Mama tried

This is a comical statement, that if you knew the relationship between fictional Lorelai and mother Emily, is hilarious and true.
I'll cathcya up: Lorelai is pregnant at 16 then leaves home to work and raise her kid away from her uptight wealthy parents. She never graduated high school. Never went to college. However, she runs an inn on her own and is very successful. Even so, her mother will not let it go and constantly reminds her that she is essentially a failure because she did not succeed at Emily's view of life. But she is still pretty dang successful, not to mention has an amazing relationship with her daughter Rory.
I realize that a lot of people identify with this painfully but we just laugh at it like it only happens on tv. I'm sorry anyone has parents like that.. But can I just take a blog post to brag about mine?

I never really thought I'd ever want to, but I never met so many people who made them look like saints. Recently I've been getting reminded repeatedly of a few specific things that my parents kick ass at.
1. Encouraging me: Honestly I never felt that, because of my parents, I couldn't do anything. If I said I was going to learn a trick on the trampoline all by myself they didn't question it. I'd stay outside for hours until I did it and they were proud of me. I didn't think that was super unique or commendable. I figured everyones parents were like that. Guess not.
2. Letting me learn who I am: If I wasn't good at math, no big deal. If I said soccer wasn't my sport, I didn't have to play. If I said I'm never eating a hamburger 100x over they let it go. I had to finish the whole season of soccer and I had to eat at least 1 bite of anything I was skeptical of. I wasn't raised to be a spoiled brat. And I had to at least try at math and do my homework. I failed Algebra 2. But they didn't lecture or yell or ground me for it. They said "You'll take it again next year, you HAVE to at least pass, but you already have 2 years of math so you have enough credit to get into college." They noticed that I took nearly double the HS credit requirements in social studies. Now I'm majoring in Social Work. I'm pretty sure my parents saw that one coming and knew that stressing over a high school math course would only discourage me and send the message that I am stupid. So I continued on through HS and on to college and I do not regret anything. I'm never taking College Algebra because I don't need to but I work my butt off in my Social Work classes. That's what counts, because that's who I am.
3. Raising fearless kids: I meet a lot of kids whose parents are skeptical of mission trips, tell kids to go to college in-state, or never let them go on trips with friends. Out of the 4 daughters my parents had we've lived in Kansas, Chicago, Texas, Urugay, England, and California (collectively). They didn't make us leave because they don't like us, haha. And they didn't try to convince us to stay and baby us til we're 30. We made our decision without a bias and they encouraged it. If we thought we could go somewhere or do something, they were there to hear the pros and cons, drop their 2 cents in and encourage from there. I find that rather appropriate.

Disclaimer: My parents didn't ask me to make this. ;)

I've met a lot of new people since college. I've met even more in California. The more I grow up, the more I love my parents and the more I see why they did what they did. I really just had been dwelling on these thoughts for a while and it needed to be said. This just seemed a good place to put it.
I'm truly sorry anyone has a struggled relationship with their parents. I'm learning a lot of how it hurts you forever and deeper than people think. I'm just thankful I got 2 of the good ones. I am blessed. Blessed in order to be a blessing.

Congrats on 36 years Greg and Lori Carroll! I am beyong grateful you are my Mommy and Daddy :)

"Mama tried to raise me right..."
Angela