putting them in their place, so to speak

In our class discussion to day about families, one of the themes that came up a few times was the idea of "putting our parents in their places," albeit, politely. This, I believe, goes hand in hand with another idea that we had, the idea of seeing our parents as parents vs. our parents as people. When we were young, I think for the most part my loyal readers and I can agree on the fact that our parents were special. They were an enigma, people for us to fear, love, respect and generally, be-in-awe-of.

I also think that my fanbase; my mom, Mr. Chiapetta and I, can agree that as we grew older, our perceptions of our parents changed. When I was young, everything my parents did was perfect. If they were angry it was because my sister and I had done something wrong, and we deserved to be reprimanded. If they were happy, then all the world was right, and, as children, my sister and I had nothing to worry about. I think that the inbetween times, the times where my parents had to cover up their sadness or their hurt, their worry, and their tiredness to put on a happy face are the times that I never noticed. They were still my parents, as implacable and immovable as ever.

I think that the perception has begun to change, and not necessarily in the way that the title of this post suggests. Now, instead of always seeing my parents as the people who run the well oiled machine that is my family, I have the opportunity to see my parents as not only people, not only adults, but as friends. I can see my mom on days where she is not herself, and I can talk to her about it, to make her feel better. Instead of always being cordial, my mom and I can get in a mildly heated debate about the school's new attendance policy (which is ridiculous by the way). Instead of seeing my parents as the people who have raised me, I can see them as the people who I will continue to grow with, people who make mistakes, say the wrong thing, get sick. I think that I have come to terms with this, and I love the depth with which I can now converse with them. In youth, it might have been limited to basic conversation, but now it can be so much more than that.

The hardest part of this realization for me to wrap my mind around is the part where I realize that they were the same way when I was younger, I just couldn't tell.