"Are We Growing Backwards With Time?" or "I Can't Believe My Parents Haven't Tried To Return Me Yet"

This blog entry is not typical.

At least not for me.

For the past, oh, forever, my dozens of blogs all over the internet have been devoted, at least in part, to despising my parents. Go back to a post from high school, middle school, even the start of college, and probably 1/3 of every word I wrote was how my parents were jerks, they didn't know what the hell they were doing, and they made me madder than a George Bush's fifth grade teacher when she graded his spelling tests. I was a good teenager.

Everyone says you love your parents more as you get older. I have always loved my parents, but good golly you start to see how much they do for you. I'm not saying that it justifies every pissy thing your mom said or every time your dad yelled at you for something silly, but it makes you understand that they're people, and people get frustrated and people make mistakes and people are people.

These people also spend egregious amounts of money on you that you in no way deserve or have even the slightest idea how to spend properly. And yet, they place in your hand, along with sage advice that they know you won't heed, and a faith in you that can only compare to the faith that God puts in you to make good decisions.

When I'm making plans, my dad calls way too often, and it drives me crazy. But if he didn't, I probably would never be as safe, or as informed, or as taken care of without his calls. On Saturday my car battery died without provocation. I was frustrated and mad and cranky, and my dad not only stayed on the phone with me through all my rants and raves, but also paid to have my car batter replaced and have the air conditioner fixed. And my mother, when I called in tears from the parking lot of the radiology clinic where of course the ONLY appointment they had for an MRI was 8am, she kindly and with the soothing voice that only a mother can have got the AAA card from her desk, read me the numbers 2 times, and reassured me that everything was going to be fine.

And although the appreciation and insurmountable love of a 21 year-old daughter does not necessarily justify every whiney speech your daughter gave you, or every time she made some really stupid decisions with tennis balls and boys she liked and lighter fluid, maybe it shows a mom and dad that she's human, and that sometimes people make mistakes, and sometimes people get frustrated, and sometimes people don't spend money wisely no matter how many times you say it.

They'll understand when they're older I guess.

My parents rule.

<3gen