Go Mom Go!

Except, I think I would have gone with Oprah...

Public warms to "uncool" mom

By Monica Hesse

The Washington Post

PREV of NEXT

SCREEN GRAB

Jane Hambleton and son Stephen on "Good Morning America," where she told about selling his car after finding booze under the front seat.

Yesterday, she was the meanest mom on the planet. Today: the coolest.

Jane Hambleton, 48, gained a worshipful parental following after news of a classified ad she had placed in The Des Moines Register was picked up by The Associated Press. The text of the ad:

"OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet."

Sold! Hambleton, a radio DJ in Fort Dodge, Iowa, received some 70 calls from buyers.

And other parents. And emergency-room workers. And school counselors. And scores of others wanting to congratulate her for being so Dirty Harry awesome.

"I don't think you can print" what Steven, 19, said to his mom, she told The Register. But then the two became instantly famous, and by Thursday morning they were appearing on "Good Morning America," which got the television-booking wars started, as ABC producer Chad Parks recounted it. "Today" wanted them.

The Hambletons were about to book that when folks from "The Oprah Winfrey Show" called, demanding exclusivity, so the family leaned toward that, Mom being a huge Oprah fan.

But then Ellen DeGeneres called. And while Mom likes Winfrey, her son loves DeGeneres, and Mom was inclined to give this one to her son, considering she had taken away his car. They were going back to Iowa to sort it all out.

All of which proved one thing: America needed this kind of tough love, the kind that says: "I am not your friend. I am your mother. Eat your peas. Now."

The kind that says: "I don't care what the other mothers are doing. I am not buying a pony keg for your party, even if I take away the keys to make sure your friends don't drive home plastered."

For the record, Steven, a student at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, told his mother the alcohol in the car did not belong to him, but to a friend. For the record, Hambleton believed him. But it violated one of two rules she'd set forth when she bought him the car: No booze, and keep it locked.

Her son was originally "very, very unhappy," The Register reported, but he and Mom seem to have patched things up. It's amazing what a free trip to New York can do.