September 2, 1985

Marty sweetie,

Take down those DeLorean posters—you’ve missed the bus daydreaming about flux capacitors. Stop telling teachers homework “isn’t due for 30 years.”

No skateboarding behind cars! Your “temporal experiments” are dangerous, and puffy vests aren’t invincible.

— The Mother
Time-Out Travel
June 28, 1983

Elon dear,

Don’t forget your lunch box with the rocket ships I packed. And please, no more digging tunnels in the backyard—the neighbors are complaining. Did you remember to brush your teeth after your Mars candy bar?

I saw your Tesla drawings on the refrigerator. Very nice! But sweetheart, cars need wheels, not just batteries.

— The Mother
Electric Mothering
February 14, 1983

Michael,

I don’t care if you call it “rehearsal”—no moonwalking on the furniture after 9 PM! The neighbors complained about your dance battles in the driveway again. And sequined gloves are NOT appropriate for fifth-grade picture day.

Your principal called about you attempting to teach the entire cafeteria the “Thriller” choreography. And please stop trying to adopt every animal you see.

— The Mother
Musical Curfew
October 7, 1963

Vladimir dear,

I found your “annexation plans” for the neighbor’s swing set! Territorial expansion does NOT apply to the playground. And please stop posing shirtless for your class photos—your teacher is concerned about your “strongman” phase.

The principal called about you establishing a “puppet government” in the student council. While leadership is important, rigging elections and calling classmates “Western spies” is inappropriate.

— The Mother
Revolutionary Parenting
March 14, 1934

The Mother,

Stop calling my room a “quantum uncertainty state.” I’m a 55-year GROWN MAN scientist—I’ll clean when my equations are complete.

Time is merely a construct. And stop telling colleagues about my bedwetting—that ended at nine (except during solar flares).

— Albert Einstein
Momma’s Boy
June 14, 1927

Albert sweetie,

Your room is approaching relativistic chaos! Equations aren’t wallpaper. Stop telling teachers homework is “relative” and “time is an illusion.”

Your socks exist in multiple locations again. The cat experiments must stop—Mr. Schrödinger is anxious.

— The Mother
Quantum Cleanup
October 25, 1890

Pablo sweetie,

I understand you’re “exploring perspectives,” but drawing on ALL the walls is not acceptable. Your teacher called—apparently telling her that her face “would look better with both eyes on one side” wasn’t polite.

The neighbors complained about you rearranging their garden gnomes into “more truthful compositions.” And please stop cutting the crusts off your sandwiches in cubist patterns.

— The Mother
Artistic Boundaries
July 10, 1868

Nikola dear,

Stop rewiring the house! Your “energy transmission” shorted our block. Pigeons aren’t geniuses—they’re birds with parasites.

Don’t build Tesla coils unsupervised. And stop calling Edison a “thieving dullard” to his mother.

— The Mother
Electrical Boundaries
April 23, 1574

William,

To clean thy room or not to clean thy room is NOT a question—it’s mandatory! Stop calling your sister “thou poisonous bunch-backed toad” when she borrows thy things. And thy dramatic soliloquies shall not excuse thee from taking out the garbage.

Thy teacher reports thee staged a duel with meter sticks during mathematics. “Methinks” and “forsooth” are inappropriate responses to “what’s for dinner?”

— The Mother
Dramatic Chores