FUN. Act like a brat for the greater good? Yeah, it works.

I’ve written about being a mean mommy. I respect and applaud moms who declare that mean mommies “rule.” I consider myself one of them.

Truth is, you must be mean for the greater good… not only for disciplinary reasons, but for your family’s balance, happiness and all-around fabulousness. As antiquated as this sounds: The woman usually IS in charge of handling this portion of the program.

This last weekend, I WAS MEAN. Ask my husband: I was a real pain. And boy was he lucky (at least I’m pretty sure he thought so after the whole thing).

The scene: Saturday morning. I woke up with a headache and made a vow to not – NOT – do the same thing I do practically every other day (i.e.: unload the dishwasher, load the dishwasher, clean the floor, throw in a load of laundry… you understand). It was SATURDAY. And a way-too-beautiful one to be spent doing things that I do every other day.

Equipped with a very aggressive attitude to make something ‘fun’ happen that day, I dramatically whisked through my house, dressed my girls, dressed myself and was then interrupted my husband’s recurring weekend words (that frankly, I’m sick of hearing): “I have to go to Home Depot….”

This was NOT happening again (him running errands with me at home). I thought fast. “You do whatever it is you need to do,” I looked him squarely in the eyes and told him, “US GIRLS are going out for the WHOLE day and we’re gonna have fun – without you.” (The snotty and mean adolescent attitude was even worse than I’ve made it sound.)

“What are you going to do?” he asked. (Aha. My secret plan was working.)

“I don’t know. I’m going to get in the car and drive.”

He looked at me like “ok, crazy” and then watched me pack all sorts of things up in the girls bag. I scooped everyone up and practically ran out the door “Bye! See ya later!”

“WAIT I’M COMING WITH YOU!” he shouted. (YES. I am smarter than I thought.)

So we all got in the car and landed here:

And here:

I BEAMED with joy all day:

And judging by all evidence, HUBBY BEAMED TOO:

(For the record, he went to Home Depot the next day.)

WE. ALL. HAD. FUN. (Despite LilMiss’ choice to not eat her lunch and decorate the floor with hamburger bits instead.)

The reality was: The four of us NEEDED family time. RIGHT THEN. I knew it and felt it coming on for weeks now. Months, even. LilMiss needed to refine her new walking skills in grass surrounded by tulips. LadyP needed to perfect her running skills surrounded by cherry tree (or orange tree?) blossoms. Hubby just needed to get out of the house (even though he didn’t realize it at the time). I needed to be away from my usual context. The last time I remember the four of us doing something out-of-the-ordinary was when I stormed in on Hubby in his computer room back in January… and that was worth every minute of effort.

See, my husband’s biggest problem in life is that I’m a real b**** about creating fun & fabulous family time every now and then. But most times, that family time is just as important as breathing or eating or sleeping (or loading that dishwasher). And if I don’t act like a brat about getting that precious family time, no one else will. And then where would we be? At home. As usual. Cranky. Not fab.

Moral of the story: If you know your family needs something, do what it takes to get it done. Your fabulousness – for the long run – depends on it. They will thank you later (even if they don’t come out and say ‘thank you for making me do that,’ the pictures will suggest otherwise).

DO YOU ACT MEAN TO GET WHAT YOU WANT FOR THE GREATER GOOD?