Parents just don't want kids to have fun, right?

Who knew that Mom and Dad went through agonies when they were raising us?

When I was little, Mom and Dad were the ultimate authorities on all adult knowledge.  I was sure they had all the answers to the secrets of the universe and the only reason they said "I don't know" was because they were too busy doing something else to bother with explaining deep stuff to me.

Actually, sometimes that was probably true.

Later, when I became a teenager, I was convinced that my parents were purposefully trying to hold me back and shut me in the proverbial tower to prevent me from having any fun whatsoever.  Mom was 'out of touch with the modern world', and Dad was a 'crank'.  I thought they were so wrapped up in my little brothers and sister that they didn't care if I had a social life or not.  They certainly never said they cared about it.  I wanted to go places and do things, but that cost money and would have required a parent who was willing to play chauffeur.  My parents were never willing to drive, and I never had any money.

Fast forward to today.

I try to be willing to drive my kids wherever they need/want to go.  I try to make sure they have a little pocket money, though I wish it was more.  I will be the first to admit that my kids are a little too spoiled.

Having said that, I still go through agonies of frustration when they don't live up to expectations.  Kids seem to think that we enjoy grounding them because then we don't have to pay allowances (we pay for grades) or drive them anywhere.  That is SO not true!  Every time they get grounded, I wish they weren't.  EVERY TIME.  When they have to miss a fun activity or get together with their friends, I feel bad.  I don't want them to miss out.

Now that I am on this side of the fence, I have come to realize that my parents probably felt the same.

Weird.