All my life, I have questioned why I got stuck with such strict parents...parents that are overprotective and have to be on top of my every move. Half the time freedom was out of the question because it felt like I was living my life the way my parents wanted me to live it. But, until recently, I have started to come out my shell. I realized that there was a reason why I received strict parents.

Yes, not being able to sleep over at a good friend’s house or be out past a certain hour has been quite annoying over the years. The question that has always come into my head is “Why can every other kid my age do these things?” Over the years, many of the people surrounding me never understood why I wasn’t allowed to do these things. People have told me to convince my parents or sneak out. It simply doesn’t work like that. Never has and never will.

I have always been one to respect my parents and always follow the rules. I have watched as people my age have always disrespected their parents and have taken full advantage of them. But, I would never do that. My parents have always told me that school comes first and I have always listened to that. I learned that school has always been a priority in my house because my education was meant to get me somewhere in life.

I knew from a young age that I would attend college because that is something everyone in my family has done. I have always completed my school work, sometimes even days or weeks ahead of time. My parents never had to remind me more than once to do my work because half the time it was already done.

One thing that really got to me over the years, is having to tell my parents things I wanted to do weeks in advance. After telling them the plans weeks in advance, you had to remind them every day what the plans were. Anything you want to do outside the house without them, permission had to be asked. Forget about being told an hour ahead of time to go out. Your answer to your friends always had to be no if that was the case.

To this day, parties are still questionable. Small things like this haven’t given me bad anxiety because while wanting to make your parents happy and all your friends, sometimes you cannot always win. Something I learned over the years is that if people are really your friends, they will understand if you have strict parents and cannot always do things. It doesn’t mean they should stop inviting you to things, but they should try and tell you in advance.

Another troubling thing over the years was having boyfriends. My parents had to know my every move with a boy I was seeing and what I was doing at every exact moment. Come on. Even though at times you yearn for some privacy, in the end, it was all for my own good. To this day, I feel that my parents have been strict about some things they did not need to be strict about, but I am glad I have always had them to protect me and look out for my best interest.

If I think back now, it seems too weird to think I would be a totally different person if I didn’t have strict parents. Maybe I wouldn’t have such a high GPA, be in college, or have the friends I do. Who really knows.

But, honestly looking back and no matter how many times I complain up to this day, I am thankful for my life and especially my parents.

I am grateful to be a respectful and kind young adult who is surrounded by amazing people. Thank you, mom and dad, for being the reason I am strong and independent. But, most of all thank you for being strict during the times I thought it was completely unnecessary.