Last week, the Cates at Why Homeschool introduced me to the meanest mom on the planet. She put an ad in the paper that says it all:
OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don’t love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet. AP
But now she is the coolest. Not only did a bunch of bloggers find her parenting style refreshing and inspiring. So did a local DJ, and collection of callers, and some television studios.
Sold! Hambleton, a radio DJ in Fort Dodge, Iowa, received some 70 calls from buyers. And other parents. And emergency room workers. And school counselors. And scores of others wanting to congratulate her for being so Dirty Harry awesome. Washington Post
Dirty Harry awesome about sums it up. Who would have thought that alcohol under your seat would score you a spot on Good Morning America? And invitations to Today, Oprah and Ellen’s show? All wanting exclusivity, so while they sort it out, we can revel in the nation’s appreciation for a mom who sticks by the rules she laid out for her son. I agree with Washington Post staff writer Monica Hesse on this one:
All of which proved one thing [referring to the the tv bookings]: America needed this. Oh boy, did we need this kind of tough love, the kind that says, “I am not your friend. I am your mother. Eat your peas. Now.”
The kind that says, “I don’t care what the other mothers are doing. I am not buying a pony keg for your party, even if I take away the keys to make sure your friends don’t drive home plastered.” Ibid.
So, mean mom, you are cool. And I am happy your son has recognized that you are not the only mom on the planet who thinks so.
Question: Barb from Barb the Evil Genius asks an important question:
While not disagreeing that Mean Moms are good, most of the commenters on the blog where I first read about this ad agreed that Mom was a little out of bounds literally publishing the son’s transgression to the world. What do you think?
Reading this ad published in several papers and shared on several blogs, we are somewhat removed from the situation. We do not know this young man nor his mother, but those in his community do. I know some people are very public about their children’s misbehavior, posting it to blogs, forums and discussing it with friends. Others keep that private.
What do you think, either in relation to this case or in general?
[tags]parenting, meanest mom[/tags]
I posted on this one last week and the response was unanimous. That mom rocks.
It’s about time that someone put the Mother back in mothering!
He should have met my mom LOL His mom seems mild in comparison. My mother wasn’t overbearing or abusive, she was just very much like The Meanest Mom on the Planet…and she turned out two very independent, determined, and responsible adult daughters
In fact, my 20 yr old son, whom is having a very difficult time transitioning into adulthood, has just been sent live with mom when I realized I was not helping him and in fact was enabling him to stay immature, unaccountable and irresponsible…and only after a couple of weeks there is noticable improvement…and he himeself is happier!
It’s moms like Meanest Mom that need to be celebrated and set up as role models and I am so glad she has been recognized…it takes some of the pressure off the rest of us who want and need to stick to our guns, but feel that almost all of society is against us in some form another.
While not disagreeing that Mean Moms are good, most of the commenters on the blog where I first read about this ad agreed that Mom was a little out of bounds literally publishing the son’s transgression to the world. What do you think?
He should be thanking his lucky stars to have the meanest mom ever, instead of being found by the police. LOL
I was thinking about that publishing transgressions bit. It seems to have turned out ok, and she appears to be allowing her son to pick which exclusive interview they give so I think all is forgiven.
At 16, he is old enough to have his name published with his transgression by the police, so I think he might be lucky as Summer noted. : )
But I do agree that we need to be sensitive to some degree about how we publicly discuss our children’s transgressions.
I think people are responding because we are so used to seeing kids get away with this sort of thing as parents brush it under the run to try to be their kid’s friend.
LOTP, I saw it passing around the internet, and thought it funny just how much people latched on th the story. Sorry I missed your discussion. : ( Does your free classified listing in my virtual paper make up for it?
Dana, it more than made up for it! I think I got 3 or 4 (maybe 5) comments on it, not sure that qualifies as a discussion.
I have no delusions of grandeur.
Now, about moms publicly anouncing transgressions…oh, the stories I could tell about my mother. I guess I’ll have to write a post.
Well, ifn’ he’d wrapped himself around a telephone pole, or killed a mother and her three children, he’d've had his transgressions made public.;)
I hope he is proud of his mom, standing up for his welfare in spite of the fact that many parents cave in. She is a good example, and he might be making a small sacrifice now (a bit of embarassment) but what a story to tell the grandkids, eh?
I just checked and I had six, count’em six, comments on the meanest mom post. (I got six comments! Happy dancin’ in progress!)
Anyway, all were in favor of her tactics.
I think what she did was great …selling the car, having firm consequences. The public discussion of transgressions?? Hmmm…not so sure. It seems in this case it turned out ok, and maybe son is enjoying or amused at the unexpected publicity, but I wonder if in some children it would be overly humiliating.
In saying that though maybe I’m more thinking about younger children.(He’s proabaly old enough to live with the consequences…as someone rightly pointed out he could have faced public charges) I was raised by an aunt and all my problems and transgressions were discussed with the aunts grown up daughter (and others). I felt betrayed and ashamed and humiliated and was never able to have a real relationship with her who could have been like a sister to me. Also the aunt (who is really like a mother) I still cannot trust fully because I know. I’m careful not to gossip about my children.
Well, if I had any thoughts of grandeur, they’d definitely be delusions, LOTP!
Sunniemom and Embejo, I tend to agree. The fact that he is older and the seriousness of what he did should be taken into consideration when thinking about this. This probably varies by state, but here he would be old enough for the police to publish his name.
Nice reality check to teenagers who think they have the meanest parents and no one else’s parents would ever sell their car over a friend’s alcohol!
While the mom’s name is now know, in the original ad she didn’t use her real name just “meanest mom.”
Yes, a friend would recognize the phone number, but a friend would probably have heard about the incident already.
I haven’t seen the son’s name used in any of the original story. So, he is still relatively anonymous.
If he goes on tv with his mom or is interviewed, then he has no expectation of privacy anyway.
As a general rule, I think privacy is important but embarrassment can be a good thing too.
If only more parents were that mean!
Thanks for participating in this week’s Carnival of Family Life, hosted at Diary of 1!!