• intensely_human@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Oh my god this is so true.

    I recently heard “Another Day in Paradise” by Phil Collins, which I hadn’t heard since the 80s when I was a kid. It immediately brought back memories of being at home and Mom playing that song a lot, with just the two of us in the house, after Dad left.

    Looking back at those memories through my adult eyes (I have a nearly-photographic memory and can vividly remember even ancient memories as if I’m still there), I can see my mom’s sadness and loneliness.

    And then I realize she was my age. She had a little five year old boy. She was alone, unsure what to do. Putting on a smiling face not just for me but for herself too, cleaning the house with that song blasting. Like, I can watch the memories like video and I can see the heartache I couldn’t see back then.

    I just want to go back in time, wrap my arms around her, and hold her tight.

  • Netto Hikari@social.fossware.space
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    1 year ago

    As a dad, I think about this fact so much.

    I still feel just like a kid with no clue about everything, but I still have to do stuff, because I’m responsible for my own kids now.

    • RQG@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I feel the same way often. And the kids look up to me with the absolute confidence and trust that their dad knows what he’s doing and will know what to do when they have trouble. I know that’s how it should be so they can be children. But at the same time I know it’s just not true and I’m just winging it.

      • lime_red@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Was out with my daughter and her friend, and we found a wallet on the ground. The friend picked it up and immediately handed it to me, and now I’m ‘what am I meant to do with it?’. But only in my head, because I’m the grown up who just can deal with everything.

      • constantokra@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        You need to be a little more generous to yourself, friend. Compared to a kid, you do know what you’re doing, and thankfully kid troubles are mostly not a big deal, so you probably will know what to do. From a certain point of view.

        • Dran@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Do you think there is value in teaching kids, from a young age, that their parents are not infallible? If not, why? If so, how would you teach that to a kid in a way they would understand and incorporate?

    • BorgDrone@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      That’s why I think people shouldn’t have kids until they have at least a couple of hundred years of life experience.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I realize that’s a joke, but we waited until our 30s to have a kid specifically so we could have life experience and more financial stability before taking on that responsibility. I think that’s the best way to do it. Being 46 with a 13-year-old is a lot easier than it would have been for me 13 years ago.

        • beigegull@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The other side of that is worth considering too. Being 46 with a 23 year old would be great.

  • executive_chicken@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The worst thing is growing up and seeing them less and less to the point where once you do end up seeing them, they look WAY older than your mental image of them. Cherish your parents while you have them

  • sarcasticsunrise@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Middle aged man baby with a lovely wife with aspirations of having a child here reporting in. Not having read any comments… this hits hard and goddamn you OP 😖

  • DarkSpectrum@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    My mother has complained for years how her adopted parents didn’t do a good job raising her. At the time they had three kids of their own and then adopted my mother and her sibling who are their nieces. One day I did the math and pointed out to my mother that her adopted parents were only 25 when they took on 5 kids and did she think their age had something to do with it? It blew her mind and gave her a whole new perspective … for a few minutes. Then she jumped back on the whinge wagon. Sometimes what we want to see is more important than objective observations.

  • Toneswirly@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    As a newish parent, this resonates with me. I’m flying by the seat of my fuckin pants over here.

    • blomkalsgratin@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Most terrifying thing about becoming a parent, as raising just how little of a clue my own parents must have had to start with. I mean, all that time I was feeling safe and really, is a marvel we didn’t all die in a bath tub fire event!

      • Phat_Albert@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        Great observation. I always wondered how it was so easy for my parents until I realized no, it wasn’t. I always felt that if the house were to burn down I would be safe. Never thought twice about it, totally took them for granted.

        • blomkalsgratin@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’d like to think that’s what good parents do though, make the kids feel safe and protected. Hopefully it means yours were good ones :)

          Edit: “good parents” not “foods parents” dyac!

          • Phat_Albert@lemmy.zip
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            1 year ago

            Excellent, I’m definitely fortunate. We didn’t have extra $$ but it never mattered much.

  • ECIN96@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    So is this community just going through Reddit and verbatim reposting old threads?

    • Kerred@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Just wait until the bots get here, hoo boy.

      Followed by ad companies making shower thoughts about their products.

      Followed by Propaganda accounts having shower thoughts not about Tiannamen Square.

      • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        I’m hoping bots won’t be too much of a thing, because farming account karma isn’t a thing. There will be some, but hopefully it’s not literally everything like Reddit was by the end.