The disciplinary parent

I grew up in a simple and united family. My parents split the role of parenting. My Mother was more than often the disciplinary parent and my father was the soother. My Mother is tough, and strict. She always wanted the best out of us: to be the best behaved children in the neighborhood, the most neatly dressed, the kids with the best grades at school. And she knew how to get her ways: by beating us up or by scolding us for hours. With that behavior she alienated herself from us.
My Father on the other hand was soft spoken even if he was scolding us and he would often come between my Mother and us, complaining that she was too severe and asking her to leave us alone. Soon enough, he became our friend and the one we would go to whenever we had problems.
I grew up thinking that if ever I had children, I would never act like my mother. I would become their friends and confident, and have a close bond with them. But as much as I wanted to be different from my Mother, I knew that I would probably become like her some day.
So imagine my surprise when I realised that I was being too soft trying to discipline my baby.
Little Prince maybe young but it is about time that he is disciplined. He has to learn the difference between what is wrong and right for his own safety.
His father is the tough one. He does not mind scolding him, even if the baby cries his lungs out. He can leave him alone in his room for him to fall asleep and would not be moved by his cry of help.
As far as I am concerned, I cannot stand Baby Boy crying. My heart bleeds everytime, and I run to him to see what is wrong. But the problem is that by now, Little Prince has understood how to get me. He knows that he just needs to cry to catch Mommy's attention. Or that he just needs to scream in order for me to let him do whatever bad thing he was doing.
As a result of this behavior, I have the feeling that Baby Boy does not regard me as an authority figure. He views me as his equal or worse his servant. Someone he can run to when he needs to be fed or changed, or when he wants to hide from his father's discipline.
I know I should step up and become more strict with him. However, it is just not in me to be tough. I wanna practice tough love, but I need to be tough myself for Baby boy's sake and mine as well.