To be honest, I can't recall precisely. I don't think there was a specific moment, actually. It was one of things that just kind of gradually dawned on me.
My biggest mistake growing up; thinking my parents knew what they were doing. If I had taken every piece of advice they gave me and done the exact opposite, my life would have turned out much better. They seemed to think that relentless pressure and constant criticism constituted good parenting. No more rant, I could go on for hours.
I was precocious. My question was whether there were any adults at all (they were the only candidates) who knew what they were doing. Haven't found any yet. Read and heard of a few, though!
I know exactly when. I had to be in 5th or 6th grade. I am not a Peace,Love, and Happiness person, but in class when they spoke about the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end WWII, the pictures of devastation were chilling...., but when they described that Russia and the United States were making newer and deadlier bombs... It scared me as a kid... but, I still had hope.
But... when they told us of the Russian bomb, Tsar Bomba which was as powerful as 3800 Hiroshima bombs and that the United States was planning for an even bigger bomb... for some reason I wasn't afraid because the adults had lost their collective minds and worrying was a waste of energy.
Since I got married at age 20 (and no, I didn't "have" to). Nowadays, a lot of my friends (in their 40s) have abdicated entirely on the adulthood thing; they don't get married, they don't move out of their parents' house, they continue to float in a kind of arrested adolescence where responsibility is for other people.
In my 30's - when I realized me and my friends were suddenly all in "adult" type jobs and being totally seen as "adults" -- that was when it all came crashing down! Like suddenly seeing the man behind the curtain fumbling around and trying to look legit. I basically realized *this was everyone*, not just me and my friends. I suddenly saw ALL adults of my past totally differently, and that wasn't a bad thing. Better if I had realized it earlier though, I would have both listened to more AND less "advice"... depending on the person/circumstance.
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To be honest, I can't recall precisely. I don't think there was a specific moment, actually. It was one of things that just kind of gradually dawned on me.
Sometime in my 30's when i just realized my parents were just 2 f'd up people who didn't have a clue and had me and my sister.
Sometime in my 30's when i just realized my parents were just 2 f'd up people who didn't have a clue and had me and my sister.
My biggest mistake growing up; thinking my parents knew what they were doing. If I had taken every piece of advice they gave me and done the exact opposite, my life would have turned out much better. They seemed to think that relentless pressure and constant criticism constituted good parenting. No more rant, I could go on for hours.
I was suspicious at age 16...and convinced at age 21. Now I are one! ;)
I was precocious. My question was whether there were any adults at all (they were the only candidates) who knew what they were doing. Haven't found any yet. Read and heard of a few, though!
I know exactly when. I had to be in 5th or 6th grade. I am not a Peace,Love, and Happiness person, but in class when they spoke about the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end WWII, the pictures of devastation were chilling...., but when they described that Russia and the United States were making newer and deadlier bombs... It scared me as a kid... but, I still had hope.
But... when they told us of the Russian bomb, Tsar Bomba which was as powerful as 3800 Hiroshima bombs and that the United States was planning for an even bigger bomb... for some reason I wasn't afraid because the adults had lost their collective minds and worrying was a waste of energy.
Every single day I've been one.
Once I had insider information.
Since I got married at age 20 (and no, I didn't "have" to). Nowadays, a lot of my friends (in their 40s) have abdicated entirely on the adulthood thing; they don't get married, they don't move out of their parents' house, they continue to float in a kind of arrested adolescence where responsibility is for other people.
In my 30's - when I realized me and my friends were suddenly all in "adult" type jobs and being totally seen as "adults" -- that was when it all came crashing down! Like suddenly seeing the man behind the curtain fumbling around and trying to look legit. I basically realized *this was everyone*, not just me and my friends. I suddenly saw ALL adults of my past totally differently, and that wasn't a bad thing. Better if I had realized it earlier though, I would have both listened to more AND less "advice"... depending on the person/circumstance.
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