The Death of "No!"

Let's ponder a moment shall we - a TV show of the lowest order. A TV show I've come to abhor...Supernanny. You might wonder, "Why? She's helping parents take back their families!" Precisely. For a parent to have lost their family, means they gave it up at some point. A mom failed to say, "NO!"

Now, typically, I don't criticize differing parenting tactics - hey, what works for you will not work for me, our kids aren't the same. But, I've come to think...I AM the parent. I'm not their friend. It's my job to raise morally responsible and physically respectable little human beings, even though some days I think they're more like a pack of wild dogs. And my first inclination that this whole parenting business was going to pot was when CA stated they were going to try and pass a law against spanking. My response was immediate. I wiped my hands on my kitchen hand towel, brandished my wooden spoon and shouted loudly, "I'd like to see you get in the front door, b/c I'll end up spanking your ass too!" [Now, don't confuse this with that I only spank...no, no, I sometimes prefer exponential retribution or possibly lording my extreme size advantage over them.]

Now, my kids have issues, whose don't? But they're unique. And they're witty and hilarious and brave and intelligent AND respectful. They didn't get that way b/c I gave them a second dinner when the first I prepared wasn't to their liking. They didn't get that way from making their own bed times. They got that way b/c my husband and I are boss. They got that way b/c I was not afraid to tell them, "NO!".

There has been show downs. Ooooh, have there been show downs. My 6-going-on-35-year-old daughter has looked at me and said, "Make me!" My response? "Do you really want to see if I can? I mean if that is your ultimate intention, I can save you the hassle and tell you right now I have about a 1000% weight advantage on you. Would you like to rethink your proclamation? And when you come to your conclusion, it should be epilogued with an 'I'm sorry'." Needless to say, I didn't ever have to get up AND I received an apology.

That day she learned some valuable lessons. One: I'm in charge. Two: When you've done something wrong, apologize. Three: More than half the time it's not worth the fight...whatever it is. Four: Words can solve things faster than hands & feet...get a vocabulary. And Five: Supernanny isn't coming to save your ass.