Sunday, April 15, 2007

BONES on which you cut your TEETH

It's all about respecting your parents


“First we are children to our parents, then parents to our children, then parents to our parents, then children to our children.”

Milton Greenblatt

This beautiful quote perfectly depicts the relationship between parents and children at different stages of life. But have you ever tried to give a thought to this relationship which was gifted to you from your birth? Probably not

In today’s fast paced competitive world where more than five boys compete for the same girl whereas girl has to handle all the five (Tougher Job!), one has been busy enough thinking about the relationship with his girlfriend or life partner or streamlining his career that the above quoted relationship has shaded. Maybe because that relationship has been tagged with:

Taken for Granted

Why is that, as we grow this tag becomes more and more visible? We’ll do things and then expect from our parents to accept it, after all we are grown ups. And as a matter of surprise parents will accept it sooner or later because:

“The truth is that parents are not really interested in justice. They just want quiet.”

Bill Cosby

Some people would reason it out with the individualistic and independent behavior which becomes more and more dominant as we grow. But is that so? This is what we mean by being an individual and independent personality who can lead his own life without giving a damn about those individual and independent personalities who have adjusted so many times just for the sake of their children. Becoming independent doesn’t mean that we no longer have any interaction with the environment we spend our childhood with.

There are some GREAT SOULS who also think that parents have there own set of rules and they are always one generation behind and maybe that’s why there is always an invisible barrier between us and our parents - “They just cant understand us – our feelings, our independence & our way of living”. But why do we forget that these very parents have sponsored and will continue to for our so called ‘way of living’ without hoping for return in any form. And the obvious question which comes to mind is,

Why would parents expect any returns?”

(Why not?......See we take it for granted….since they are parents so it’s their responsibility to support us but have we ever thought what is our responsibility?)

And as far as rules are concerned then it has been rightly remarked,

“The rules for parents are but three... Love, Limit, and Let them be.”

Elaine M. Ward

LOVE----------------------------LIMIT--------------------------LET THEM BE


P.S- Till now you might be wondering that how does the appellation of this post relates to the matter being discussed? So, for your kind information “cut your teeth on” is an idiom which means “to acquire wisdom or to gain valuable experience, often at a young age. And the word 'bones' has been used as an analogy for Parents.

As a matter of fact, this title has been shamelessly copied from a quote by Peter Ustinov:

Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth.”

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