I used to be sorta into the goth thing when I was younger, except I couldn't do it full on because my mom wouldn't let me learn to play guitar and be in a band with my best friend and her sister, or wear the clothes that I wanted with her reason being "she doesn't like the look and doesn't want me to be like that." It doesn't bother me anymore, but I still think I should have been free to express myself in my clothing and music. After all, it wasn't her that was gonna look like that so it shouldn't matter if she liked the look or not, she was just concerned about what people would think of her when they saw me. It's stupid, there's a lot of things that will make a parent look bad to other people but that shouldn't matter as long as they know they're being a good parent. Being scared of what your image is as a parent makes you do some things that isn't very good parenting, and it's kinda counterproductive. For example: a child throwing a hissy fit in line at the grocery store for candy ends up getting the candy because everyone is staring. Yeah people were getting annoyed, but you're just showing your kid that if they cry they'll get what they want.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm glad you shared your story. And yes, I agree completely with your "child-in-the-grocery-store" analogy bit. Sometimes I just think that a lot of parents have it all wrong.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

When I attempted suicide a year ago my mom constantly nagged me about "what people will think". Now I'm going to live with my dad while she and my stepdad get divorced, and all she's worried about is "what people will think when [her] kids go live with their dad". It's awful.

by Anonymous 11 years ago