By REFILWE MEREYOTLHE
Every parent thinks they have their children figured out, don’t they? But that does not seem to be the case when children let their parents in and share information they wished their parent knew about them:
- Please don’t comment on our eating habits or weight all the time. – Palesa, 23.
- How you see us and your advice actually had an impact on us. – Tshepang, 21.
- Don’t compare us to our siblings or other kids for that matter. It hurts. – Thabang, 18.
- I drink and enjoy them ice cold. – Thandolwethu, 25.
- I have a business that is growing from the ground; I’m more focused on getting money than you think. – Rorisang,23.
- You might be wiser than we are but you need to let us breathe, make our own mistakes and learn from them. – Thami, 22.
- Please give us a chance to talk back sometimes. – Karabo, 21.
- When you’re teaching us how to drive, don’t expect us to learn everything about the car and roads in three days. – Nompumelelo, 20.
- Don’t surprise us by buying us clothes because chances are we are not going to love what you got us. Rather take us shopping with you. – Paballo, 18.
- Please don’t read our journals. – Amanda, 19.
- We don’t want you to be our friend, only our parent. – Meghan, 19.
- Take interests in our hobbies even if you might not personally like them. – Lerato, 19.
- Don’t choose our careers for us. – Refilwe, 24.
- Even though we love your money, we value your time even more. – Tshepo, 23.
- Don’t talk to us in a way you wouldn’t talk to an adult. – Lorraine, 24
- Don’t respond with ‘because I said so’, because it’s not a rational or valid answer. – Keneilwe, 20.
- Just because you raised us, it doesn’t mean we owe you. – Minenhle, 24.
- We do not get corrupted by our peers or the world. It’s all on us. – Skhalo, 20.
- No matter how understanding you are, we’ll still hide a few things from you. You don’t have to know everything and that’s normal. – Thato, 17.
- Just believe us sometimes, we are not always out to lie to you. – Thandokazi, 20.