Kids far and wide have long known parents just don’t understand, but what if, just maybe, our parents sometimes got it right?
I specifically remember being livid over having to put half of my birthday money into a savings account, and threw my hands up over the injustice of it all. At one point I even wrote a note to my future self about all the things I’d do differently when I was an adult — but sadly it’s long since been lost.
Still, there are things we hated as kids that with adult-level hindsight we can start to see might have actually been good for us. Take a look at what a few in the Reddit community recently said their parents got right:
Marmite-Badger: Listening to their music!
beanfiddler: The biggest one is probably religious services. I know, before you crucify me for not being an enlightened atheist, I’m still agnostic. However, my mother’s family is Jewish and I was raised that way. I thought those traditions and going through the training for a Bat Mitzvah was so stupid, at the time…But now, I really miss those traditions.
ultrab0ii: Take photos. My sisters and I all agree that it was the most annoying thing our parents forced us to do, but now when we look back at the photos we are so glad our parents took so many pictures of us.
tylahjames: Whenever I didn’t know how to spell a certain word or the definition, my parents would never tell me directly. They would however, tell me to look it up in the dictionary. It was this huge, heavy, blue, Webster’s dictionary that, as a child, felt like it weighed 100 pounds. I really hated doing that & always countered with “Why can’t you just tell me”? Now as an adult I feel it’s helped with my speech & speaking skills tremendously.
crystalhorsess: They were really really strict about table manners and being polite. Hated it as a kid, now I realize it was one of the better things they did.
dramboxf: My parents (mom specifically) were what you’d called “social climbers.” She insisted that all 3 kids get dancing (ballroom) lessons, golf, tennis, plus something we called the Emily Post Course. Which forks to use, things as simple as how to butter a dinner roll correctly. All kinds of social niceties training. We all HATED it when it was going on. I’m 50 now, and I look back and see that it was actually really good to have that kind of “training.”
That last one rings true for me as well. I’ve been thankful many times I’m able to glide in and out of “fancy” situations without worry. It’s nice to be able to go to any dinner, the opera or a play and have confidence you can blend in — but then again, take me to a rock concert and I won’t even know where to put my hands.
For my kids, I’ve always been very intent on them learning to do chores. I hate the idea of them growing up and not having any idea how to take care of a house or do their laundry. This summer though, we’re focusing on cooking. They’ve baked cookies and cakes plenty of times before, but it’s time for them to learn macaroni and cheese doesn’t have to come from a blue box. So far they kind of hate helping in the kitchen, because it’s forcing them to stop whatever fun thing they were doing at the time, but once they get going they’re manageable.
(For the record, I ended up taking $330 out of my childhood bank account on my way off to college. It covered two text books. I’m still not sure it was worth all those years of feeling ripped off…but then again, we are pretty financially responsible so some part of the lesson might have stuck.)
What did you grow up hating that was actually good for you? What are you doing with your kids?
Share with usPhotos: MorgueFile
More fun from Reddit, with a look at reasons kids have been crying:
