Joanne Kraft - The Mean Moms Guide to Raising Great Kids

Joanne Kraft believes in strengthening women
through the love of Christ. She'd love the
opportunity to share at your next women's ministry
event, community group, or MOPS gathering.
Contact her at .

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Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord
would fulfill his promises to her. LUKE 1:45

Below are wonderful resources to help navigate your
mothering journey. Make sure to check them out.

FamilyLife.com
TheMomInitiative.com
FocusontheFamily.com
SpirituallyUnequalMarriage.com
MomLifeToday.com
MotheringfromScratch.com
HeartsatHome.org
GraceforMoms.com
Proverbs31.org
MOPS.org

This is the book that I so desperately needed as a young mom. Joanne gives momspermission and encouragement to do what they know in their hearts they need to dosetboundaries and stand firm when the going gets tough. Joanne writes from hard-wonwisdom, compassion, and with a refreshing and disarming sense of humor. It will changeyour mothering.

Melinda Means, co-author of Mothering From Scratch

Joannes laugh-out-loud humor and transparency filled my mamas heart with joy andhope. A mean mom is a mother who will raise her children to become young men andwomen who step into adulthood with honor, respect, love, and godly character. A mustread for every mom.

Lynn Donovan, author of Winning Him Without Words and Not Alone

Joanne proves that mean truly is the new black... it looks good on everyone andcomes in your size. Her new book politely introduces old-school parenting tools tomodern-day mama hearts.

Teasi Cannon, author of My Big Bottom Blessing

I highly recommend this book for any mom who knows that God has big plans for herkids and will do whatever it takes to make sure those plans come to fruition.

Erin MacPherson, author of Hot Mama and The Christian Mamas Guide series

The mean mom may not be liked by her children for the day, but she will be lovedand respected for a lifetime.

Kathy Helgemo, author of Mothering from Scratch

For young moms, this book is like sitting for hours with a trusted mentor. For experiencedmoms, this book is a field manual for walking out the toughest days on the job. Amust-read for all mothersespecially softies like me.

Jessica Wolstenholm, co-author, The Pregnancy Companion and The Baby Companion andco-founder, graceformoms.com

Joannes engaging and humorous writing is packed with practical wisdom for womenwho want to be mean, successful moms. She shows us how to parent with our childrensfuture in mind.

Kathy Howard, author of 6 books, including God Is My Refuge

With her relatable voice, words of encouragement, and sparkling wit, the adventureknown as motherhood just got a whole lot easier...

Jenny Lee Sulpizio, author of For the Love of God and Confessions of a Wonder WomanWannabe

I'm always entertained by the use of the word mean. Kids who use it are often the ones least likely to have any idea whatmean truly means.

Michelle McDonald, sportswriter for ESPN

C all me crazy, but moms are becoming nicer. There used to be a time when kids couldspend hours regaling one another with mean mom stories. I know it used to be a favoritepastime of mine.

My mom is the meanest. Listen to this.... I brush aside my big 80s featheredhair for emphasis. She wouldnt let me come over today until after my homework wasfinished and after I cleaned the kitchen, I complained to my girlfriend.

If you think your mom is mean, Joanne, listen to this one....

Legendary stories have gathered over timetoo many to recount. My parenting stylehas been molded and shaped by them. As far as I was concerned, my mom was the meanestof all. She wanted to know who my friends were and what I was watching on TV. Sheupheld curfews, expected me to do well in school, and paid close attention to whatI wore.

I was hoping to slip out the front door before my parents caught a glimpse of myoutfit. I was a typical sixteen-year-old, and I just knew they wouldnt be able tohear the whisper of cool announcing my presence. Nor would they understand thatmy black stretch pants made a statement.

Unfortunately, I had never learned the art of Navy Seal stealth operations, and mymom intercepted my exit. Sweetheart, what are you wearing?

Questions asking the obvious are the bane of every teenagers existence. Black pants,I blurted, searching for an escape route.

Those are not black pants. Those are skintight. She called for backup. George!

Dad is a former U.S. Marine, so I knew he would be up for a battle. I would losethis skirmish. Mom would make sure of it.

What in the world are those? He looked down at my legs, his face scrunched up asif he were in the presence of something extraterrestrial.

My earlier confidence squeaked out as a pathetic question hoping for approval. Blackpants?

With Dad as her wingman, my one-and-only mean mom began her rant: No daughterof mine....

Yep, here we go. The no daughter of mine speech.

As you can imagine, my response was predictable. I was angry with my mean mom. Istomped off to my room and whimpered over my shoulder, Mom. You are so mean! Needlessto say, I never left the house in those skintight stretch pants.

Fast-forward thirty years. Yesterday, while at church, this memory came rushing back.The beautiful young singer on stage seemed to have discovered my thigh-stranglingpants from my teen years. Her parents are apparently much nicer than mine and lether leave the house.

I debated with myself. Poor thing. Does she realize how skintight those are? Is thatwhat I looked like thirty years ago? Stop it, Joanne, you're being old-fashioned.Those pants are in style again.

My thoughts were interrupted by my extremely cool seventeen-year-old son. Right inthe middle of a worship song, he leaned down and whispered in my ear, That girlshould not be wearing those pants. Once again, confirmation that my very own meanmom had been right.

The definition of the word mean is to be unkind or malicious. Though you might cringeat being defined this way, its exactly how your children feel youre behaving whenyou keep them from what they want, enforce daily chores, or thwart their Friday nightplans.

This is the moment the parent-child language barrier begins. You see, a mean momdefines the word mean quite a bit differently.

A mean mom keeps her word when its hard.

A mean mom gives, models, and expects respect.

A mean mom knows her childs friends and where they live.