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By LifeAdviceSite.com
Why are we so unforgiving of our parents? Why do we grow up and find
ourselves harboring so much resentment and anger toward them and the
things they did or didn't do? They're people, they make mistakes. Why
do we hold them to such an impossibly high standard?
Well, when we're young, our parents are
the ultimate authority. They aren't supposed to make mistakes, right?
Even through the adolescent years, when we are filled with a spirit of
rebellion and teenage angst that may cause us to spout about how stupid
our parents are, we still look to them for affirmation, support, and
resolution. This is such a strong instinct within us, we may not even
recognize it. Whether or not we are lucky enough to have involved,
stable parents who work on behalf of our best interests is often
dependent on how heavily we rely on their guidance and support, but we
all do it to an extent. We trust in them, and put weight in their
opinion. We want to make them proud, and we try to live our lives in a
way we believe will make them proud.
 Since
we grow up having to rely on our parents for certain things, it's easy
to believe they have all the answers, and of course we want them to
have all the right answers. More than likely, each parent wants
to have the right answer for their child, as well. There comes a day,
however, in each child's life, when we realize our parents are not as
infallible as we thought. They do things wrong. They mess up. They
don't always have the right answer. Indeed, sometimes the answer they
do have is completely the wrong one.
It's a difficult thing to transition
through, and may even be likened to the falling of an idol. As small
children, we very often do idolize our parents and strive to be just
like them. The  uncertainty
of growing up and making our way in the world requires a steady, sure
hand to hold and guide us through. At that point when we realize the
parents are perhaps not as steady and sure as we once believed, it can
be very unnerving. The rock we depended on doesn't seem so solid
anymore, and we wonder if maybe our whole existence is resting on shaky
ground. The faith we invested feels misplaced. In a very real sense, it
can feel like a betrayal. We feel deceived. That's not easy to recover
from, and it's definitely not easy to forgive. No wonder we're so hard
on them. They're supposed to know everything, how could they possibly
let us down? Well, as it turns out, they're only people - just like
everyone else. They're people - just like us. They make mistakes in
raising us, they make mistakes in their own lives. People are supposed
to make mistakes. So why is it so hard for us to accept that? Because
they're our parents, and it's not always easy to remember they're
people, too. Sorry, Mom and Dad.
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Parenting Fallible Folks