Why grow up? Oh, yeah, because if you don't you're going to amount to nothing.
What's on my mind may not be what everyone else is worried about. The last few weeks has been making me address my past, my childhood and the things that have made me responsible.
It's funny to even type that sentence. Me? Responsible? Ha! I still wear giant footie pajamas. But, by nature or luck or design, I'm the responsible one in my family.
I know that Mom is a bit of a lost cause, but I wonder about the "kids" in my family. There are a lot of kids in the 20-30 range that are baffling me. I have several sisters and brothers who don't seem capable of making solid decisions. They can't maintain a residence, or a job, and the ones that can do that still mismanage their money and overspend. There is so much irresponsible, selfish behavior around me that I want to scream.
How is this happening? How are people being brought up to think that it's acceptable to run home to mom and dad way past their maturity should have kicked in? Is it just this family or other people seeing it happen, too?
When I was Elizabeth's age (21) I was living on my own. In fact, I had been on my own for over a year. I managed to have a job, pay my rent, have food and still socialize once in a while. I had no problem saying, "I just don't have the money. Maybe next time." I was never late on bills and I didn't spend on crap I didn't need. I was so determined to live on my own and independent of my parent's influence that I did everything in my power to make the right decisions.
I'm not saying that all of my choices were great and there's not a lot I could hold up from my early twenties that's solid and real, but I did it all on my own. I never borrowed money. It never occurred to me to ask for help. If I couldn't make it happen on my own, well, then I didn't need it.
There were a lot of hard times before I got married, but I learned from those struggles that I'm capable of amazing things. I'm confident in myself in good times and bad. I think that kids are missing that.
My question is, "Is it something that parents aren't teaching their children anymore, or something that children are refusing to learn?"
Do you consider yourself responsible? Are you confident that you're capable in the face of adversity? Do you find the day-to-day confusion of making ends meet in this economic climate overwhelming or just another bump in the road?
Personally I can't say that I can credit my parents for my ability to take care of myself, exactly. Yes, they are directly responsible for awesomeness, but not because they intended to teach me anything. They are were a hot mess and my only hope in life was to get good at life, and fast. If I had followed their teachings I'd still be expecting the world to take care of me.
I'm hoping that my experience is limited and that there is hope out in the world. I don't want to think that I'm sending my unborn child in to a vacuum of stupidity and reliance on parental support well past the point on necessity.
Of course, because I have no idea how I happened to figure this out, how am I going to impart this mentality on to my child? I guess that will be taken in to account after I meet my child and figure out what sort of personality I'm working with here.
It's funny to even type that sentence. Me? Responsible? Ha! I still wear giant footie pajamas. But, by nature or luck or design, I'm the responsible one in my family.
I know that Mom is a bit of a lost cause, but I wonder about the "kids" in my family. There are a lot of kids in the 20-30 range that are baffling me. I have several sisters and brothers who don't seem capable of making solid decisions. They can't maintain a residence, or a job, and the ones that can do that still mismanage their money and overspend. There is so much irresponsible, selfish behavior around me that I want to scream.
How is this happening? How are people being brought up to think that it's acceptable to run home to mom and dad way past their maturity should have kicked in? Is it just this family or other people seeing it happen, too?
When I was Elizabeth's age (21) I was living on my own. In fact, I had been on my own for over a year. I managed to have a job, pay my rent, have food and still socialize once in a while. I had no problem saying, "I just don't have the money. Maybe next time." I was never late on bills and I didn't spend on crap I didn't need. I was so determined to live on my own and independent of my parent's influence that I did everything in my power to make the right decisions.
I'm not saying that all of my choices were great and there's not a lot I could hold up from my early twenties that's solid and real, but I did it all on my own. I never borrowed money. It never occurred to me to ask for help. If I couldn't make it happen on my own, well, then I didn't need it.
There were a lot of hard times before I got married, but I learned from those struggles that I'm capable of amazing things. I'm confident in myself in good times and bad. I think that kids are missing that.
My question is, "Is it something that parents aren't teaching their children anymore, or something that children are refusing to learn?"
Do you consider yourself responsible? Are you confident that you're capable in the face of adversity? Do you find the day-to-day confusion of making ends meet in this economic climate overwhelming or just another bump in the road?
Personally I can't say that I can credit my parents for my ability to take care of myself, exactly. Yes, they are directly responsible for awesomeness, but not because they intended to teach me anything. They are were a hot mess and my only hope in life was to get good at life, and fast. If I had followed their teachings I'd still be expecting the world to take care of me.
I'm hoping that my experience is limited and that there is hope out in the world. I don't want to think that I'm sending my unborn child in to a vacuum of stupidity and reliance on parental support well past the point on necessity.
Of course, because I have no idea how I happened to figure this out, how am I going to impart this mentality on to my child? I guess that will be taken in to account after I meet my child and figure out what sort of personality I'm working with here.
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