How can parents be the parents when they are the kids?
When you think about it, sometimes parents act a little bit (rather, a lot!) childish. Sometimes, they do fall for stupid mistakes, as if age and experience has not warned them beforehand of their appalling behavior. In the instance where the child witnesses such a momentous event, one cannot help but wonder: "Remind me who is older among us again?"
Do not get me wrong. I do love them both. In fact I love them so much, that I just cannot deal with them when they are acting so immature.
Take this for an example. Our family decided to spend the new year at the Hyatt hotel (the new one beside the Diamond Hotel) in Manila. As early as 8:30am, my parents woke my brothers and I to be able to check-in in time. Setting breakfast aside, we all hit the showers with eyes still stubbornly closed. All dressed up and ready, with my mom driving, we went straight to Manila. On the way, particularly at Roxas Boulevard, we nearly had an accident. It was the fault of the reckless driver in front of us who went against the flow of the traffic. Much worse, we were traveling at a fairly fast pace (since the streets were literally empty). All of a sudden, this car popped in front of us as it was taking a left turn. Good thing my mom had good reflexes and was able to put the car into an immediate halt. Being the hot-tempered man that he is, my dad raised his voice as he was telling my mom to look out for irresponsible drivers in the streets. In response, my mom defended herself and insisted that it was not her fault. My dad can never accept defeat. He always (and I really mean always) sees to it that he ends up being the right one in a particular discussion. So if you were the one having a debate with my dad, it would be more sensible to just hush your mouth. The whole quarreling atmosphere finally got the nerves of both of them and so they decided to just cancel the reservations at the hotel, and head back home. Back from the beginning. Hours after we were home, they both reconciled and acted like nothing actually happened. Okay (pronounced as "ahey" to emphasize the pissed-off tone)!
Here is the thing. Both of them are pretty much in their fifties already. With that in mind, I think it is safe to say then that childhood for them officially begins at fifty. On the other hand, parenthood then for me starts at 18. When for no particular reason at all, they suddenly decide to bombard the household with another one of their silly quarrels, the three of us (my brothers and I) go inside our respective rooms and act like we just... do not... care. If and only if we all feel it is too much, we the kids who act like the only decent parents in the house, remind our childish parents to lower down their voices because they might disturb the nosy neighbors. The part when we say the nosy neighbors is enough for them to shut it (with matching hand gestures).
Every now and then, I do get the chance to experience the demarcation line that separates being a child and being a parent - authority. But only with my mom. Haha. She somehow believes I (pretend) to be wiser beyond my years. As a result, I get to have a say when it comes to fairly insignificant decisions in the household. Like what to cook and what not to. What to buy and what not to. Things like that. But beyond that... end of story.
Of course I am completely aware of how difficult and complex the role of a parent can be. Sometimes I even play upon the idea: "What if I were the parent?" My mind blows up with just the thought of taking care of three children (all boys!). But then again, they have to realize it is equally hard to become the child. Especially when you are forced to understand why the heck are my parents fighting over a small car accident (that never came to be) that was not really my mom's fault in the first place?
Oh dear (one palm on the forehead). Makes me want to never grow old. Anyway, coming back to reality, the one thing that really is keeping me sane upto this very moment is the fact that we are all flawed. And that deserves a loud honking of the horn!
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