Grade How Your Parents/Guardians Did

[ScottieK]

My parents get an A/A+ with flying colors. My mom didn't go to college, and my dad dropped out after a semester or two. They crammed me full of education, moved to a different area of the city with better schools, and paid for my college education all the way up to my MBA. They were relentless in disciplining me...I was a little [censored] until I got to high school. They never let up. They also stayed together until I was about 20, even though I think they were effectively divorced when I was around 17. But they didn't want to put me through that until I was out of the house, so they stayed together for my sake.

Dad was a coach and umpire when I was in little league baseball. He made me play football, even though I thought I would get killed. I actually liked it and played in high school for three years. When I gave it up to focus on chess and drama, he supported me and was always there to watch. He'd spank me when I got into trouble, but he never hit me or abused me. FWIW I think all those spankings I got really shaped me up to be the person I am today. Like most guys in their twenties, I like to go out drinking and gambling and hit the strip club now and again, but I've never been in real trouble with the law or anything. If either of my parents had given up on disciplining me or just gave me weak-ass timeouts, who knows what kind of trouble I'd be in now.

Mom was the one who made me do my homework and clean my room. She was really involved with my education and got to know my teachers every year. She would drag my dad to see my plays in high school. She was very insistent that I learned how to spell and to speak correctly....I blame her for turning me into a grammar and spelling nit, but it's a good thing.

Both of them did all this while owning their own businesses and working some crazy hours. Even though I was raised as an only child (my brother was old enough to be out of the house by the time was born) I'm sure it was very time-consuming for both my parents. There's no doubt in my mind that they both love me unconditionally and would do just about anything for me. I'd do the same for them, and I can only hope that I'm half as good of a father as my dad is.

ScottieK

[Scary_Tiger]

A for Mom, B+ for Dad.

I think you're being way too harsh on your first generation parents though.

[Sooga]

Solid A+ for mom. She was a stay-at-home mom, and she was always there whenever a crisis came up at school or something. She would also always be there for any of my stupid spelling bees or science fair thingies or anything like that. She always made sure my sister and I had a breakfast to eat in the morning, and slaved away at dinner almost every night. Hard to think there was something she didn't do right.

My dad is a little harder to grade. Being the sole breadwinner, he worked a lot of hours, so that's obviously admirable. He also worked hard enough to where my parents were able to put me through school without my having to incur any debt, and for that I'll always be grateful. But my dad wasn't exactly the most loving parent in the world. Even when he was at home on the weekends, he always seemed to be yelling at me, and we never really went and did the typical 'male-bonding' stuff (playing catch, going to ball games, etc). As a result, my relationship with my dad seemed a lot more 'professional' than loving. I guess I'd have to split his grade up. In terms of being a provider, he gets a solid A+. In terms of being a 'good dad', I'd probably give him a B-.

[Turkish]

Mom - A+
Dad - F

Single parent ftw.

[Bicycles_Biatch]

my parents have done better as parents since I was an adult...

they were pretty hands off when I was a kid and didn't do very much...

but since I've been an adult they have actually offered me good advice and helped co-sign on my first home loan.

[alphatmw]

as provideres, A+
nuterers, A- (one was too overbearing while the other was too standoffish, but there were both there my whole life which is better than most have it)

[Quanah Parker]

Wait , am I grading them on how their lives turned out, or am I grading them on how I turned out?
Also, I prefer to use my own grading system.

Mom - Orange Blip Blip
Dad - 231.43 +/-

[MasterLJ]

My mom gets a C-, my dad gets an A-.

My mom didn't treat me like an adult until I was around 21 (I had been an active father for 2 years at 21). She also didn't really raise me (latch-key kid) and to this day admits that her happiness is before her kids. She's now just starting to learn that she is not the smartest person in the world, and not everyone is the a**-hole, sometimes she is the bitch. Not to mention that in my adolescent years I was burdened with tons of responsibility and absolutely no freedom.

My dad is a solid A-. He's a hard-worker, a provider and enabled me to do so much. Almost all of my happiest child/boyhood memories were with my dad. Just wished he tried harder to get custody. He also has a few things to learn about dealing with difficult people (my brother) and needs to learn when to be a dad and when to be a lawyer at times.

[Shadowrun]

Mom- C
Dad- C

Though, i would say after age ~13 i raised myself

[dozer]

A-plus

The one thing my parents never ceased to do was HELP me any time I wanted or needed it. Something I plan to pass on to my kids.

They were slightly overprotective until I left for college, and then they became more like best friends and mentors than "parents" in the literal term. They were also very responsible people who worked hard at their jobs and never did anything suspect. I'm lucky for that, and I'm lucky that I am 30 and still have both of them alive and in pretty good health.

I wouldn't be a successful person in life without their guidance.