Nobody listens to their parents – at least to the things that are truly important.
You may do the dishes, make your bed, and finish your homework. You may eat your spinach, pick up your toys, and do your laundry. You may clean your room, wash your plate, and take out the trash.
But when your parents tell you to cherish your childhood, do you?
No. Matter of fact, you do the opposite. You yearn for the independence of adulthood. You mimic adult behaviors like going to work as a form of playing. You try on your dad's suits. You pretend to care for stuffed animals. You get angry when Mom or Dad tell you to "grow up" as if you're already grown. Boys look in the mirror for facial hair. Girls... do whatever they do.
However, even the simple things such as making the bed or doing the dishes could be difficult for a child if a parent "said so". In the midst of my studying or practicing the violin, someone telling me to study or practice when I'm literally doing it or about to makes me lose the self-motivation I formerly had. It's a strange phenomenon – universal yet strange.
What parents don't understand is that, at some point, you truly cannot control your child – yet, it's better if you don't.
Some mothers are often labeled as "tiger moms". They can come from anywhere, but they all share the same ideals. They're ruthless – an "A" doesn't mean "amazing" but rather "acceptable". A "B" means boxed up and banished from the household.
I'm glad my mother isn't one. She's too nice, and sometimes that's the very thing I worry about – that she would get taken advantage of. But because of her more mellow personality, she's allowed me to grow mine.
Maybe that's why I'm so different from her, yet still compatible. Maybe that's why I can truly talk to her. Maybe that's why I don't secretly hate her – like she always says I do.
No, I'm not allowed to do drugs, sneak out of the house, drink, or come back too late, but I'm free enough. Children are ignorant but they're not braindead.
I have decent grades, but would they be better if my mother was a "tiger mom"? Would I have become the next prodigy at violin, soccer, or chess if she was? Maybe. More likely than if she wasn't.
But it won't be "worth it in the end", and it won't be for "my own good". Sometimes, it's for your own good. Sometimes, you wear your child's accomplishments like a medal, and deservedly so – you dictated every move he or she made.
All parents tell their children that their lives now are the "easiest it'll ever get" – that they should cherish their childhoods.
What's the point of telling a kid to cherish their childhood when they're living one that's not worth cherishing?
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