Happy Mother's Day? Not really sure how to title this rant...

I’ve never paid any attention to Mother’s Day – one, since it’s a Western Day that never fall on the same date every year, and two, since I’d much rather just write random stuff about my parents on any day I feel like, rather than limiting them to a few days a year. But since it’s been a while since I was able to write anything – due to life, school/Uni work, and other personal reasons, I’m about to go mad if I don’t write SOMETHING! But since I don’t actually have time or can get into the right mindset to write what I’d really want to write right now (the novel), I’ll have to settle for something else instead. So here we are, almost right before Mother’s Day is over, and I’m about to pour my heart out about how great my parents are. No, this is not just about my Mom, because my parents have always been a single unit with a hive mind; there’s no point whatsoever to separate them into two people. And, I admit, yes, this is partially because I’ve just finished A Pho Love Story, and it got me thinking about my parents, again.

Now, if there truly was a previous life, then I must have done some great good deed in my past life, because I pretty much hit the ultimate jackpot in terms of reincarnation. My parents were – are – weird! In the best ways possible. My parents tricked me, my entire life, about what was the norm. It wasn’t until College that I learnt that the way I was brought up was far from the norm for anyone my age.

My entire life, I’ve never felt any pressure about being anyone but myself. And considering who my family members were and are, that is saying a lot. Sure, they complained; sure, they compared me to other kids – all of whom were geniuses and monsters, btw; and sure, there were moments when they said they wished I’d grow up a bit faster and be better. But really, never felt any real pressure. They’ve always been there to catch me whenever I’d fall, with their “I told you so” ready. But really, can’t really blame them for that since they did really tell me, I just needed to fail a few times, or multiple times, to learn… Okay, fine, it was a lot of times! They’ve always supported whatever I wanted, even when I didn’t even know what I wanted. I mean, they did give me an ultimatum to find out what I wanted within a set amount of time, but really, I was already asking myself that question when they did, so it’s more like they were telepathic rather than pressuring me.

My entire life, I’ve never heard about the notion of gender role. My mom was often the one fixing electronics and build stuff in the house, and my dad actually made great food (still prefer mom’s cooking, though, and not just because I actually have to tell my dad what I wanted to eat while with mom, she just knows). My parents shared all the work, and I mean all of them. They are the CEO and CTO of the same company they founded, and they shared the housework, too. It did mean that I had to learn to do everything around the house (whenever I couldn’t find an excuse to bail, that is), but now I’m just grateful.

My entire life, I’ve never been yelled at. No, really, they can scold me without raising their voices. They can make me cry and feel bad without actually yelling at me. And the frustrating thing is, they’ve never done so unjustly. So, every single time, every damn time, even if I got mad and stormed off, said hurtful things, or slammed the door in their faces, I’m always the one to feel bad later on, and had to go apologize. And they have never had to resort to the “we’re your parents, you have to do as we say!” Not really. They’ve always treated me like a person, and not just their son. Every time I’d done something wrong, mom had sat me down and explained to me why it was wrong and why they had to do what they did. And while I didn’t always appreciate it at the time, I’m grateful now. So really, my parents are my best friends growing up – dunno whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, or whether I should feel happy or sad about that, but it is what it is.

My entire life, I’ve always known my parents are just humans. Actually no, the jury is still out on that one and I’m still considering the alternatives. I mean, the only signs I’ve seen so far of them being humans have been my mom crying when I was 4, my dad looking at porn that one time when he thought I wasn’t aware, and they have both been sick a few times each year. While the evidence to the contrary is stacking up. They’ve never broken a promise – to me or other people; they’ve never failed to deliver on anything I’ve asked for help on, and some of which were downright impossible to me. And for someone who remembers everything, and I mean everything – every mistake, every shortcoming, every joke, etc. made by me or anyone else, my mom, and my dad, too, I guess, have always taught me to never hold those against people. The random lessons taught in offhand remarks caught me by surprise every time, because only when an unexpected situation arise would my brain suddenly recall those remarks, and I’d have an epiphany about my next course of action. Like one of my favorite lesson from Dad had been “Only the weak pushed others down to raise themselves up. The strong raise people up and walk on their own two feet.” Like seriously, he just casually slid this into conversation while we were watching TV. Or that other time he said, “Jealousy is just a sign of lacking in confidence or ability” when asked about whether or not he was worried about other people pursuing my mom when they were still dating.

So yeah, anyway, I think I’ve ranted long enough, and my sanity has somewhat been stabilized. This is my signing off without any warning whatsoever!