46 Chromosomes
Parents. They make us cry, they make us wish we had different ones. They make us really uncomfortable as they criticize every single thing we might possibly be doing wrong. They make us hide in our rooms and talk to our friends instead of being with them. But boy, they’re the only ones we’re ever going to get in our lifetime, and we don’t realize how little the time is that we have left with them.
I’ve had my own share of mama drama and being deathly afraid of my pops. I spent too much time thinking my parents were old and would therefore have no idea how to communicate with me. Probably my biggest regret right there. I was one of those girls who longed for some boy with front-swept bangs, strapped with an electric fender, and held together by a spiked belt. I was one of those looking for love in all the wrong places because they were right there in the arms of my parents. I was venting to my peers, thirteen years old, looking for wisdom, when they were right there, in the hearts of my parents. I am so thankful that I realized this sooner than later because God only knows where I would be without them — literally.
And I think that’s just it. We are so completely ungrateful for the fact alone that we would literally cease to exist without them. And it breaks my heart to see others refuse to build a relationship with their parents. It breaks my heart when I lose opportunities to spend time with my parents.
Nowadays, it’s not so much about physically being with them. As we get older, yes, things are not going to be the same. We’re not going to be camping, packed like sardines in a tent every summer. We’re not going to be having breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. We’re not gonna be five years old for the rest of our lives. The reality is our parents won’t be who they were when we were five either. As a matter of fact, they’ll age right before our eyes and before we know it, we’re taking care of them.
Parents. Despite the tears they bring, their bitter words as imperfect beings, their inability to read our minds, and many more things we wish they weren’t. They are better than perfect because when they could’ve said no to your life, they said yes and gave you the ability to cry, to rationalize, to forgive, to be a better them.
In a few years, you are going to meet someone better than your parents and that’s YOU as a parent. Only because of how they’ve raised you. The little criticisms they do are there to protect you from humiliating yourself in front of others. They do it so that when they can’t be there, you can do it for yourself. The discipline? Accept it. Appreciate it. It is there to do exactly that - discipline you.
But don’t wait till then to realize how amazing they are TODAY. Love them today. Our time here on earth is borrowed, and our parents have had their share of theirs already and is it so hard for us to appreciate the fact that they’re spending the rest of their lives for us?
It’s not.
Love your parents. You are your parents and there’s not a single thing you can do about it.
