Evil Momma

They finally did it! They pushed me too far. They have to learn that “every choice has a consequence.” They of course are those young men living in my house.


I’ve been on a tear for the last two weeks. It all started with a sink full of dirty dishes. I thought I could wait them out. I was wrong. The same dishes sat in the sink Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I was patient. I asked repeatedly who left the dishes in the sink only to learn that a fourth person going by the name, “I don’t know”, had moved in without me knowing about it.

I didn’t get mad. I didn’t threaten certain death if they weren’t washed and put away. I did decide there were consequences. Friday morning I got up, cleaned out the gun closet and outside freezer and put all the dishes, glasses, pots, pans, forks, spoons, bowls, knives and cooking utensils in one or the other. I locked the doors and hid the keys. I left paper plates, plastic cups, plastic forks and spoons, one cookie sheet, one small pot, one small pan, a wooden spoon and a spatula. I figured they had everything they needed to survive. Yup, every choice has a consequence.

Needless to say they are not very happy right now. Lee got mad and wouldn’t talk to me. David asked if he had to wash the paper plates. Reid left challenging messages on yellow sticky notes in the cabinet and refrigerator. The one in the cabinet read “Bring it on big dawg” and the one in the refrigerator read “Evil momma is back.”

Of all the notes that he left, the most meaningful was “Evil momma is back.” During their elementary years, while other mom’s were referred to as Ryan’s mom or Mrs. Dee Dee, Reid and all of his friends called me “Evil Momma.” Evil Momma was special; it set me apart from the other moms; and let me say, that was a name I wore with honor. There was something about that label that let me know that somewhere along the way I had done what I was supposed to do. It set me apart from the other moms.

The name Evil Momma means something and so does Christmas; “…She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God is with us.” (Matthew 1:23)

Copyright © 2010 Judith Bell