I’m sixteen. As far as I know, I’m having a generally normal teenage experience - angsting because I’m a junior, don’t have a drivers license, still have another year of HS, don’t have a car, don’t have anything to wear, and have way to much homework. School and TKD are really the centers of my social life - my friends are there, as are the activities I enjoy.
I get along with my parents fairly well. Yes, we argue, but not excessively. The biggest points of friction are my grades (which are never as high as they want), and my boyfriend. THe parents are great - liberal, accepting, tolerant, and so on, on just about everything. Until it comes to me. I’m the younger child of 2 daughters, and they can’t accept that no, I’m not a little girl anymore. I’m dating an older guy (20), who’s a different race (black.) THe parents have known him for about four yearsm we’ve been together for slightly over two months. He’s an instructor at my TKD school - they trust him in that capacity, but as a boyfriend, he’s apparently a different person.
Recently, my friends have been getting cars and drivers licenses as they turn 17. The boyfriend has both of these, and for some bizarre reason, they trust him to drive me, but not…hang out with me, I guess. They don’t trust nearly any of my other friends to drive me places. The NinjaParents trusted me to stay home alone for a weekend (gasp!) about three weeks ago, and said I could go out with friends on Sat. night (I called them to ask), but forbid me from going over to my bf’s, who lives at home, and we would not be doing anything there. They’ll drive me to, say, newspaper meetings at school in the evenings, and let me hang out there for three hours, without checking in with them, but I can’t walk to get water ice after school (about half a mile from school) unless it’s a Friday and mom knows exactly who’s going and what time I’ll get home.
Basically - I don’t get it. Why are my parents so…random? It seems that I’m old enough to have a paying job and be looking at colleges, yet I’m not old enough to be seriously dating (they’re dead sure we’ll break up within this month and have said so.) My think is I’m old enough (and responsible) to have a paying job and be looking at colleges, mature enough to be able to tell if a guy is using me (god knows what they think he’s using me for). I think that while they should expect me to, say, check in with them fairly frequently (hourly?) if I’m out late with him (or anyone else, for that matter), but that they shouldn’t be picking and choosing who I can/can’t go out with. THey don’t need to provide money for me to go out or transportation, why should they decide?
OR
Am I expecting to much from parents? I realize that I’m their baby, etc., parents are overprotective by nature, and so on. Most of my friends don’t really have an issue like this, with the random pick-and choose limits. I just…am frustrated, I guess.
Any opinions on this?