Ok...I'll say it, "Mom.... you were right"

The very phrase "Mom, you were right", makes me cringe internally.  It's the words I always vowed would never cross my lips, and the one sentence my Mother has been waiting with bated breath to hear.

As a child, as most kids do, I idolized my Mom.  She knew everything!  I could ask her anything and she always knew the right answer.  As a teenager all that went out the window.  This was the time in my life that I was convinced I was a genious!  My mom was old, out dated, and most of all Stupid.   How on earth did she know what it was like to live my life?  How could she possibly know anything about anything...I mean come on, she's a  Baby Boomer for goodness sakes.  None of that could compare to the life experiences of a 16 yr old.  Or so I thought.

So here it goes..."Mom, you were right."  It did not kill me to have only three TV channels and no video games, as I claimed it would.  In fact, it forced me to use my imagination, to get off the couch and venture outside, to discover and learn new things.  "Mom, you were right."  My friends didn't think less of me for not having brand name everything.  It taught me to appreciate when I am able to buy nice things.  "Mom, you were right."  I was not completely shattered beyond repair after my first heart break.  There really are "other fish in the sea".  "Mom, you were right."  Having a part time job in high school was actually good for me.  It taught me the value of a dollar.  "Mom, you were right."  Moving out at 19 and working a full time job while going to school did make my life alot harder than it had to be.  I could have saved myself alot of time and money if I had listened to you and lived at home while I went to school.  "Mom, you were right"  I do see everything differently now that I am a parent myself, which has enabled me to finally say the words, "Mom, you were right." 

But unfortunately life is full of these lessons that we have to learn for ourselves.  No matter how many times I was told what the end result would be, I refused to listen, and usually still do.  Now raising my own children I understand the infuriating frustration.  No matter how many stories of "been there, done that", I relay to them, they look at me as though I am a complete idiot.  So they too will, (as my mom likes to put it), "Touch the stove, when its hot.  Even though you just told them not to."  They will have to live and learn as we all have, and one day I hope to hear the words as well, "Mom, you were right."

My Mom

         The "Yeah Right" face my mom got ALOT!