The New Am I The Only One Thread

[fuzzygobo]

@fuzzygobo , this will probably seem like an obvious question, but despite all the discipline, did you ever go through that phase yourself (presumably late teens) where you're just like "What do YOU guys know?!" to your parents out of curiosity? Cause from what you described, I would be surprised if you did.

Yeah, in my high school years, I thought I knew more than my parents (who doesn't go through this phase?), I thought if/when I ever have kids (never did, but helped raising our neighbor's kids), I'm never going to discipline them, because I'm not going to be the bad guy.

It wasn't until I was older that I realized my parents disciplined me out of love.
They wanted to make sure I stayed out of trouble, and that if I did something wrong, there were consequences.
Looking back, them disciplining me was the best thing for me. They were strict, but they were fair. And I got what I deserved, the punishment fit the crime.
The last time I was really punished, I was 11. I told a lie, and when they found out, my punishment was pretty stiff. It was the summertime, so for a week, no tv (the biggest deprivation was no Sesame Street! ) and we had a pool, no swimming for a week. That got me where I lived.
The week went by and I had to watch my siblings AND my friends splashing around in the pool, and Big Bird and friends had to get along without me.
But they never had a problem with me lying after that.
They were firm, they stuck to their guns, they didn't backpeddle at all, they didn't cut it down to five days instead of a week, no, I took it like a man.

They had a rougher time with my sister. She went through a rebellious adolescence, and she got in more trouble than me, and her punishments were a lot more severe. But she learned too. She graduated top of her class in college in Nursing, got her Masters, now working on her PhD, but our parents discipline helped both of us. It instilled a strong work ethic, made us push ourselves hard, so all that discipline paid off.
And now I respect the way our parents brought us up. It netted positive results.

From my teen years on, the biggest battle I fought with my parents was over growing my hair long. That went on for years. Eventually I won (or they stopped fighting). I have no tattoos or piercings, so growing my hair halfway down my back was the most radical thing I ever did.

But I stayed out of trouble and kept my nose clean.

 

[D'Snowth]

I also really love watching Supernanny.... Pretty much because it shows the parents didn't do their homework.

I personally prefered NANNY 911 myself. Each of the different nannies had their own different personalities and different approaches of how to tackle the challenge at hand.

One thing that impressed me was this pair of four year old (fraternal) twins who wouldn't give up their pacifiers and sippy cups . . . I swear those kids could cry in harmony, it was fascinating!

 

[LittleJerry92]

I definitely remember my late teens like 17-19 was when I was pretty much just resenting my parents. Boy, I was a real punk back then.

I think if anything, just learning to get my independence in college and obtaining my driver's license (my parents, especially my dad, are some of the WORST backseat drivers) certainly helped my mind grow more and learn to become more mature. Granted, the mid 20's can be a bit hectic, but I'm sure I'll be satisfied with myself fully at 30.

 

[fuzzygobo]

The only way out of that scene for me, resenting my parents, having to live by their rules....required discipline.

I wanted to drive as soon as I was physically/legally able to. You can drive a car? You can get a job. You get a job, you can have money in your pocket.
You have money in your pocket, you can buy some neat stuff.
But to keep your job, you can't let your grades suffer. So I got a lot of freedom to do some things I wanted, on my terms, but it meant working harder and staying out of trouble. That took discipline.

But eventually I was able to move out when I was 19. Went to college full time, held down a full time job, played in bands, etc. Worked my butt off, but had my own car, my own place, and the satisfaction of being my own boss.

Maturity came early. These were the things I wanted, nobody was going to hand them to me, so get ready to grow up fast. Work like you can't believe.
I don't think I would've done it any different. My brother and sister were workaholics too. But that discipline paid off in spades.

 

[LittleJerry92]

Am I the only one who honestly kinda hates being a night owl?

Like, sure, it was.... Fun, in college, but now I'm kinda at that point where I f eel like I'm still up by 2 o clock, I get grouchy.

 

[ErinAardvark]

Am I the only one who honestly kinda hates being a night owl?

Like, sure, it was.... Fun, in college, but now I'm kinda at that point where I f eel like I'm still up by 2 o clock, I get grouchy.

Yes. I hate it, too. I don't like sleeping until 11 am, but there are times where I just don't want to go to bed.

 

[LittleJerry92]

Am I the only one who hates it when people start a conversation with you, you ask what's up, and they reply with "nm" or "nmu"? It's like, what do you expect me to reply to with that? It's also aggrivating when you tell them in response what's going on in your life and they're just like "cool" or "nice" and then it's even more annoying when the person is like "you there? Helloooo?" Well what do you expect me to say to one word responses?

 

[D'Snowth]

It's also aggrivating when you tell them in response what's going on in your life and they're just like "cool" or "nice"

Been there, done that, and I agree, it is a great aggrivation - and yet, they expect essay responses from you when they tell you about what's going on in their life. Talk about one-sided conversations.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Am I the only one who honestly kinda hates being a night owl?

Like, sure, it was.... Fun, in college, but now I'm kinda at that point where I f eel like I'm still up by 2 o clock, I get grouchy.

There was a time, around 2000, when I became a night owl because of my job. I'd work until 11 pm or midnight, come home, eat a big meal, and then fart around with this newfangled thing we had called the World Wide Web! Crank up that 56K modem, let Dial-up do its magic, and in the course of two hours, you might visit one webpage. Maybe two if it's a slow night.
For a while it was fun being up at night, because, compared to the daytime, it was quieter. There is this lack of people scurrying around. No traffic. And if you're lucky enough to have a diner that's open 24 hours, you're set.
Since then, my body clock (and my job) has changed. It's rare for me to be up past midnight anymore, and I'm up at 6. Can't sleep til noontime like I used to.
But getting enough sleep at night (let alone getting enough sleep PERIOD) is probably healthier for you than being a night owl.

 

[LittleJerry92]

There was a time, around 2000, when I became a night owl because of my job. I'd work until 11 pm or midnight, come home, eat a big meal, and then fart around with this newfangled thing we had called the World Wide Web! Crank up that 56K modem, let Dial-up do its magic, and in the course of two hours, you might visit one webpage. Maybe two if it's a slow night.
For a while it was fun being up at night, because, compared to the daytime, it was quieter. There is this lack of people scurrying around. No traffic. And if you're lucky enough to have a diner that's open 24 hours, you're set.
Since then, my body clock (and my job) has changed. It's rare for me to be up past midnight anymore, and I'm up at 6. Can't sleep til noontime like I used to.
But getting enough sleep at night (let alone getting enough sleep PERIOD) is probably healthier for you than being a night owl.

Yeah, it's definitely something I'm trying to fix. College life can really make you dread being a morning person when you have classes that start at like early afternoon or late afternoon and your body is used to sleeping in late and going to bed late. Sometimes it didn't help when you had homework that you pretty much procrastinated on or when you feel stressed out that your thoughts just fill up.