Ahhh, the life of a parent. Thrilling. The yelling, the discipline, the hate and spite absorbed from your teen…what’s not to love? The trust that is never put into the parent-kid relationship, because why would I trust my teenage child that is telling the truth? 

I just love when my parents don’t believe anything I say and when I ask them why they don’t trust me they reply with: “I do trust you, it’s other people that I don’t trust”. Which basically translates to: “I don’t trust you around other people and don’t trust that you can make smart decisions”. I mean it’s incredible that I haven’t lied to them at this point to save myself the trouble of this conversation. I mean… I might stretch the truth… but I’ve never fully outright lied.

Can they not grow faster? They don’t pay rent, do their chores, cook, pay for food, pay for gas, pay for insurance, the list goes on and on. Teens. How refreshing. As babies, sure they’re cute… until they throw up on you. Even as they grow up, they don’t get much better. Now they just try and act like adults but still make us do the actual adult work. 

They grow up so fast. They start out young and innocent and inexperienced and inflict emotional damage and have no clue what they’re doing, but then they grow up… and are still pretty much the same except they become gross and wrinkly. Parents. Cute aren’t they? They make it so easy and comforting to be around them. That’s what I’d say if I chose to lie. In reality, they’re no better than us teens. 

You think they would be more understanding, but they still expect everything to be perfect. This is my first time being a parent just like it’s their first time being a teenager. They act like it’s the easiest thing to do. What is never realized is that when raising a kid, you’re shaping who they will become. You not only have to think about the present but also the future and how they will survive independently. 

They had a whole lifetime plus the experience of being raised by their own parents. How do they still manage to mess it up?  It can’t be that hard, can it? It goes back to the golden rule: “treat others how you want to be treated”. This simple rule and yet parents can’t follow it. They act like being a teen is easy too, they don’t realize that these are the most important years in someone’s life. It can make or break someone’s future. You learn so much in such a short amount of time that it’s hard to absorb and still act sweet and innocent like you were as a kid.