“Aren't you forgetting something?” she asked, “Where’s my kiss goodbye?”
Reluctantly, you quickly ran to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, at the same time silently praying that none of your friends have seen you, especially not the cute boy from your class that you secretly fancy.
During my earlier childhood and adolescent years, I was always embarrassed when my mom or dad showed any kinds of affection towards me in public. I also found it extremely hard to say “I love you” to my parents, or expressed any sort of emotions and feelings towards them. Maybe, it’s an Asian thing, who knows? And don't get me started about the parents trying to talk about the birds and the bees. That calls for an entirely different story altogether!
I was not an easy child growing up. I was somewhat, in my mum’s opinion, rebellious. I was not on good terms with my mother, always skipping classes, coming home late, and even arguing over some boy I was apparently “head over heels for”. In saying that, I am definitely not proud of the things I have done. Looking back, I do regret all the fights and misbehavior, and all the stress I must have caused. I find it totally ridiculous now. "Why didn't I just listen to my mum's advice?", "She was right all along", "Things would have been so much easier if I just listened".
It's too late now. What's done is done.
The lesson that I have learned is that Mum always knows better.
But my stubborn nature has always convinced me that I have to make my own mistakes, in order to learn from them.
One quote that really resonates with me is, "Parents try the best they can. They want the best for you. But a lot of their stuff is just their own. If you can pull yourself away from it and not always feel like they're attacking you, then it's easier to deal with."
As I grew up throughout the years, I've learned to treat my parents like how I want to be treated. As individuals, we all have differences of opinions on a lot of different things. So learning to get along with your parents means to accept them for who they are, and even appreciating their many quirks. Their advice are valuable as they have much more life experience than us, but sometimes its okay to make your own mistakes. It's part of what we call, growing up. I have come to accept that they express their love in different ways. They do care about us in their own way, but we often take it for granted until its too late.
Maybe my mom is right when she says, "we would never know the love of our parents for us until we have become parents ourselves".
Michelle L.
