::Peanut Butter and Jelly::

I am itching to write this morning, especially after sitting in traffic for 40mins to get to work this morning when it is usually a 10 min drive. Now.. I have to comment on the fact of culture upbringing. Who is right and who is wrong when an issue is raised? Every culture and every family obviously think their way of  upbringing is the right way. But when it comes to expressing opinions on someone elses judgement, you can't be assumed as right also. There will be differences and you can't get upset or get your undies in a bundle when this happens. My parents raised me in somewhat of a traditional way. They always wanted the best for me, raised me with the proper discipline and always warned me of the consequences that could be ahead. To remain a virgin until marriage, not move out with your boyfriend, and I could stay at home till I got married, graduated college, blah blah. However, things don't go always as planned. I thought I needed to learn my lessons by taking my own risks and being brave and always taking the much more extragavant route everywhere I went. I heckled my parents till their last drop, sadly it was all worth it. I took tons of turns rights and lefts, u turns, yields, found myself on one way streets, dead ends and even broke down, but thank God for the stop lights that allowed me to pause and think of my actions and then decide to put on the proper turn signal to get back home.
My point in this is no matter how you bring up your kids, no matter how much you want the things you want for them (although half the time what you want for your kids, isn't what they want), they are going to do what they want to do. Become a rebel in diguise, which is the opposite of what you want to happen. When two people come together from different upbringings you have to compromise between the two brains and their way of thinking or else it is screaming for divorce. Especially in this modern age of living. The traditional approach is a failure these days unfortunately, but if you have a balance of serveral approaches you might have success in raising your kids.

I have had my heart broken many times and broken many hearts, left the country with $25 in my pocket, slept with guns under my pillow, dropped out of school, experienced alcoholic blackouts in the hospital and my parents didn't tell me how to do handle any of these situations, expect this from me or nor did I have any of this planned. It just happened. And I am glad it did. Because I have figured out at a young age what it was all about. And to better prepare my children for these experiences and what is like to live on the wild side. My parents never did such things, they were extremely traditional, so they were in shock when all this happened. You have to taste life before you can critique it and write a review. Now for 24 years I am pretty sure I could write a book about my adventures and It might be a bestseller, but God only know whats in store for the next 24.... all I know is I have to use my best judgement in accordance to the consequences I have suffered from my episodes in the past or reape the rewards from the good things I have done.