Seriously

A couple of days ago I came across the Facebook status update of a friend's teenage daughter.

It said simply: "Parents are stupid. Seriously".

One hour later, she updated her sentiments to "I hate my parents. Seriously!".

*sigh*


How sad and strange. In today's world, we can air teenage (or teenage-like) angst to our closest 392 friends in the flap of a hummingbird's wing. We can LOL and write all sorts of stuff without rubbing together two brain cells. Now, I know this has always been the case. But, in the "olden days", waaay back in the 80's when I was mad at my parents, I would yell in a pillow or quietly sulk in my room. At worst, I would complain to a friend at school. Or quietly grumble on the phone to a friend. That's it. It didn't involve HUNDREDS of people. I didn't smear the reputation of my parents before the entire cyberworld.

So, since I now am a parent...and my heart breaks at the thought that my girls could one day look at me and think "you are stupid" or worse, "I hate you"...I am taking a public, cyber-stand for my parents.

They are my parents. They are just as imperfect and fallible as I am. But not nearly worthy of the scorn that I had for them sometimes growing up. So, in this very public manner, I am giving props to my folks...and in some way (in my little brain) I am offering a counter to the smear offered up by my friend's teenage daughter.

So here is my own "status update" :

Parents are people. Parents do their best. I love my parents. Seriously.