It's not easy being me - a mean mom

I was not a June Cleaver mom. And I suspect none of you are either. And that's a GOOD thing!
What we need is not a string a pearls as we happily clean up after everybody. What we need is a set of rules that will help us take charge and be the parent our kids need. Our goal as moms is to raise responsible, compasionate kids who will some day move out & take care of themselves, not "gimme" entitlement kids who expect to be provided everything and then some. By the time they leave, and we DO want them to leave, they need to be able to take care of themselves. If we don't teach them how to do that, they will not be able to make it out there on their own.

Sometimes that teaching requires being tough and sometimes it requires being downright "mean". We're not here to be their friends. But at the same time we don't want to always be the bad guy either. The trick is to balance the two.

What are some of the things you do in your household to balance the roles of dear mommy & mommy dearest?