"Ironic" in the Eyes of A Teenager (Part 2)

This post was written for one of our readers who had trouble understanding the post titled "Ironic", written by Princess Catherine.
This post was written by a good friend and fellow teenager Princess Alicia to help our reader(s) to be less confused.
This post is dedicated to anyone else who needs it and its encouragement and wisdom. Parents, feel welcome to read this too! :)

A note by Princess Catherine: This post was not done by myself (Catherine), Princess Izori, or Princess Melody. It was done by Princess Alicia, who I am still trying to author on this blog. If you enjoy it (like I did/do) please comment! :) - Princess Catherine ~*~

Most everyone wants to be independent, right? Well you can be. I have figured out the strategy that most parents use with us teenagers. Be responsible in the small things that your parents trust you with, and slowly you will see them give you more and more freedom. Here's an example.

Your friend invites you to go clothes shopping with her and her mom at the local mall. Your mother says it's fine as long as you don't get anything you know she would not approve of and as long as you're back by nine. So you go into the mall, and then into a store. Your friend's mom pulls two skirts off the rack and tells you and your friend to try them on. You do, but once you try it on you know your mother would hate it because it is way too short. Your friend's mom says it looks perfect on you, and your friend agrees. And they say they will even buy it for you!

This story could end two ways. Let's look at Option 1.......

You say "OK! Mom will understand, after all, I didn't buy it!" And once you get home and your mother sees the skirt, she is angry and disappointed. You say you didn't buy it, but regardless you still got the skirt even though you knew your mom would disapprove. So next time your friend asks if you want to go shopping with her and her mom, your mother will not let you go. You go to your room, saying (or yelling) that your mom is being unfair.

Not the best option, huh? Let's look as Option 2.......

You respectfully tell your friend and your friend's mom that your mother would not approve of the skirt. Your friend and your friend's mom then insist that you get it, but you tell them (still respectfully) that you don't want to get it, even though you appreciate the their offer to buy it for you. The next time your friend asks if you want to go shopping with her and her mom, your mother says you're allowed as long as you don't get anything you know she wouldn't approve of and as long as you're back by ten.

So you see how it works? Love is something that is given for free, but you have to earn trust and freedom. So, in Option 1 you disobey your mother (which is going against the Bible according Colossians 3:20, Ephesians 6:1, and Exodus 20:12) and next time your friend asks your mother says you can't go. You say it's unfair, but is it? I mean really, is it? Think about it. Put yourself in your mother's place. She tells you not to get anything you know she wouldn't approve of and, well, you come home with something she disapproves of. The to top it off you say (or yell) she is being unfair.

Do you like it when you tell someone not to do something and they do it anyway? What if next time you didn't trust that person as much as before and they said you were being unfair? Is it just me, or is that just a little off?

We as teenagers always say our parents should put themselves in our place. Well, we can't expect our parents to do something we don't want to do ourselves, so let's take a second and put ourselves in their place (or at least look at the other side of the story). They are trying to help us become a better, wiser, more successful, and over all happier person. All we are doing is constantly complaining about what they don't let us do, and how it's "Like so unfair!" But think about what they do allow us to do. I mean, we don't always get to do everything we want (and sometimes that is a good thing!), but parents don't get to do what they want all the time either.

Sometimes we forget that our parents have feelings too. They have places they want to go and things they want to do, but they don't do them or go there because of us. They make sacrifices for us.

Go ahead. Say "My parents get to do whatever they want and go where ever they want whenever they want to!" But think about it; how many times have you wanted your mom or dad to take your somewhere, and they didn't feel up to it or wanted to do something else instead? But instead of whining and complaining "I always take you! Why don't we just do this once for me?" they say "OK." and go along. I know my mom has done that for me many, many times! Yet, when she asks me to go somewhere I don't want to or don't feel like going to right that moment, I'm usually quick to ask "Can't I just stay home?" or "I don't want to go, can't we just stay?" And here's the really bad part; sometimes I get mad if my mom makes me do what she wants to do.

It is so, so easy to be selfish. I mean like really easy. And taking us places is definitely NOT the only time our parents make sacrifices for us. Look at our every day lives, like that plate you just ate off of, did you wash it or did one of your parents? Those clothes you are wearing, did you wash them? The grass you just walked though and tracked though the house, did you mow the lawn? Did you clean up the floor? That new IPod or MP3 player you're listening to, did you buy it? Or what about that Wii, X-Box, Nintendo DS, PS3, or laptop you have and play/use, did you save your money though hard work to earn it?

You probably do some of these things for yourself, but who picks up the slack when you don't. Yeah, that's right, our parents. Don't you think they would rather do other things with their time and money? If nothing else, don't you think they at least deserve respect, or a thank you. I mean, come on! After doing all that for someone I would at least want a thank you. Trust me, I know it's hard to think of all this when we want to do something our way, and our parents' way seems unfair. Well it's true it's unfair. We are being unfair to our parents. We take them for granted, or at least I do.

So what's the "Ironic" part about? Right; got a bit off topic.
The "Ironic" part is this; it's just really weird how we say our parents are holding us back from becoming our own person, when the truth of the matter is we're holding ourselves back! "WHAT?! I'm not holding myself back!" You might be saying (or yelling). Yeah, I said the same thing until I thought, really thought, about it. It's true we hold ourselves back more than we know. And this is where the "It's OK to be different" comes in.