A new study has revealed that children do appreciate their parents… when they are about 22 years old. How funny that it coincides with gradutaing from college and finally living on their own.
An online survey of 5000 families revealed this “surprising” information.
It makes perfect sense to me. Little children love to imitate their parents and be with them. Then as they grow older, children start to pull away from their parents, also known as the lovely teen years, when suddenly they think their parents know nothing. Once they are adults, they are able to better understand their parents actions and motivations.
I would even go a step farther and say that once they have children of their own, they fully understand the love that parents have for their children and realize that their parents tried their best. I remember after I had my first child clearly thinking, “Wow, now I get it!”
If anything I think it tell us parents not to try to be friends with our kids, but to remember to parent them. Eventually they will come back around.
I find it true to some extent, but even as a teen, always liked my parents better than my friends’ parents. Mine were so young when they had me, that they were still kinda young and groovy as opposed to the stuffy, older-era mentality of all the others. And while they were rigid in my childhood, they let up on rules in my teens.
Of course, it took until I was a parent to figure out how demented they were about some of THEIR parenting methods!
Comment by Brigitte — January 30, 2009 @ 6:18 am
The most useful post of this week!
Comment by Feya — February 20, 2009 @ 5:26 am