Sat, Mar 9
... How old am I?
One month until I turn 20. Woo! Which also means that I have 3 weeks to find my sister a birthday present.
It's interesting how often I've been talking about my parents since I wrote that entry; especially about my mom. It's interesting how many people I've discovered in the past few days--people who are her age who have kids my age and older--who don't agree with her parenting style. They all think my parents are wonderful people, but from what I've gleaned from these conversations, wonder how I made it 18 years without going crazy.
It was really interesting... Kat and I were talking yesterday about how my brother and sister and I are so different; how I've seemed to "escape" better than they have, even at that age... or something along those lines. Maybe "escape" isn't the right word, because it's not like we were in a horrible situation, or being abused, or anything like that. It's just that my parents made--and make--some choices about raising us that are a little... overprotective and controlling. In any case, we were talking about that, adn then I was talking about it with Julie today, and she was saying that in cases where parents are overprotective and overbearing, the kids often go one of two ways, and that my sister and I have done that.
"Either, they drive them away, like they're doing with you, or they turn them into whiny brats like your sister!" She said it. Not me. Am I justified in thinking what I have about her all these years (my sister, that is, not Julie). ;o)
Anyways... it's interesting. I mean, I'm not a parent, so I don't have the same sort of perspective as my parents do, and maybe I am just looking at it from the perspective of, "I want to be out from under your rules." But to hear three other mothers say the same thing about their parenting styles makes me feel a little more justified. Like the things that I take issue with aren't just me being a bratty teenager. I'm looking at the situation, thinking through it, and coming to an intelligent conclusion; one that will someday affect the way I raise my kids.
Like I said before, my parents didn't do a horrible job raising me. I don't think that at all. I just think sometimes that they've tried to parent elementary school kids long after we got to be in high school, and even after I moved out. Ah well... I don't live there, and much as they'd like to think so, their household rules don't apply to me anymore, and they can't force them on me. And that's not a rebellious "You can't make me do it!" kind of attitude. That's a "I'm not a kid anymore, and I run my own household now. You don't need to monitor me like that anymore."
Anyways, I feel like I'm whining about them. I'm not, and I'm not trying to down them or anything. I'm just saying that I'm not the only one who thinks the way I do. :o)
infinite || abyss
posted at 11:29 p.m.
