Listening to Your Parents

Most of you in your life have had at least one good friend, someone who you did absolutely everything with. When I lived in the US, that friend was Ellie. She was an amazing person, could make almost anything out of fabric, was very bright, and always smiling. One afternoon after we got out of school and were at her house painting, we had an amazing idea to walk downtown. Now, Ellie and I had done this often enough that we knew the way and weren’t worried about anything.

“Bye, Mom!” she called as we hopped on our bikes and pedaled away.

On the way there, we raced on bicycles, waved at every passing person, and even charged at pigeons because why not. It was all good when we got to Bethesda, and we even got some ice cream at a shop there. About 10 minutes later though, Ellie received a call.

“Hello?” she asked.

“Where are you?” It was from her very angry, and worried, father. He said that my own parents were there to pick me up, and I, of course, was not there. It was a 30-minute bike ride back of heavy pedaling and eyes cast towards the ground; we didn’t chase any pigeons this time.

This, I feel, is a relatable experience. You’re excited because you’re with your friend, and it doesn’t cross your mind that you need to check your phone or let your parents know where you were going. They were angry, of course, but got over it eventually. Her parents hadn’t known what time they were coming, and it was reasonable that I didn’t check my phone. The problem was that this happened more than once.

Peer pressure is a funny thing, and although Ellie is a wonderful human being, I didn’t want to say no to her.

“It’s alright, your parents won’t mind,” she told me. I called my mom, but she didn’t answer, and we set off towards her house after school without my parents knowing. Hours later when I didn’t arrive home, my parents had to come to pick me up AGAIN and drive back. I sat in the car silently brooding, arms crossed with the knowledge that it was me that had done something wrong. My dad was tense beside me, and I knew that a lecture would proceed after this car ride. Somehow I knew that this was going to happen, but in the thrill of the moment hours earlier, the consequences hadn’t seemed too bad. Now, I wasn’t so sure.

As a 7th grader, my natural thought was that my parents hated me. They never let me spend time with my friends! I would grumble to myself. Sometimes that thought still crosses my mind when they say I can’t go somewhere. As teenagers, we all know this feeling of being denied, hence the sneaking out. However, there’s always a reason. I couldn’t go to Bethesda because I was being picked up to go visit my extended family. I couldn’t go to her house at that time because my dad had work and my mom couldn’t leave my sisters alone in the house. No matter how bad you feel, there’s always something you probably didn’t get, another side of the story that wasn’t told. This can happen not just with parents, but friends, siblings, cousins, and in relationships.

I’m sure that none of you are happy for me saying this right now, but most of the time our parents are right, and they know some things that we don’t. Yes, we know things they don’t as well, but they know what’s best, even if it makes us angry. Long story short, listen to them. Listen to your parents and try to understand why you can’t go to Sarah’s birthday or Josh’s party at 2 am. There’s a legitimate reason behind every no. Listen to your parents and you’ll be able to make those smart decisions for yourself in the future.