I Loved You Enough

 Someday when my children are old enough

to understand the logic that motivates a mother,

I will tell them:I loved you enough

to ask you where you were going,

with whom, and what time you would get home.

I loved you enough to insist that you buy a bike

that we could afford to give you - with your own money.

I loved you enough to be silent

and let you discover that your hand-picked friend was a creep.

I loved you enough to make you return a Milky Way-

with a bite out of it- to a drugstore and confess,

" I stole this".

I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours

while you cleaned your room,

a job that would have taken me fifteen minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger,

disappointment, disgust, and tears in my eyes.

I loved you enough to admit

I was wrong and ask for your forgiveness.

I loved you enough to let you stumble and fall.

I loved you enough to let you

assume the responsibility for your actions at 6,10,16.

But most of all I loved you enough to say

"no" when you hated me for it-

that was the hardest part of all.