Parents

Boy oh boy oh boy....

I was going to post this picture of my parents taken this past Wednesday, Nov. 5th...my dad's 59th birthday. (aren't they cute?) :o) I thought I would do a little post about how much I love him.

But....at the moment, I'm a little perturbed with him. We went over to their house for lunch today after church and during casual "table talk" I mentioned something smart-alecky Brooklyn had said to me today. I said something to the effect of "people just don't realize how difficult being a good parent is sometimes." For some crazy reason he saw that as an opportunity to tell me that he's been trying to tell me "we need to get a handle on her" for years and I never have listened so why should he give me any more advice now." and that "when people's kids act like that it is because the parents are too self-absorbed and don't care about anything other than what they like to do, what they look like and what they're interested in instead of the kids being their main focus." and yada, yada, yada.........I listened for a few minutes and then I got up from the table, said "okay, I'm done with this conversation" and then left.

It's just so frustrating because I know he's really not that un-loving--but sometimes he comes across as such a know-it-all who does everything better than everyone else. Some people don't "get" him because he is pretty matter-of-fact about things--but he's my daddy and I know how he is so most of the time I just take whatever he says with a grain of salt and go on. But this conversation today...is different. I've NEVER bad-mouthed him like I feel like I'm doing right now. Even when we left and Matt asked me if I was okay (he witnessed the whole thing) I just told him that "yah, I'm okay--by him saying that to me just proves how i-g-n-o-r-a-n-t he really is." As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt like a traitor. I love my dad more than words. We are very close and have always talked about everything. But today, I found myself avoiding him and when I had to call over there to ask my mom a question, I was PRAYING he wouldn't answer the phone because quite frankly, I don't want to talk to him. I knew he knew I was hurt because of what I said and how I left....so when my mom said "your daddy is concerned that you're upset with him" I wasn't surprised. Maybe it's because I'm getting older---I'm more confident in myself. I'm realizing that although they are my parents---they still don't know everything---especially about raising MY daughter who was definitely cut from a different batch of cookies than most kids. Sweet as she is....she's got enough attitude and sass in her for a whole army of teenage girls. The things she says to me sometimes at SEVEN really does scare me about how it might be when she's 13, 16, 18.

Anyway, I know this whole thing going on with my dad will pass. I'm not one to hold a grudge and by morning, I'll probably have forgotten all about it. I just wonder...how do you guys handle criticism or advice from your parents? Do you always do what they suggest? Do you value their opinions? (more than the opinions of others)?