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Mother's love can be tough, but it's genuine
(by Christine Thome - May 06, 2009)
BEYOND MY CONTROL, BY CHRISTINE THOME
Mother's love can be tough, but it's genuine
It's been said there is a fine line between love and hate. Both are strong emotions that can provoke extreme reactions. However, it's only a mother's love that can discern the difference.
"You hate me, don't you!" my daughter yelled after I told her she was not allowed to sleep over at a friend's house. "You're just out to ruin my life, aren't you? Well, you know what? I hate you too!" And with that, she stormed up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door.
When I was a teenager, that conversation was played on a continuous loop. As I stormed away in tears, my mother would often yell after me, "Trust me, this decision is harder for me than it is for you!" And I would think to myself, "It's hard to say no to me? Are you kidding? Just let me go, and we'll both be happy!"
Instead, she stuck to her guns and dealt with a sulky and brooding teenager all evening just because she knew it was the right thing to do. Now, that's true love.
So when my daughter claims that I must hate her, I want to tell her that every decision I have made for her, every action I have taken for her and everything I will continue to do for her is not based on hate, but on how much I love her.
I want to tell her, and all my children ...
I love you enough to keep you home from "the party of the year," because I don't know the parents.
I love you enough to listen to your music in the car, even though it causes my fillings to rattle.
I love you enough to let you spend three hours cleaning your room when it would only take me 20 minutes.
I love you enough to make you miss a birthday party to visit your great-grandmother in the nursing home.
I love you enough to not make excuses for you when you are wrong.
I love you enough to run, in my pajamas, to the 24-hour drugstore to get you poster board, glue and markers at 10 at night, because you suddenly remembered a major project is due tomorrow.
I love you enough to not help you write your thank-you notes, book reports, journals or, eventually, your college essays, even though I'm dying to.
I love you enough to make you earn money to pay for a new I-Pod, even though we can afford it.
I love you enough to make you change three times until you find something appropriate to wear out to dinner.
I love you enough to let you see how much you have hurt or disappointed me.
I love you enough to pick you up late at night from the movies when I would rather be asleep.
I love you enough to kiss you and snuggle close with you when you are sick, without even considering that I may get sick myself.
I love you enough to ground you, spank you and put you in time out when your behavior is unacceptable.
I love you enough to sit through every single tee-ball game in the hot sun as you run after butterflies, instead of the ball. I even love you enough to sign up for the next season, because you look forward to getting a new shirt each year and snacks after every game.
I love you enough to let you skip school every once in a while to spend a "Mom and me" day together.
I love you enough to apologize when I am wrong so that you can see that everyone makes mistakes and understand the power of a sincere apology. I love you enough to hope that you will forgive me.
I love you enough to let you stumble and fail.
As a mother, there have been many times I have stumbled, fallen down hard and failed, and I will continue to do so. But the one thing that keeps me going, regardless of what anyone else thinks, is knowing that my mother will always love me enough.
Happy Mother's Day!
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