Family Scripts31 Dec 2007 08:06 am
By Heather O.
I am over 30 years old. I have given birth to two children. I backpacked through Eastern Europe before the time of cell phones, Mapquest, and GPS. I have lived in major cities in the US, I am good at parallel parking, and I can even change a flat tire.
But when I travel with my mother, she still needs a phone call to know if I made it back to the hotel all right, even when the hotel is only a few blocks from the restaurant where we have just dined.
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I had never thought about this until I had a roommate in college who complained about how she was the baby and her older siblings only ever saw her as the baby. They bossed her around as if she still couldn’t make decisions for herself, and she felt like she’d never be a grown-up in their eyes.
Comment #1 by StarababaDecember 31st, 2007 at 9:43 amI, on the other hand, am the second oldest, and it made me wonder if I treated my younger siblings as if they’re still children and couldn’t make their own decisions, either. I know I do it to a certain extent, but I think just having it brought to my attention helps me to be more careful when we get together. But yes, I think I will always assume a little bit of the mother hen role for them, and my husband says I’m the spokesperson for the family and I possbily always will be. But I hope I won’t ever hurt any of their feelings by assuming these roles. And I have to say, I sort of like being babied by my momma still, cuz she’s the only one who’ll do that for me now.