Right. Well. I'm trying to swear off complaining for no good reason, such as in situations where I'm not making an effort to fix whatever I'm upset about. The topic of this blog, however, is something I believe I legitmately have a right to discuss. Every single point I am about to make I have verbally delivered to my mother and/or father, and they are well aware of what I wish they would change about their parenting.

Before I list to you my grieveances, I would like to make it clear that I understand there are children with no parents, children with neglectful parents, children with parents who are drug addicts, children with parents who molest them...I am in no way, shape, or form trying to say that these issues I have are the epitome of a parenting failure. I am just saying, among us normal folks with normal parents, these seem to be the creme de la creme of the common parenting faux pas. Some will be personal, some will be general. You can probably use your intuition to decide which ones are which. Now, onward!

Trying to be the 'best friend' instead of the parent. Okay. Sometimes this rocks. Especially when you want to stay out a couple extra hours on a school night, or you want your parents to buy you some new clothes or something. My mom is a prime example of this. She doesn't want me to feel like she is inflicting too much structure on me, so she is pretty lenient when it comes to things like handing out money and car privledges and staying out late. But sometimes, she realizes that she is losing her power as a parent, and cracks the whip for minor things I do or don't do. The other day, she got infuriated with me because I told her that I spent two extra dollars on her credit card than she wanted me to. TWO DOLLARS. I think she was having a power crisis or something because she continued to tell me I wasn't allowed to buy the groceries anymore (it's not like this was my decision or anything...) and I couldn't have any money for the weekend. WHAT?

Being the best friend always leads to the parents suddenly having an epiphany of 'WAIT! I'm supposed to be telling my child what to do....crap.' Also, these types of parents always take EVERYTHING personally. Instead of realizing that teenagers are teenagers who are known for saying things like "Mom, I really don't want to take the dog on a walk today, I have homework,' they think this is a personal attack on them and that for whatever reason, you HATE them and that's why you don't want to spend time with them. Barf.

Not instructing their children to have proper excersise/nutrition habits. Okay, this is inspired by two things. One, my mom has never cooked much. We eat fast food so much I don't even want to tell you. Fortunately I don't have an obesity gene or anything, but I could be a lot skinnier if we ate healthier. Also, I'm a vegetarian, so that sucks. She also hardly ever goes grocery shopping, so I can't take charge of my own food preparation.

Two, I watched an episode of The Tyra Show today that talked about how childhood obesity is usually caused by lax parents who serve their kids junk food 24/7. Isn't the best way to show your child you love them is to make them healthy? Excersise and healthy eating isn't enforced nearly as much as it should be, in my home and elsewhere. It sickens me.

Living by the 'Do what I say, not what I do' motto. This REALLY pisses me off. Both of my parents had pre-marital sex, which resulted in the birth of moi, both of them drink, both of them smoke, and both of them swear. If I did any of these things, I would more than likely be kicked out of the house. It is SO completely hypocritical. I know they want a better life for me than they have, but honestly. They could try to be better examples and NOT do some of these things if they really want to teach me that it's wrong. If the job of a parent is to try and raise children to be responsible adults, how is restraining me from engaging in "adult" activities preparing me for that? If my dad can say fuck openly, then dammit, so can I.

Being lazy. This encompasses so many areas, but what I'm focusing on is a specific model, namely my father. He comes home from work. He complains about what a hard day he had, and then plays the one upping game with me. If I say "yeah, I have so much homework," he battles it with "yeah, well I have back pain so take THAT!' Then he lays on the couch and watches t.v. for the remainder of the night. Both parents refuse to cook dinner, take me places I need to be, or do anything remotely productive that they should, like clean around the house or fix up the yard. Oh no, that is definitely the responsibility of the children. Also, I come from a Christian home, and my faith is important to me. My parents haven't taken me to church in over a year because they stay up too late on Saturday nights drinking. You. Are. The. Parents. ACT LIKE THEM.

Okay. If I continue any further this is going to become pretty redundant. I just needed to momentarily vent about things my parents refuse to fix no matter how many times I talk to them

What are your top parental misdemeanors???