Sometimes I’m the Bad Guy.

And honestly??

I HATE to be the Bad Guy.

The Bad Guy enforces things that aren’t popular with the crowd.

The Bad Guy says NO a lot (most recently it was NO to a phone for my sixth grader, NO to getting them out of school early on Friday, and NO to just one more episode of The Office at 9pm).

The Bad Guy is met with lots of eye rolls and huffing and “That’s stupid!!” and “You’re the worst!!”

And even the very occasional “I hate you!”

Being the Bad Guy NEVER feels very good.

I much prefer to be the Good Guy.

It’s so fun to make my kids happy!

I love to say YES and watch their little faces light up.

The Good Guy gets lots of “Thanks Mom!!” or “You’re the best Mom in the whole wide world!!”

Being the Good Guy just feels SO good.

But here’s the problem…

So often the Good Guy says YES, and my children are happy.

For the moment.

Until the next thing comes along.

Until the next request.

“Mom can we just skip school today?”

“Mom can I have another sucker?”

“Mom can I play on your phone?”

“Mom can I go to a friend’s house?”

“Mom can we stay up late tonight??”

“Mom will you buy this?”

“Come on, Mom, just ONE MORE game?”

“Mom, I don’t want to go to church today…can we stay home?”

“Mom, will you just do it?”

And because I love them SO MUCH, I try to make the best decisions I can which means…

So often I say NO.

I create boundaries and dole out chores and enforce consequences and follow through.

What a Bad Guy!!

The thing is, I’m not too concerned about their immediate happiness because I’m mostly focused on the end game.

I’m trying to raise up kids to be responsible, God-focused, kind, self-sufficient adults over here.

And if that makes me the Bad Guy sometimes, well…I guess I must be a pretty Good Mom after all!!