I was eating dinner with friends when someone sheepishly asked, “Do you think our kids are spoiled?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Abso-fucking-lutely! I mean do you think my old man would have tolerated me yelling at him from the back seat that my movie was over? He would have yelled at me, ‘If you’re going to cry, I’ll give you something to cry about!’”
Then I hesitated as a couple of childhood memories came flooding back. I was probably about ten and my mom came into my room and put my clean laundry on the floor. Previously, she used to take the clean laundry, fold it into neat little piles, and then ask that I put the laundry away. However, on this day, she just left a pile of clean laundry on the floor.
I yelled, “That’s not FAIR!”
She barely raised her voice and told me that I was too old to have the laundry folded for me any more. I continued to voice my disapproval and my acting like a brat never rattled her. Hindsight, being what it is, I know now what I should have said.
I should have said, “Thank you. Thank you for doing the laundry. I honestly don’t know where you find the time between work, grocery shopping, dishes, cooking, cleaning, and dealing with us. I’ll take the laundry that you were kind enough to wash for me and put it away. In fact, if there’s anything else I can do to help out, let me know, because you do an awful lot.”
But it gets worse... I’ve actually mouthed off to my parents when they asked me to do simple things like unload the dishwasher. I would say things like, “What did you have me to be your slave?”
<sarcasm>Yep, that was the plan. My mom dealt with carrying me for nine months, the pain of child birth, the sleepless nights, the unbelievable expenses - all of this was worth it so that if reminded multiple times, I would unload the dishwasher. And I would do a crappy job. And I would bitch about it mightily. Yep, that was the plan.</sarcasm>
Now that I’m a parent, I realize that although our kids might be spoiled, I was pretty spoiled too. I appreciate the fact that at least I had some chores to do, got an allowance, and learned some life lessons even if I complained the entire time.
I suppose every generation thinks the next generation is spoiled. All I can do is keep this in mind and try to instill decent values in my kids. This weekend is Father’s Day in Australia, so after giving a shout out to my mom, I’d like to thank my old man for playing catch with me, teaching me how to hit, going to my sporting events, taking me to Phoenix Suns games, taking me to movies, encouraging me to hack on computers, teaching me concepts not taught in school, and introducing me to the TV series “Seinfeld”. I like to bust your chops a lot, but I owe you. You set a good example for me by working hard, keeping food on the table, and spending time with the kids. You were always there and I appreciate it. Now that this moment of sentimentality is over, I promise to go right back to picking on you and complaining...
I didn’t hesitate. “Abso-fucking-lutely! I mean do you think my old man would have tolerated me yelling at him from the back seat that my movie was over? He would have yelled at me, ‘If you’re going to cry, I’ll give you something to cry about!’”
Then I hesitated as a couple of childhood memories came flooding back. I was probably about ten and my mom came into my room and put my clean laundry on the floor. Previously, she used to take the clean laundry, fold it into neat little piles, and then ask that I put the laundry away. However, on this day, she just left a pile of clean laundry on the floor.
I yelled, “That’s not FAIR!”
She barely raised her voice and told me that I was too old to have the laundry folded for me any more. I continued to voice my disapproval and my acting like a brat never rattled her. Hindsight, being what it is, I know now what I should have said.
I should have said, “Thank you. Thank you for doing the laundry. I honestly don’t know where you find the time between work, grocery shopping, dishes, cooking, cleaning, and dealing with us. I’ll take the laundry that you were kind enough to wash for me and put it away. In fact, if there’s anything else I can do to help out, let me know, because you do an awful lot.”
But it gets worse... I’ve actually mouthed off to my parents when they asked me to do simple things like unload the dishwasher. I would say things like, “What did you have me to be your slave?”
<sarcasm>Yep, that was the plan. My mom dealt with carrying me for nine months, the pain of child birth, the sleepless nights, the unbelievable expenses - all of this was worth it so that if reminded multiple times, I would unload the dishwasher. And I would do a crappy job. And I would bitch about it mightily. Yep, that was the plan.</sarcasm>
Now that I’m a parent, I realize that although our kids might be spoiled, I was pretty spoiled too. I appreciate the fact that at least I had some chores to do, got an allowance, and learned some life lessons even if I complained the entire time.
I suppose every generation thinks the next generation is spoiled. All I can do is keep this in mind and try to instill decent values in my kids. This weekend is Father’s Day in Australia, so after giving a shout out to my mom, I’d like to thank my old man for playing catch with me, teaching me how to hit, going to my sporting events, taking me to Phoenix Suns games, taking me to movies, encouraging me to hack on computers, teaching me concepts not taught in school, and introducing me to the TV series “Seinfeld”. I like to bust your chops a lot, but I owe you. You set a good example for me by working hard, keeping food on the table, and spending time with the kids. You were always there and I appreciate it. Now that this moment of sentimentality is over, I promise to go right back to picking on you and complaining...
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