Parenthood

When my parents come to visit, as in these holidays, I get flashbacks of childhood. Like when I was a kid, my mother had pat answers and special quips she dished out over and over. One of my least favorites was "Because I said no." I remember thinking what an unfair reply that was to a request.This is my memory of the process:

"Can I spend the night at Vicky's?""No.""Why not?""Because I said no."
Why couldn't she give me a decent reason when turning down my requests? She treats me like a child! She never says that to other adults! Humph!! (sound of feet stomping, door slamming here) I vowed that when I became a parent, I would not repeat the motherizms I grew up with, particularly that one. I would provide reasonable explainations to MY children. Well, I now have children making ridiculous requests and have come to realize that my memory of the discourse between my mother and I was probably not complete. Perhaps it went more like this little chat I recently had with my daughter:

"Can I spend the night at Emily's?"No.""Why not?""Because it's a school night.""But I can go to school with her tomorrow.""No. You'll be up late.""We'll go to bed early.""No. You always stay up late with Emily.""Why not? I promise we'll go to bed early!""No.""Why not?""Because it's a school night.""But what if we promise to go to bed early?""No.""Why not?""BECAUSE I SAID NO!"(sound of feet stomping, door slamming here, punctuated with a loud "It's not fair!" at the end)

Therein lies the Karma of parenthood.