I respect my parents so incredibly much and I love them to pieces.

My parents, Annemarie and Steve, have been the best, most loving parents anyone could ever ask for. They really do know everything and they seem to always have the answer when I am feeling any kind of emotion. I can call my mom and cry to her anytime, and by the end of the call, she helps me sort out my feelings, stress, life, etc. I can look to my dad to help me figure out life choices and he will tell me exactly what I needed to hear, even if it's not what I wanted to hear.

I look up to my parents with extreme respect, even though I don't always seem like it with the decisions I make. Seeking my parent's approval is important to me, even when I know they could be upset with me.

Now it's not that I NEED my parent's approval to survive, I just value their opinion and I hate keeping things from them. I have made decisions or had a secret that didn't always go over well when I told them after the fact.

I have in fact experienced the dread of telling my parents that I got a tattoo or piercing, which doesn't always go over perfectly. However, this story is an example of pure procrastination and fear of what my parents would say when I told them I got another tattoo.

My freshman year of college I got a bigger tattoo on my left hip, I dreaded telling my parents for a couple weeks. I was scared that they wouldn't support me anymore or that they would be so mad at me for a long time. I finally called them and had my mom put the phone on speaker. I asked them if they wanted to hear good news or bad news first... I ended up telling them the "good news" first.

I tried to be slick and told them that the good news was that I got a tattoo! Yay! I didn't wait for their response and proceded to tell them that the "bad news" was that I was thinking about changing my major. I tried to distract them from my good news by telling them another thing that really wasn't bad news. Long story short, they were upset. it was mostly with me getting a tattoo, but a little bit about me abruptly changing my major because we all knew I actually didn't know what I wanted to do with my life at that point. That's a different story though.

After being the one to wait a while and stressing to tell my parents things that I thought would disappoint them, I am slowly learning to do the opposite. I am not 100% there yet, but I am getting there.

Why should I be stressing to talk to them? Yes, they could yell or be upset because I made a dumb choice or spent money on something unnecessary.

I am getting older (even though I am still a child) and I am slowly getting more responsible. I have been realizing that my parents will still judge my decisions but that doesn't necessarily mean they will be mad. (It still depends on what I do because hey I don't know what dumb stuff I could do in the future)

When I do stress about telling them or what their reaction is going to be, I feel like if I don't tell them then it makes me a bad child. I want to be open with my parents because I am only 19 and I know I still need their guidance. However, some teens want to become totally independent from their parents; that is totally their decision, and I respect that. I know in some situations that's what some people have to do, but I have always strived to be as close as I can to my parents.

My mother, in particular, is one of my best, longest, and most loyal friends. My father, the smartest man I know, is someone who would do anything and everything to protect me. Without them, I literally wouldn't be the person i am... I wouldn't even exist.