I remember growing up and constantly not being able to do a lot of the things the rest of the kids my age got to do. I am the oldest child in my family, so growing up I got the biggest portion of strict parental guidance compared to my sisters.
I remember when I was younger, a lot of my friends would walk around the neighborhood and play outside late at night. My mom wouldn’t let me stay out once it got dark, and if I wanted to play outside I had to be in her sight.
I also remember there being a lot of sleepovers for birthdays or just because, I was not allowed to go. Unless they were family or my parents knew their parents very well, I wasn’t allowed to sleepover.
When I got older and I got to high school, I wasn’t allowed to go to any parties unless the host’s parents were going to be home. In high school, that usually wasn’t the case so I only had the opportunity to attend a party or two.
However, I had a curfew, which compared to the rest of my friends, was too early. So, throughout my life I have had the frustration of having strict parents that want to know where I am and who I am with at all times.
I remember constantly getting made fun of because my parents were too strict. It was frustrating. However, now that I am an adult, I have only come to realize how thankful I am for how strict my parents were.
Not only have I grown to be a respectable young woman, but I also realize that I am where I am today because my parents were strict. A lot of people would think that strict parents do too much to isolate their kids from the world.
I don’t think that’s completely true, if at all. I think parents are strict because they know the danger and cruelty there is in the world. So they choose to keep a close eye on their children to steer them away from the wrong decisions.
I can’t say I would have turned out the way I did if my parents let me do what I wanted all the time. I can’t say I would even be in college striving to work in the medical field. I’ve talked about this before with friends, peers, and family.
We all agreed on one thing: people grow up to be the people their parents raised them to be. If my parents never enforced the importance of good manners, an education, self-respect, and confidence, would I still be where I am today?
Would I even be the person that I am? I don’t know. Now, I’m not saying that if your parents weren’t strict, you are some type of hooligan that has no care in the world and acts like an animal. I am saying that because my parents were strict, they helped make me the person I am today.
Growing up, my parents raised me with specific beliefs and as I grow older I have inherited the same beliefs or at least accommodated them to my own liking. I may not have been the most popular girl in high school with all the boys drooling over me.
I was, however, a girl with good friends, a boyfriend who put me before anything, and a family who loved and supported every decision I made. I may not have gone to all the cool parties or had the most expensive prom dress.
However, now as an adult, I can see that many of the people who focused on the cool parties and had all the boyfriends, ended up in a very different place than I did. I have learned to be thankful for my parents and the constant attention and support they give me.
I have grown to be someone that they could be proud of, and I could be proud of. I might have dreaded the strict parent thing when I was younger, but I wouldn’t change that if I went back in time.
The parties I didn’t get to go to don’t seem so important now.
So, thank you mom and dad. I hope I continue to make you proud.
Susy Macias
Senior Viewpoints Editor