 go pay for the bubble gum you had taken 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 should 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. And someday when your children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them....

Was your Mom or Dad mean? I know mine were.
We had the meanest mother in the whole world!
While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.
When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches.

And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.

Dad insisted on knowing where we were at all times.
You'd think we were convicts in a prison.

He had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them.  He insisted that if we said  we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone  for an hour or less  

We were ashamed to admit it,  but Mom had the nerve  to break the Child Labor Laws  by making us work. We had to wash the dishes,  make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs.  I think she would lie awake at night  thinking of more things for us to do.

They always insisted on us  telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
By the time we were teenagers, they could read our minds. Then, life was really tough!

My mother and father wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up.    They had to come up to the door so they could meet them.

While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our parents we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced.

None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing others' property or ever arrested for any crime.

It was all their fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like ours were.

I think that is what's wrong with the world today.
It just doesn't have enough mean moms and dads.