Personal Narrative: The Struggling Path To Adulthood

The Struggling Path to Adulthood I know many of my peers whose parents were uninvolved in their developmental years and after. The same can be said for me. One thing in common between my peers and I is that it took us a little bit longer to find a foothold as young adults cast into the world of responsibility and adulthood. Parents who do the bare minimum, feed, house, and clothe, are missing a vital link in the chain; emotional and developmental guidance. I can attribute several of my own characteristics to this lackadaisical method of parenting. Many teenagers get their first jobs at the age of sixteen or younger. The jobs can vary from working at a movie theater to babysitting. Depending on the type of work, these teens can gain many skills that will benefit them in the …show more content…
I strongly believe that it is important to tell your child that you love them every day, especially when you are angry with them. In my living memory, my mother has told me she loved me once; the day I graduated high school. It sounded so foreign to my ears that I had to ask her what she said; I was confused and thought I had misheard. As I reflect on our strained relationship over the years, I still have doubts that she loved me. One could easily say that she did because she fed me and provided shelter. However, that doesn’t bring me clarity. I can say that my father told me every day that he loved me. So I never doubted him, even when I did make him angry. Because of my recognition of this contrast, when I think about how I am doing as a parent, I always compare myself to my own parents. In many ways, the way I grew up has influence in my parenting style almost every day. I know what it feels like to feel lost when entering adulthood, to struggle internally with your own thoughts and emotions, and to feel alone or like your parents just dealt with you rather than invested in