Struggles of having workaholic parents

Some of my friends always complain about their parents being too watchful of them. They think I'm lucky that my parents are away working most of the time, and that I only have to see them for few hours a day. Even though I do love the abundance of "me" time that I get, there are downsides to everything.

A LACK OF CONNECTION

A teacher of mine once told me that he knows his daughter better than anybody else, and that had me wondering, "How well do my parents know me?" I always felt like my parents don't know me on a deeply personal level. This is something a lot of adolescents might relate to even if their parents aren't workaholics. But in the case of work obsessed parents, they don't always get the chance to spend some quality time to get to know their children. Honestly, I sometimes wish my parents knew me better. They don't know about my interests in particular fields or about what qualities I prefer in other people. Thus, when it comes to our rare heart-to-heart talks, I feel like Sims 3, just IRL.

KEEPING UP WITH THEIR EXPECTATIONS

All parents want their children to work hard, but when your parents are ardent workers while you are nothing other than a self proclaimed professional slacker, their disappointment in you is more relentless. Nothing more to say.

COOKING YOUR OWN FOOD

I wake up later than the rest of my family members – our time schedules are just that way, and there is never any breakfast left for me. If there is no milk or cereal in the house, I have to prepare something else. If the domestic help takes an absence, I have to cook my own lunch. However, on a brighter note, I think I can now cook better than my mom.

HOLIDAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING

I may hang out with my friends on holidays, but when my baby sister asks my parents to take her out somewhere, they will always complain how tired they are. Subsequently, I'll be asked to take her out with me. Now, if I decline, there will be the suspicion that I was probably going to do something shady with my friends. So, I just decide to ditch all the plans together and glue myself to my laptop.

OTHERS HAVE MISCONCEPTIONS

The fact that your parents are not there most of the time to supervise you makes some adults, especially the mothers of your friends or the neighbourhood aunties, think that you are probably a spoiled child who does God-knows-what in their absence. Sometimes, they even take up the responsibility of their own to keep an eye on you. But my question is, don't children from even very strict and vigilant families get spoiled?

Nevertheless, balancing both work and family is a Herculean task. To me, my parents are superheroes who always end up saving the day somehow. Work can be very worthwhile, but I sometimes just wish we would spend more time with each other as a family. Or is it just my teen hormones wearing off?

Zarin Rayhana likes to spend her time by pondering over alternative theories about the universe instead of studying for school. Send her your theories at ericaavianazarin@gmail.com