My son was all in a strop this morning and decided to list all the ways that I am a bad Mum.

He's not allowed to have a Nintendo DS. (he actually is allowed to have one but if he saves up and buys it himself)
He isn't allowed to have an X-box (he already has a Wii)
He gets yelled at (when I've been ignored the first five times)
He's not allowed to ride his motorbike to town (he's eight and a bit young for a license)
He has to make his own breakfast (coco pops and vegemite on toast)
His TV time gets limited on school days (weekends are a free for all in the afternoon)

As you can see I am a monster and it is a wonder I am allowed to walk the streets.

What have you done to your kids that makes you a "bad" parent?

copago, all of the above.. AND i used to not let them stay home because we were shearing, crutching, mulesing etc etc.
Also, they weren't allowed more than 8 weetbix for breakfast (youngest one would have a dozen each morning if I'd let him); they were only allowed to use the rifles under supervision, and they had to be home by ten when going rabbit trapping !
We farm women really are awful mothers, aren't we !

haha! We don't have a problem with when the big jobs are on - if it's something to do with his bike he's usually the first out the gate and he likes working in the sheep yards as it usually means he gets out of some school work.

It's funny how things that just seem so obvious like using a rifle and riding a motorbike in town .. just don't sink in!

One I forgot in that inital list was making him tidy up after himself .. honestly, the sigh and drop of the shoulders he puts on you would think I asked him to deep clean the whole house instead of picking up the toy he finished playing with.

Sorry to say but those are mild , really mild.
You WAIT!!!

HAH! Welcome to the world of Mean Mums!!!

Mine think I'm a monster because we do the washing up by hand and the kids turn is at midday. C'mon between three is it really that hard to wash four plates, knives, forks and glasses?

They still haven't forgiven me for 'only' having a portable TV specially for their Wii, set up in their den with their couch and other niceties, and which allows them more Wii time than if they used the TV in the living room ...

I'm a slave-driver because I expect them to make their own beds each morning AND open the shutters. Sometimes I wonder if they're all future Draculas the way they leave their rooms in the dark all day long!

And honestly, why, oh why, do they have to do their own homework???

As they get bigger the list gets longer (or my tolerance for their unreasonable demands and gripes is wearing thinner and thinner?) ...

Yeah, I'm definitely in the Bad Mum crowd!

Copago, yeah, mine were the same.. but I was a mean mum because I wouldn't let them miss school so they could work in the shed/yard.
The funny thing is that mine are all now parents themselves, and can see the logic of those long ago decisions.

Wait until he turns 13 Copago, you will then cease to exist. Except when he needs money which he believes comes from that magical money tree you have hidden away.

It's a wonder you can sleep at night, Santanna

Not much to look forward to for the teenage years it seems .. except that he's going to boarding school!

I am a bad mother because my son doesn't get ANYTHING. The clothes, food and copious amount of toys apparently dont count.

I am a bad mother because I:
- worry about her (she's 20 and doesn't want to be treated like a kid)
- insist she has to negotiate for the car
- won't drop everything to come shopping with her
- snoop on her (I don't - some of her friends are my Facebook friends too)
- am nosy (I might ask who was at the party or how her friends are doing)
- use Facebook (I must be stalking her)
- won't drive her to Uni whenever I have time off (we live close and have a bus service)
- nag her about starting assignments ("don't tell me what to do!")
- try to feed her fattening food (we eat healthily, which is one reason why she has managed to lose the weight in the first place)
- am not in a hurry to have another dog (she doesn't walk the one we have)
- resent all my shelf/cupboard space being taken up by her DVD collection
- don't take any interest in dated US sitcoms
- get annoyed when she hogs the TV (there is another one in the studio in the backyard, but it's smaller and involves walking 15 metres)

So Copago, you have lots to look forward to.

Mother Goose, you have a 20 yo - ring any bells?

To all of you...Good Luck!

My kids turned out 'perfect'-- not sure why...Yours will too, I just know it!

As of: 08/27/10, all my kids are in their 30's!

My daughter thought I was an absolute WITCH! All because I wasn't happy with her going to parties if I didn't know where she was going, the name and address of the house she was going to, and what time she would be home (because we were certainly not allowed to pick her up).
Soon after we bought her a mobile phone (they were only new then) but hers was stolen and so she was given a replacement, but it wasn't a "cool" phone like everyone else had.
I grounded her once because she said she and her frieds were getting the train to the coast for the day, but they'd driven (7 kids in a car with a new driver) there and back.
Now that is really being mean.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel, she grew up, and a few years later she actually apologised for being such a pain!

I'm looking forward to when she has teenage daughters, because what goes around comes around. Hehehe. She's dreading it and says she'll be harder on them than I ever than I ever was on her.

I'm not sure if to be worried that a LOT of the 'mean' mums on here are Australian!

I honestly can't remember a time when I considered my parents mean or bad - perhaps I was a model child?
One phrase I used to dread usually from Mum's lips was "We'll see". Every single person must have had that said to them - or said to it. It means "No, you aren't allowed to, but if I say no you'll have a tantrum. So I'll leave you with a tiny bit of hope, until we can say No definitely!"

LOL Copago - or maybe we're just prepared to talk about it!

Ahhh yes - I remember All these scenarios.
Such memories.....and such perceived embarrassment from Daddy's Girl (daughter) when we needed to know, not just know the address of the party but actually deliver her and meet The Parents! heheh

Probably one of the Meanest things I Ever did was to enroll Daddy's Girl at dancing for Jazz, Tap and Contemporary but not 'proper ballet'. Tears, trauma and ...(the classic fall-back) 'Everybody Else Is'!
Now at 25 - she's very pleased to have very pretty feet and be able to wear killer heels. *serene smile*

Was very unfair to My Pet Nerd (son) when he was 7 when I stopped him and associated pals jumping off the road bridge into the creek when it was in full flood to go 'surfing' - apart from the obvious water problem there was also the weir.....
And at 13 after many warnings to him and some mates about unlicensed riders riding unregistered motor bikes back and forth to each other's properties and to the corner shop via the roadside batters, called a police friend when they rode into town who gave them a lecture and then had them push their bikes the 5ks home.

And when I wouldn't let either kid cross the log over the flooded creek when the road causeway was under 2 metres of water, so they could go to their cousins place and play on the flooded turf paddocks - with the snakes and eels.
Despite my mean and nasty attitude towards their well being and freedom, they have both survived and turned out to be lovely young adults.

Funny that every now and then one of them will say - 'Remember when I wanted to do such and such and you were So Mean....'

I used to think that mum was horribly mean

We weren't allowed to have any video game consoles. Even after we used the reasoning that it improves our hand-eye coordination and reflexes.

We couldn't go to friend's houses unless we'd organised it a few days beforehand.

Not allowed to watch The Simpsons, ever.

Not allowed to watch M rated movies until we were actually 15, regardless of the content.

No sleepovers with boys there, even if there are 8 girls and only one boy.

"Mum, can we get a dishwasher?" "No. I've already got three"

"Mum, can we have a pet?" "No."

We also got a lot less pocket money than the other kids...it was $1 a week for quite a while.

Can't say that mum being mean has made me a lesser person though. I still don't watch The Simpsons, don't play video games, work for my own money, etc.