The rules our parents make...

[carynb]

When do I stop following the rules my mother laid down when I was a child?

I'm not talking about the big "don't steal things", "don't hit people", and "say please and thank-you" - type rules that are generally accepted as, y'know, proper and civil behaviour. I'm talking the quirky little things that parents do to try to control their kids in some way.

For instance? One big rule in our house, growing up was "if you're too sick to go to school, you're to sick to go outside and play [or visit a friend, or go to choir practice, or anything else fun]".

So here I am at work. My head hurts, my ears hurt, my stomach's queasy, I have no voice - but I'm at work. Why? Because I want to go out to Cambridge to see my guy tonight, and if I don't go to work, I'm not "allowed" to go do something fun. Even if that something is "get to Cambridge, collapse into bed from the sick".

Isn't it weird, the way these rules your parents insist on just define the way you live your life?

Maybe I should just go home...

Comments

[zoarazul.livejournal.com]

What a great observation!

I say, send your parents some mental thanks for helping you evolve into a responsible person, then go home and nap/hydrate/etc. before you head to Cambridge, where you *should* go because there you have someone who loves you to take care of you.

It takes awhile to adopt this mindset, but I now never come to work when I'm feeling ill. For me, it's a productivity issue (I'll be paid more than I'm worth that day) and a public health issue (I'll likely just make others sick, too).

[carynb.livejournal.com]

I did leave after about a half-day of work. My brain was completely fuzzy, and I knew they weren't getting anything approaching real work out of me, so leaving made a lot of sense. I headed out to Cambridge for sleep, soup, and pampering. *g* All of which helped.

Hopefully, I haven't made anyone else sick.