For as long as I can remember, my parents have always said, “Don’t grow up too fast.” They both cried on my first day of kindergarten, begged me not to wear make up, and wouldn’t let me watch any kind of reality television show because they thought it would corrupt my soul.
As I got older, they held on tighter, and I would get more and more irritated with everything they said. I know that most teenagers experience at least some form of what I went through. That feeling when you just want to scream that you don’t need their help, and that you can take care of yourself. And if you’re a senior planning to go to college l like I am, the frustration and anxiety with parents is at an all-time high.
Right now seniors are in the process of applying to different schools, and they are drowning in the stress of writing essays, filling their resume, keeping track of teacher recommendations, and, of course, their parents. I don’t know if any of you are experiencing this, but I am currently in the phase where my parents want to know everything about college. They are constantly asking me how my essays are going, when I’m going to request my transcript, and what my top schools are. If you are like me, this makes you want to bang your head against any hard surface. You want to shout to your parents that you’re dealing with enough as it is, and them constantly asking about college isn’t helping at all.
Why do parents do this? Why do they continue to ask us about our plans when they know these plans are what’s keeping us up until 3 a.m. every night? The answer is a plain and simple four words: because they love us.While I know that it might seem impossible, we must give them the benefit of the doubt. Our parents just want to be in our lives. They remember when we used to depend on them for everything, but now that they recognize that we are getting older and making our own decisions, it scares the living daylights out of them. They know that we’re starting to pull away, and they just want to pull us back.
So next time you blow up at your mom for asking about your SAT scores, or scream at your dad for asking what your safety school is, remember that they are only acting annoying because they love you, and that’s just the way it is.
