system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Malcolm in the Middle] Is Lois a good mum?
gpt
The debate of whether Lois is a good mother or not is a tough one to have.

Her background shows that she tried being a conventional mother who showers her child with love and care. Something inside of her snapped and she became the Lois we've come to know. When you take this into consideration, then you understand that, at the very least, she did attempt to be the ideal mother. Unfortunately for Lois, for some reason not entirely explainable (probably the big brother-little brother effect that started with Francis), her kids have a tendency to do way worse than your typical child. Francis was wildly destructive (Destroying the house, blowing up a car, incidentally cutting off Spangler's other hand). Reese's stupidity gets him in very convoluted messes. Malcolm's ego, combined with his genius, can lead him to rebel to extremes. Dewey's luck+genius+charisma took him cross country at one point.

Needless to say, while she often employs unorthodox techniques and goes as far as controlling her children's future, it's fair to assume that she is the best mother possible for containing their calamity. In the show, you notice that whenever Lois is not explicitly around or keeping her eye on them, they end up in bigger messes than ever before.

Plus, y'know, Hal is kinda inept.