Journal #5

The concept of childhood as we understand it is a product of 19th Century Victorian ideals. Prior to that time, there was no general sense that there was any particular need to shelter children from the unpleasant side of life. Children were put to work as soon as they were able. Almost two hundred years later, we have a sense that children should be almost entirely sheltered until they reach sufficient age. In our society, full adulthood is often delayed until individuals are well into their twenties.What is your take? Do we overprotect our children? Feel free to reminisce about your own childhood and to speculate about the kind of parent you think you will be based on your convictions.

These are all interesting questions, the true answers lie in the parent's actions. This also applies to the parents' parents, and so on. Now, they may be trying to act the same or act differently from their parents, just like my old man pretty much. My dad says that we're almost exactly alike, but I can never seem to find that actual connection, I draw and he never does, except for rough blueprints. He believes that he knows everything about me, but really he doesn't (not in a bad way). What he did know was that I could handle stuff on my own, without any major problems. My mom is just another story, she knows almost nothing about me and seems to criticize every time I take a breath (okay, not exactly THAT much). If she sees me writing or drawing something, she asks about what it is, but then it just gets thrown off course. She acts almost like a critic on my everyday life and I'm not kidding...

Yes, I know a critic is not out to get you, but this woman just crams the biggest load of crap down your throat and expects you to swallow it, overprotective much?


Here's what I'm getting at, as a parent, you gotta balance being with you kids and allowing them to function on their own as well. I mean that if you're with you too much, they become dependent of you and if you spend too little time with them, then they're not going to listen to you. Don't hover over kids, it just takes away their sense of privacy and convenience, which makes them respect you just a little bit more. When parents ask themselves what wrong happened to their kids, they're the partial blame in the scenario.

I do admit that I am a pest to my parents, but why else would I be like that? The problem for myself is mainly my mom, my dad only pops in on occasion to bark at me for something that
I did wrong or what I'm being accused of.