Parents and Their Children

I recently read the blog Taking Control by Yvette Abadi. Here she examines the role of parents. She says that, “The ideal parents, the ones we always like to believe we have, love their kids unconditionally, and would give anything for their well-being and happiness.”

            I agree because Billy Pilgrim’s mom is one of those parents. She was always caring and loving, to the point that Billy Pilgrim felt ashamed to see her. “She made him feel embarrassed and ungrateful and weak because she had gone to so much trouble to give him life, and to keep that life going, and Billy didn´t really like life at all. “(p.102)

            Mother’s and fathers are there to coach us through life, nurture us and help us become complete human beings. Without parents, children would run amuck and never form strong characters or personalities. They would have no direction or manners, because they simply would have never been taught any. All humans want to be loved and for much of our lives our parents are the ones who satisfy this need. Of course there comes a point where we seek other kinds of love. Yet, parental love is the only one that’s present from the day we are born to the day we die.

            Although, parents are meant to support us, sometimes there comes a point in life where the roles are reversed. The children must take care of the parents because old age or necessity has asked for it. 

Yvette also examines this topic and she says, “Barbara [Billy’s daughter], in her early twenties, was enjoying the feeling of superiority and greatness she got while bossing her old, traumatized and troubled father around.”  Of course when children take care of their age riddled parents, it should be with love and care just like they received in the years of their childhood. However, many times it actually takes on a form of superiority. This is greatly caused by the uncertainty of having to look after the person who was your care giver for so many years and also in part because children sometimes feel repressed and controlled by their parents, so when it come time to take care of them, they act in a tyrant manner, enjoying the new power they can now exercise over their parents.