If there is one thing that is a constant around this time of year, it's going home for breaks. Something that we all look forward to – getting back to our roots, and most importantly, our families. Which has gotten me thinking a lot about mine, and the craziness I'm about delve back into the middle of.

All of my life, I have been referred to as the favorite child. But here's the thing I recently realized, I'm actually just getting the runoff slack from my parents working so hard on my siblings. So in a sense, I'm the tired child. Let's look at it this way...The main arguments I hear:

I get away with everything.

They never let me do that at your age.

I was given more opportunities.

How I can say a phrase to my parents and not get slapped behind the head. (Disclaimer: no one actually has ever gotten physically smacked.)

Like a dang broken record. I hear these each and every single time that I am home. So here's the truth behind them. I do not, in any circumstance, get away with whatever I have done. In the case of breaking curfew or not coming home until the morning – I end up not being able to go out, or I get a ridiculously early time for the next night. The difference is, I try to right my wrongs. I will often spend that night with my parents and help them with dinner or watch a movie together. I don't try to weasel my way out, or continue to badger them into me doing the same thing the following night. I make the best out of the situation I put myself in, I don't wallow.

When it comes to the good old, well at my age... they may be only 2 or 4 years older than I am, but that's the whole idea. There is time that has passed. With time, comes change. Nothing is exactly the same as it was 2 or 4 years ago, so why would the same mindset be for something completely new. People grow, and yes, parents are people. Their views are allowed to alter. They are also allowed to simply be tired. To be honest, that's the case 85% of the time with my parents. They are getting older (aside from you Mom, you're always 38), they realized through my siblings what is worth the stress and what is not, also what they can control and can't.

A huge portion of my time at home is me hearing about how lucky I am that I was allowed to do this, and go there, and etc. But this, has little to nothing to do with my parents. I wasn't just given these opportunities by them, I created these for myself by working my tail off. I never got help from my parents to put me where I am today as a working adult. Aside from their financial assistance at school – which each child has received – they didn't give me my jobs, pay for my conferences, pay for the work trips, apply for my scholarships, or hear of anything I accomplished until it was finished. I did that. They were either applauding after the fact, or expecting me to do something bigger the next time they heard from me.

With my family, the word respect, is used heavily and honored heavily as well. If you are out of place – you will be told so. However, tone is a large portion of this apparent dilemma. The way that I speak to my Mother is much more silly than the way that my brothers or sister speak to her. But that is just because for a little while, it was just us two. She's seen me through my hardships and has been my rock for so many things. So if I say something that would typically never be said in front of our parents, I can guaranteed you that I have a crackle in my voice or a smile on my face. The sentences may be the same as my siblings before, but they only listen to the words, not the context.

We were made by the same two people, and no matter the differences, we are all loved by them as well.