Declaration of not-so-Independence

As teens approach adulthood there is a tendency to develop the misguided idea that they are their own independent person against whom no laws can be enforced. News flash: your parents own you; both in a metaphorical and legally binding way. We get it, you want things to be different, loosen up, offer you a chance to discover yourself and the world around you and that’s cool. Just while you’re doing all that remember that it is -5 outside overnight and if you weren’t living in the comfort of your parents’ home, you would freeze to death.

The closer teens get to the age of majority, that sweet light of freedom on the horizon, the more they seem to think that the tables have turned and they are now the ones in charge. Oh no, no no no. I hate to be the one to shatter your delusion but they pay your bills, feed you, give you a car and might even be paying your way through university. So when they tell you to clean your room, instead of going on the laptop they bought you and complaining about the injustice of the child slavery you’re subject to, you could just do it.

It’s still shocking for me to walk down the hall and hear someone who has mistaken pajama pants for clothes loudly proclaim to their fellow pajama clad classmates how they can do all the drugs they want, drink all they want, and stay out a late as they want and “that b*tch” (their mother) can’t tell them what to do. Sorry what? You’re the reason I can’t take my backpack into Central but you think you could be trusted to make responsible life choices? Nice try.