The Selfish Gene

The teenage mind is so cruel.  So much feeling, and so little concern for the feelings of other people.  As an adult, a parent, it’s so hard to understand how your own child can be so mean, so selfish, so cruel, and then turn around and want something from you the next day, the next minute. 

EVERYONE’S life is hard.  Teenagers don’t have the market on suffering.  We all suffer, some of us more than others.  And when the people who love you show absolute indifference to your suffering, yet want you to acknowledge their own … well, something’s got to give. 

Caring is a two-way street, even when it’s parent and child.  Learning how to give and take is the crux of human relations, and if I haven’t taught my children how to empathize with their own mother, or their own siblings, then how can I possibly expect them to do it with the world at large?

Unfortunately, my children are all pretty good at faking their way through the motions with other people.  OTHER people get the common respect that I don’t get.  Other people, complete strangers, get treated better than their siblings, who can apparently be treated with contempt and disrespect all the time, just because they’re related. 

I don’t know the key to parenting.  I think all parents try to fake their way through the process of parenting, HOPING that their kids will turn out to be decent, critical thinking human beings.  Maybe that’s all we can hope for – that our kids are empathetic and kind and smart. 

I know my kids have potential that far exceeds what they put forth every day, but that was true of me too when I was younger.  I wish there was a magic, applicable formula to assist my children in the process of growing up, but there is no such thing. 

Carry on.  Try to inspire.  Try to be kind. 

And then, just breathe.