Justice and Mercy

I popped up in bed, nearly slamming my head on the bunkbed above.  I threw off the covers and looked at my clock.  It was 5 am.The maps!I had forgotten about my 7th grade geography project, which was due TODAY.  In my panicked state, I ran to my mother's room and pleaded for her help.  The project I had picked was creating maps from countries around the world.Twenty-nine years ago, this project entailed a lot of construction paper, cutting and gluing.  It was not hard, but time-intensive.My mom got out of bed and she and I got to work.  We cut and glued and cut and assembled and cut some more.  I'll never forget how my mom worked beside me, helping calm my troubled soul.We managed to get the project finished that morning, and I arrived at school feeling amazed and relieved.  I was so grateful for my mom's help.  In fact, I still have that school project in a box.  Truthfully, I can't throw it away...it's no gem.  In the pictures, it really is just construction paper.  But it represents so much more to me.I had forgotten the project.  Me.  It was my responsibility, and I didn't do it.  But my mom helped me anyway.Now, nearly 30 years later, we hear a lot about entitled children and a complete lack of personal responsibility.  Kids need consequences!  More consequences...tougher punishments...don't rescue them!So here I sit.  I'm torn between these theories, between justice and mercy.  Honestly, I sometimes think I have been less merciful with my kids, hoping to create people who work hard and understand that their choices come with consequences they CANNOT pick.  But I just feel mean.Then I wonder if I haven't been mean enough?  I have taken a forgotten lunch many times, or brought a project left on the kitchen table to school.  I have brought choir fee checks, and band clothes, and poster board, and kites, and all kinds of things that my kids were SUPPOSED to remember, but did not.What is the right way to be?  I'm not sure.For now, I'm going to keep my construction paper flag project as a reminder that my mom loved me and helped me out when I needed her.  Even at 5 am.