If I am told
Just one more time
When I should go to bed
Or feed my cat
Or do anything in particular
I think I may have a very hard time
Restraining myself
No matter how clearly
Or frequently
I point out that my life
My actions
What and when I do it
Is completely my choice
And my responsibility
It seems
To fall on deaf ears…
I only pray that should I have children one day
That I don’t ever treat them with the same disrespect
Hari Om!
~Svasti
Svasti: A Journey From Assault To Wholeness 
I can recall times with my parents–in my 30’s–when it seemed I couldn’t spend any time at all with them without getting lectured on subjects like “how to be considerate of other people” and “how to have a polite conversation with people.” I’d find myself screaming at them: “people like me! I’m smart enough that I’m teaching in a university!Practically everybody outside of my family who spends any amount of time with me thinks I’m a reasonably nice, thoughtful adult!”
Then, I remember once I said to somebody “shouldn’t your family be a place you can go where you’re accepted for who you are?” and he said “if it was, you’d never leave….”
Hang in there, kiddo….
You’re calling me kiddo now? 😉
I’ve heard those who are parents spout the cliche: “Once a parent, always a parent”.
Sure. But no job I can think of remains the same forever. There are always variations to a job over time.
And I really think… that once a ‘child’ reaches a certain age, parents should be required to ‘resign’ from certain ways of behaving.
The morning I lost an hour of sleep because my parents don’t seem to think I know how to use an alarm clock. So, I was woken up and questioned about what time I was getting up. Grrrrr….