Parenthood

I had an argument with my mom the other day. It was over something silly, something she blew completely out of proportion: basically, I had signed up for some online service without reading the terms & conditions closely; one requisite was that you be over 18, and I'm 17, so technically I wasn't allowed to have one. My mom found out and got absurdly displeased and said she'll confiscate my laptop for a week for this. I asked her why and she droned on about how taking my laptop won't let me do something like it again -- basically, completely missing my point -- so I pointed out that it was a mistake and I wondered why she is 'punishing' me for an accident, a (fairly common to all people) slip of the mind. She completely blew up at this. She is unable to handle the fact that her son is a rational, inquisitive being who likes discussion; she's a very traditional parent who likes the child-parent dynamic to be that of a tyrannical dictatorship (parent, dictator; child, subject), and I thoroughly disagree with this method. It's just not who I am. I'm a student of philosophy; it goes against every fibre of my mind to not question things when they appear unjust. Anyway, I argued with her about why she was overreacting and this only fuelled her tyrannical fire further; all flustered, she slammed my laptop shut and snatched it away, now screaming, "Two weeks!".

It was all rather ridiculous, but it did upset me. It exposed to me how fundamentally different we are in the most important aspect of our relation to each other. It also cemented my belief that when I hopefully have children of my own, the relationship will be built on discussion and reason, love and conversation, not a pointless power-struggle. My mom and I disagree about many things, such as why a room that is shared with no-one has to be clean when the owner of that room would rather have it the way it is, and they're not that important, but a disagreement between parent and child over how a parent-child relationship should run is shaking the foundations. We are too different. In all honesty, I can't stand to live here any more, but I must brave it and not push her dramatic inclinations over the edge (if I do so, she might commit some dreadful act such as refusing to help pay for my HE fees, which I wouldn't put past her in one of her more melodramatic humours) for one more year. One more year and then I'll be free: university -- the home of cognitive liberty. Freedom. One more year.

Here are some pictures of universities near me (that I'm definitely not going to because they're too close to 'home', but I'll post anyway because I love the atmosphere and feel of any university):




Comments

  1. Anonymous11 July 2011 at 21:36

    And that is why I will never have children of my own...
    I live nearly 3,000 miles away from my parents, and they still find some way to sabotage me :P

    ReplyDelete
  2. Odi17 July 2011 at 00:28

    I wish blogger had a messaging system; it'd be so much easier to communicate, but I'll just respond here on the off-chance you check here again xD

    Aha, moving 3,000 miles would be a plan, but I'm not sure that the UK is even that big, so instead I'm moving as far as possible: around 350 miles, up into Scotland (if I get into my desired uni). Quite excited.

    But about children -- I can't help but want them! Maybe it's a greedy little instinct to have like a really cool pet that you can release on the world so it can take it by storm LOL I just like the idea of loving something, someone unconditionally and helping for no gain of your own (except love). But yeah, sap over. aha.

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