My 28-year-old daughter called yesterday to share a conversation she had had with her co-workers about how they were raised, and how their parents did or did not help shape them into the successful young adults they are today. This is what my daughter told me she said to them:
My mom was my mom. She was not my friend. I didn’t even like her. She and my dad were tough. I wasn’t allowed to drive until I could afford to pay for my own insurance and gas. I got into a car accident and they made me pay the deductible which meant I couldn’t go on the trip to Europe I was saving for. I butted heads with my parents all the time. I had to work for the extras I wanted. But I always knew my parents loved me. They celebrated my successes, and encouraged me to be whatever I wanted to be. I took my punishments (even though I didn’t like that part), because they were the natural consequences of my doing wrong. But I never doubted that they loved me.
Thank you, Dr. Laura, for helping me raise three children who are now contributing adults to society. They are “ugly” and imperfect and I wouldn’t trade them for all the world. All those years of tears and frustrations paid off when my daughter told me what she had said to her colleagues. To all the parents out there, all I can say is “yes, it is hard work, but it is so worth it!”
Paula
I Always Knew My Parents Loved Me
