After The Storm

Holly had a hard time tonight. She feels she should not have to listen to her parents. Feels she should be able to do as she pleases. Cannot understand why parents say "No".

This has been brewing for a while now, but tonight the storm broke. Kim and I got the full brunt of it, and it was fierce. Still, we both feel for her. I remember having the same feelings as a kid. We all did, and still do to some extent. We don't get to do everything we want to. We make compromises and sacrifices all the time. Of course, as adults, we have a lot more "freedoms" than our kids do, but it's only that inequality that Holly sees, regardless of how we try to explain it to her.

I can see how parents can end up just "giving in" to their kids. They have a lot of emotional energy and are relentless with it. Part of our problem is that we have been "giving in" in little incremental steps and our boundaries are not so clear anymore. Now we are going to have to work a lot harder to get them back again. It really pays to be consistent.

After the storm, Holly crashed in our bed. Ironically, the book you see was lying on Kim's pillow. We both had a chuckle... and I had my blip.