Baby Steps: And the award goes to ...

It's award season! Just this week the Golden Globe nominees were released, and I was sad to see my name was not on the list. But that's OK, because according to my 5-year-old, I've won another title, one I have been coveting for a while now: Meanest Mom in the World.

You might be wondering how I could be happy my son has crowned me Meanest Mom in the World. Why am I not crying into a wine glass in the darkness and solitude of my room, basking in the self-pity? Because, folks, it means I have done my job as a parent. In my opinion, if your child doesn't tell you you're mean at least once a week, you aren't parenting right.

What, you may ask, caused me to receive this award? Well, I asked Cooper to put on underwear and brush his teeth. I know, I am horrible. I've come to terms with it. Today it is personal hygiene, but in a few years it will be who he hangs out with, his after-school activities and dating.

It is my job to keep my son and daughter safe from harm, to teach them to be respectful and honest, to show them what it is to be a contributing member of society. It is not my job to win the "coolest parent" award, the "gives in to stop the crying" award, or the "let her child be a jerk" award.

I am not Cooper's friend; he has plenty of those. I am Cooper's mother. I hope one day we can be friends, but I'm talking when he is 25, not today.

Today, my job is to get him to school in one piece, with underwear on and minty-fresh breath. It is my job today to comfort him when he falls off the swings, to tell him no when he wants to watch television instead of doing homework and to insist, as I did last night, that he eat that one green bean so he doesn't get scurvy.

He might hate me today, but tomorrow he will love me again. Heck, he has the memory of a goldfish, so he will probably love me again after school. The point of this is, it is OK to love your children and to tell them no. Saying no doesn't make you a bad parent; it makes you a smart parent. And if you're lucky, you also might win an award -- but sorry, Meanest Mom is taken, and I am not giving it up without a fight!

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Kristen Pind, a native of small-town Gower, Missouri, never thought that she'd be married with two kids and living in Cape Girardeau. She invites moms of all types to find her "Baby Steps" page on Facebook.