If we all had a chance, we would want to rewind time and fix many things especially with our parents. Times are changing, so we are. However, we fail to acknowledge the fact that our parents are also getting older by the day. So here’s a substitute for the lost time, an open letter to our parents.
We are trying our best to make you proud: All those late night projects and part-time work schedules that cause lack of family interaction and sleep are not done on purpose. We do not intend to keep you up worried sick for us or for being a disappointment when we tend to miss out on things pertaining to the family. We work hard keeping you in mind, because one day, we want you to be able to tell us that we have indeed caused you to swell with pride. And we will work towards that.
We want to have fun too: Perhaps your perception of fun is different from ours, which is why some of us tend to give up on our kind of ‘fun’ merely to not cause you disappointment. Long, hard days of work and school make us crave for a day or night out but because we bank on your emotions together with ours, we give it up. I believe in balance. Sometimes it irks me to give up my plans only because of you & some days I rebel which I deeply regret. At at the end of the day, we are all still young. That does not necessarily mean that you have to let me go, I’m just telling you not to doubt your upbringing skills.
We need your support: “Hey how was school today, what did you learn?” Can actually go a long way instead of me coming home to find you guys nagging at me. The amount of times you have missed out on my school performances have had me yearning for at least your presence to motivate me – be it something small, an art piece or something big like a stage play – all we kids ask for is your support in everything we do. Nothing beats the support of parents.
We want you to understand and accept us for who we are: I may not like science, I may love football, I am probably in love with my best friend of the same sex and I may hate my uncles and aunties. Some of you have set certain expectations to how we should be and most of the time, we all don’t turn out to be what you have drawn for us, and you need to know that we need your love and acceptance whomever we may be because we are your kids. I do not care about the society accepting me; nothing matters so long as my parents do.
We love you: You may feel like we lash out a lot at you, we lose track of our family time and we are always in our own world, but if something were to happen to you, we would never be the same. We are not the type to outwardly shower love to you, but trust me when I say that not a day goes by without the thought of you and we are dead serious when we say we love you. We mean it.
This entire lifetime isn’t enough for us kids to repay whatever you guys have done for us be it our mom, dad or even both. You were our first teachers, first friends, first diary and first ATM. You have been through hell and back to see us grow and honestly speaking, I can never see myself being a parent in the future, solely because I am afraid I would not be able to follow after you. No matter what comes and goes, we are your kids and our love for you will never dwindle.
