There is a day in the month of May when people throughout the United States take time to thank their Mother for all the love shown to them throughout their lives. There have been many years when I have sent the obligatory card to my Mom and not really thought much about all she has done for me throughout my life. For some reason, this Mother's Day seems different than others.

Maybe it is because being away from home for a long time has a way of making a person realize what is truly important in life, and so I think more about how special my Mother is to me. Maybe it is because my Mother has been very sick lately and I cannot help but think about what life would be like without her. Or maybe it is because I realize all the overtime that my wife has to put in as a Mother while I am away, and I appreciate all of her hard work.

My Mother is one of the greatest respected Kindergarten teachers in Nashville, TN. She has taught Kindergarten at the same school for over 30 years. She is an incredible woman, and an even better Mother. However, I think you need a little insight into what my home life was like. My Mother was the meanest Mother in the whole world! While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, I had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess my Mother fixed me a dinner that was different from other kids, too. Mom insisted on knowing where I was at all times. You’d think I was a convict in a prison. She had to know who my friends were, and what I was doing with them. She insisted that if I said I would be gone for an hour, I would be gone for an hour or less.

I was ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making me work. I had to clean my room, wash out the bathtub, take out the trash, vacuum the floor, iron my clothes, and occasionally do the dishes. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for me to do. One time she even told me that the reason she had a son was so that I could do work around the house. She always insisted on my telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

By the time I was a teenager she could read my mind. Then, life was really tough! Mom wouldn't let my friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them. While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, I had to wait until I was 16.

Because of my Mother, I missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. I have never been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's property, or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault. I never got drunk, did drugs, stayed out all night, or a million other things the other kids did. Sundays were reserved for church, and we never missed once. I knew better than to ask to spend the night with a friend on Saturdays.

Now that I've left home I'm a God-fearing, educated, honest adult. I'm doing the best I can to be a mean parent just like my Mom was. I want to say thanks to all the "mean" Mothers out there. You helped to make us into the men and women we are today. We miss you.

May God bless all the work you do and have done to raise your children.