Scary Mom Voice

Recently my newly-married friend Kate gave up her well-deserved weekend of quality time with her husband to visit me and my family here in Raleigh.  Kate and I met as R.A.'s in college 10 years ago.  We've seen each other through some of the most difficult and wonderful times of our lives, and our bond remains forever strong despite our very different lifestyles.  A fellow blogger, you can check out Kate's talent for restoring forgotten furniture here.

Generally speaking, my children were on their best behavior for our guest.  Joey was funny, entertaining, and energetic.  The babies were cuddly, affectionate, and super adorable.  After a late night on Friday, early rising and skipping a nap on Saturday, Joey was well-beyond "being a good listener" by Saturday evening.  I was trying to wrap up the activity, get everyone seated, and get dinner on the table.  I was also hot, tired, and already drinking beer.  Joey was running through the apartment like a tornado destroying everything in his path.  As he dumped over yet another bin of cleaned up toys, I reached my breaking point.  I grabbed hold of him before he could run to the next area of destruction and demanded he clean up the mess he had made.  I then shouted at my husband and guest to "EAT!" as they were waiting for the cook to be seated.  Not my finest mom moment by far.  Later when things were calmer I apologized to Kate for having to witness my ill-fated attempt to discipline my son accompanied by my scary mom voice.  Her response was honest and hilarious:

Kate: Honey, I've heard that voice before.
Me: You have?
Kate: Yes.  You had your scary mom voice long before you ever had children.  It didn't just appear when you popped out a kid between your legs.

And to that I had no response.  She is absolutely right.  Kate and I had our share of squabbles back in the day.  Chasing each other down the dorm room hallways with snow shovels and returning each other's stuff type squabbles.  I've used my scary mom voice on Kate or in her presence probably more times than I should publicly admit.  So that got me thinking.  Do we all have a scary mom voice?  Or only us scary moms?  If you have one, now is the time to embrace it.  I want to know... when did you last use your scary mom voice?