Growing up, I thought it was completely normal for kids to say yes ma’am, no sir, thank you, and please.

I always told my mom I loved her, and I gave her a hug before school. God forbid I say anything close to “shut up” or “I hate you.” I never threw fits, I never got spankings, and I never tested my parents’ limits.

Now that I’m almost nineteen years old, and I’ve moved out of my mom’s house, I’ve seen my fair share of people who completely disregard the fact that their parents have sacrificed everything for them to be where they are today. I know that not everyone’s situation is the same.

Some people have divorced parents, some people have alcoholic parents, and some people don’t even have real parents at all.

My main frustrations are aimed towards the people who have grown up in a traditional family home and they still find a way to disrespect their parents in the ugliest of ways.

I know that my mother has bent herself backward to make my life easy even though she really didn’t have to. All she was required to do was keep me alive, but she decided to go above and beyond like how most parents try to do. She pushed me in school, but never too hard.

She fed me well, but always let me have a bit of cookie dough. She told me she loved me every day without fail, but I never felt smothered. She has loved me fiercely without apologizing for it and without having to. She’s taught me how to be a good person. For all this and so much more, I am eternally grateful.

Some people have a right to dislike their parents, but people like myself have no room to complain. My mother could have done the bare minimum. She could’ve skipped the plays I was in at school. She could’ve gotten me nothing for Christmas. She could’ve never told me that she loved me.

There's no doubt that my mom annoys me sometimes. She might ask me a million questions at once or call me too many times in a row. She might even yell at me sometimes for the things I think are no big deal. But I know she does it because she cares about me so much that she can't stand it.

I would forever be ashamed of myself if I ever uttered a disrespectful word to my mother.

I can’t look her in the eye, knowing everything she’s sacrificed for me, and disregard all of that. She carried me, fed me, burped me, and wiped my butt. Above that, she’s the foundation of my entire existence, the reason I’m here, and the fire behind me. At the absolute least, I owe her respect.

My life goal is to become a person that my parents would be proud of. I want to be so successful one day that I can buy my mama a house so that she never has to worry about anything ever again.

And she deserves it all.