Question that came to mind…

Which is worse for a child? Having parents who think you will never amount to anything, or parents who expect you to accomplish things that may be unreasonable?

There are bad consequences to each circumstance, without a doubt, but which is more damaging to the child in the long run? I think it kinda depends on the child, honestly.

There could be a child in situation 1, whose parents believe they will never accomplish anything, but they make a choice to prove the parents wrong, and wind up being a successful individual, but they deal with the knowledge that no one believed in them from the get-go. There could also be a child in situation 2, who does their absolute best to accomplish everything, but falls short, because, well… they are human and can’t do everything. They carry a sense of guilt and the idea of “I should have….” when in reality, they did everything they could at the time.

I am curious about this… admittedly, I feel that I belong to group 2, because I tried my damnedest to do what my parents expected, but that just wasn’t going to happen because, well…. life. At this point, I don’t blame my parents for any of that. They certainly had their own issues to work through, which bled on to me. But, what is it like on the other side of this? I don’t know what it is to be in group 1, but I want to know and understand that side of things.

If anyone reading this belongs to group 1, please reach out, I want to know your story. If you belong to group 2, please reach out, I want to know your story. I love to hear people’s struggles, and what they have done to cope with/mitigate them. Understanding one another and our various circumstances is one of the keys to growth….