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I’ve come to the realization that our parents’ over-protective traits are just their ways of trying to prevent us from making the same mistakes that they made…and while that is admirable and very much appreciated, parents must understand this: If we never make mistakes on our own, how will we ever be able to protect our children from our own past experiences?

When I was younger (and still, to this day,lol) my mother constantly tried to protect me from everything. I swear if she could just put me inside a little bubble and keep me there for the rest of my life she would. If she could shield me from all the heartbreak, corruption, crime, injustices, and deceitful people that I will encounter, she would snap her fingers and make that happen….but that’s not reality.

If I have a child in the future and I tell them not to touch the stove, they will ask me-why not?;to which my response will be –because it’s hot-and their follow-up question will be-‘How do you know?’

To which I want to be able to respond that I felt the heat and felt how much it hurt and I got the scar from this experience to prove it. Yes, this scar hurts, but every time I see it I remember how badly it hurt and I refrain from touching the stove…..parents have to keep in mind that their children are human and every obstacle and triumph is a learning experience. We make mistakes so that we can learn from them. Especially in our 20s, it’s all about the journey. It’s impossible to protect us from everything, but our parents can always encourage and advise us along the way, reminding us that those burns don’t typically cause permanent damage; they merely open us up to new learning experiences.

So to the parents, sadly, your young adults will experience heartbreak and we will break some hearts. We will fall but we’ll get back up and persevere. We’ll
lose money and we’ll make a lot too. But without these experiences we’ll never truly experience life. And I want to experience life. We all do!

So, I know that in the future, I will want to tell my child(ren) not to touch that hot stove because I’ve been there. But I will also understand that their curiosity will get the best of them…

Parents have to just trust that even if we touch that hot stove, they’ve raised us to be responsible enough to come fully equipped with Cold Water, 33Neosporin, and tons of band aids.

Would you rather take your parents’ word for it or experience it yourself?

-Aliyah

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5 thoughts on “The Burn

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  1. DSH 11 years ago

    There are two types of people. One with a scar and one without. How is that you have a scar from the stove but your parents do not. The short answer is that some learn from other people’s mistakes and some need to make the same mistake and see if the results or different.

    1. Lessons From Happy Hour 11 years ago

      Well I think that as young people, we are instinctively somewhat rebellious and it’s becoming more and more apparent with each generation. It’s difficult for us to just hear someone else tell us not to do something, or to do something, and just abide. And sometimes we do end up getting different results than others so it doesn’t hurt to try….well it could hurt, but you catch my drift.haha

  2. Rachael Lee 11 years ago

    The way I see it is …if I didn’t touch that stove then I wouldn’t have a story to tell…besides you can’t gain wisdom/knowledge/understanding without experiencing a few things along the way right :)…great read!

  3. Ronnie 11 years ago

    The Holy Quran states that hard trials purify. Please know that you will have your share. But do try to learn the lessons from other’s mistakes. Parents will ALWAYS have your best interest at heart. Peace and love.

    1. Lessons From Happy Hour 11 years ago

      This is true….you know your children sometimes just want to learn things on our own sometimes.