Lies my parents told me...

Actually, I had the best parents I can imagine growing up.  They were somewhat overprotective, but once I had children of my own, that made perfect sense.  I never had a doubt that they both loved me and my sister very much.  Looking back, I know there were times they struggled financially, but they always made sure we had so much more than we ever needed, and just about everything we wanted.  I wouldn't have wanted to grow up any differently than I did, and I doubt many adults can honestly say that.

But, don't we all make decisions and have beliefs that differ from our parents?  Of course, that's true for me.  I know I do and believe a lot of things the same or similar to my parents' actions and beliefs, but there are things I've consciously decided I don't believe along the way.  I just called them lies in the blog title to get your attention.

1. Don't quit something you've committed to.  This is a tough one.  It's mostly right.  Make a commitment, stick to it, and always do your best.  It makes good sense.  But there are times that quitting is perhaps better, and I'd be willing to bet that if you think on this one long enough, you can come up with your own examples.
2. You will love your children more than your husband.  I've covered this one before.  If I were a better blogger, I'd post the link for you, but alas, you're stuck with me if you've bothered to read this post.  My truth is that I love my children differently than my husband.  It is a completely different type of love.  I don't love him more.  I don't love them more.  I love them differently.  The short version I tell people is this:  If someone were pointing a gun at us, ready to fire, I would jump in front of my children.  I'd be expecting Darrell to do the same, maybe even come up with a better plan.  I wouldn't be protecting him.  But that doesn't mean I don't want him in my life just as much.
3. At 18, you are an adult.  I distinctly remember a conversation where my parents basically said they'd gotten me this far, but now I was an adult.  Now, they still helped me out so much along the way after that.  And I don't even think they meant the conversation to have the effect on me that it did.  But I was scared.  It seemed to me that they had been too protective while I was growing up, and suddenly I was responsible for my own life.  I think it's safe to say that I let my kids do more and be more independent at a younger age than I did, and it's because of this.  I want to let go of them gradually.  Now, the way this world has changed, they probably are just as overprotected compared to their peers as I was, but I swear, I've tried so hard to open up and let them experience and see things sooner than I did.
4. If you can sniff, you can blow it.  This one belonged 100% to my dad.  You could not sit at the dinner table and sniff, or he'd send you downstairs to get a tissue.  Which is another pet peeve of mine - we had absolutely no tissues on an entire level of our house growing up.  My mom thought it was uncleanly to have tissues in the kitchen, but also they were suspiciously absent from the entire level of the house, so we had to walk down or upstairs to one of the bathrooms or bedrooms to get a tissue.  The nerve.  But back to the point.  There are times you just cannot blow your nose, but it is running, and sniffing can sometimes help.  But thanks to my dad, I am an obsessive nose blower.  This is why I absolutely must have tissues infused with lotion when I have a cold or even allergy issues.  You should see my poor nose after a few days if I don't!  All your fault, Dad!  But I love you anyway.

I am so incredibly lucky to have only things like this to complain about my parents and my upbringing.  I would bet you have a handful of your own, even if you had a childhood like mine.  And I have no illusions that my children won't have their own complaints.  I only hope that their list will look a little different than mine, and that it will be these kinds of minor things they look back and think about.