

Came across this in a newspaper. I didn’t write it but another Mike Doyle did. Thought you might like it (or you probably have seen it).
We had a really ‘mean’ Mom
While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs and toast.
When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what the other kids had too.
Mother insists on knowing where we were at all times. You’d think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.
We were ashamed to admit, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash dishes, make the bed, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.
She always insisted on telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds.
Then, life was really tough. Mother wouldn’t let our 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, we had to wait until we were 16.
Because of our mother, we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing others’ property, or even arrested for any crime. It was all her fault.
Now that we have left home we are all God-fearing, educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents, just like mom was.
I think that’s what’s wrong with the world today. It just doesn’t have enough mean moms.
– Mike Doyle –
(Found this in a newspaper, but it wasn’t written by me, but I wish I had. The other Mike Doyle had a tough life too!)
More Almonte Memories – Marty Taylor’s Mum
My Journey to Become the Future Queen Mum of England
In Memory of Silver Cross Mothers — thanks to Stuart McIntosh
The Sad Lives of Young Mothers and Children in Early Carleton Place
The Sad Tale of Unwed Mothers of Days Gone By — Perth through the Ages Tour
Who Are These Mothers? — 1970’s Picnic Carleton Place or Almonte?