My father wanted me to be a teetotaler. He wanted me to go to bed at a decent hour. He also told me to never buy anything on credit. Because my father was clearly wrong on other issues, I neglected his good advice. I also picked up the bad behavior I could use. I'd like to make a public apology to his son. I'm sorry, me.
The word "s-o-n" keeps disappearing from my post. It's a site glitch. EDIT: <-----that one disappeared too.
5
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
3 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.When I was a kid, I thought my parents were stupid. The older I got, the smarter my parents got.
barjoe
Level 9
Nov 20, 2020
0
@Fred_Snerd my parents were great. I was the hateful idiot. I've improved with age.
I wish I could say that...both my parents were dullards. My mother thought a cat could suck a baby's breath away and kill it. My father thought women had "heat cycles" like cats and dogs...he was 23 before he found out differently.
At some point, I reasoned that many of the unproductive habits and attitudes that I had when I fled the family of origin may well have been my parent's fault. But every year that passed since then was an opportunity to review, revise and work toward becoming who I would like to be.
I also came to realize many children did not survive their parents. So as dysfunctional and as toxic as they were, I still have a lot to be grateful to my parents for.
When you are twice the age when you fled the family of origin, by that time at least half of your attitudes, personality traits and habits are your (or my) own fault. No one else to blame any more. Ownership only increases from there.
If you are lucky enough to live so long, you will realize that some of these bad habits/traits/characteristics are what they are and have lasted so long because you LIKE them.
At that point, stop fighting. Just enjoy life and love those that you can.
Normanbites
Level 7
Nov 20, 2020
0
@Fred_Snerd If you hang on to them much longer, there aren't many conclusions to choose from.
Once I got the "my father/mother wanted me to be..." out of my life I was so much happier becoming what I wanted to be.
1of5
Level 8
Nov 20, 2020
4
1of5:
@Fred_Snerd can't pick your parents, unfortunately.
One thing about humans, they think that what makes them happy (even if they have to convince themselves to be happy) should be what makes you happy, too.
1of5:
@Fred_Snerd can be hard to find. I got lucky and found one, so I marred her.
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
Share this post
Categories
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.