"My parents are 58 and 54." "My dad is old enough to be your mom's dad!" "Your grandparents are the same age as my parents!"
If those sound weird to you, they're typical for me, because my parents had me when they were 18 or just turned 19. We've all probably seen the MTV show "Teen Mom," but have you ever had the chance to ask the kids about their experiences? How weird it must be for them to walk around with friends and their mom and dad look like your grandparents, having them be super strict about the things they can talk about or even what you can and can't do.
Well lucky for you, you get to hear about my experiences having young parents.
I grew up with my mom and my dad, not married, but they broke up when I was young, so I had to bounce between the two. My mom and dad were super strict in the beginning so I would have a more successful life, doing my homework in front of them and having them check it, and eventually going to college. As I got older, my parents got more lenient, I got more trust from them, I was more open with them, I could swear around them, which is a shock to a lot of people too. I could go to my parents for anything, they were my best friends, same with my stepmom and stepdad I could talk to them about real life things and not have to sugar coat anything for them. It even got to the point where my mom and I had a food fight at the dinner table, I know, disgraceful right? Wrong. It's great until things start to turn sour.
Now, normally when a parent scolds a child, there's just a sad kid sitting on the couch taking it hard right? Yeah... no. That's not how things unfold between my mom and me now; we scream at each other like sisters and it gets to the point where sometimes I ask myself why I even came home because it's just so bad (especially when it's an argument over something that shouldn't really be a priority in her life at the moment.) But, when I was younger, my mom just had to give me a look and I ran away and just stayed in my room because I knew I was in trouble. My dad didn't really yell much, but it was a very, "go stand in the corner or sit down in time out" until scary dad voice came out then I just cried endlessly. Two totally different scolding/punishments but it helped make me into the person I am today.
Dating, now that's where things started to get a little strange.
When I started dating guys whose parents happen to be as old if not a year or two younger/older than them, then it got weird. Parents that were in their 50's- 60's? What the hell, I can't do the same things, talk the same way or anything! I have to change the way I wear clothes kind of so I'm not looked at like I just walked off the street. They got along better with my grandparents than my parents, they were a lot quieter than my family was so I felt that I couldn't talk as much. You had to say things a certain way.
My current boyfriend is the exception, and I'm not just saying this to earn brownie points but they're some of the greatest people I've ever met, they're so nice, they genuinely care a lot and they don't care about what I look like it's what on the inside that matters. They didn't have their kids young but they still have such a young heart, are still open with their kids, know when to appropriately add a strict spin on things, and still know how to have fun.
Now, no matter how old or young your parents are, everything they do is for your best interest, so for those who think their parents are overbearing or annoying, it's for your best interest I promise, if I didn't have my parents to push me, I probably wouldn't be in college.
