Good Old Fashioned (Dysfunctional) Family Values
I am an only child, which is only one of the demons inspiring my nervous twitches, lack of well adjusted social skills, and a host of other irritating personality traits.
My mother and I get along, for the most part, provided we avoid certain issues and not discuss certain situations. She is a few years beyond fifty, but could easily be mistaken for fifteen years below that. A tap dancer (this year professionally and competitively), she recently got her braces off (no, I don't mean that figuratively), and I'm horrifically proud of her for getting them on in the first place.
However, as most mothers do, she just doesn't understand. Obsessed with expanding my personal wardrobe, pants, tops, sweaters, everything is purchased furiously, frivolously, and frequently. I don't deny her because I am young and such an action I am practically incapable of such an action. But she has trouble realizing that a pair of blue jeans is no replacement for my own personal angst (nothing is, other than graduating from adolescence). No matter how often I try to confess my lack of singular satisfaction through expensively shaped cloth, she shuts her eyes and ears, and feels guilty that only two tank tops could not quench my anger. And the cycle repeats again.
My father has less of an interest in buying my love from the nearest Banana Republic. Him and I argue frequently and viciously because we're so damned alike and are convinced we know what's best for ourselves and each other. And we're never wrong about anything. Ever.
But he does have actions which frequently assault me with false love. He is trying to give me an advantage not within the realm of fashion and ego, and beyond that, make up for all the times he's made an extremely erroneous decision, or needed a Teen Girl's User's Manual. It's usually the latter.
Ahh, there's absolutely no substitute for being emotionally indebted to ones padres, never allowing oneself to become angry at something that warrants anger due to overwhelming guilt, constantly feeling that you cannot live up to standards....
But it's okay. I love my mother. I love my father. It's just going to take a lot of dedication on both sides to come up with an agreement that will allow no one to go crazy, preferably in the company of trained professionals, just in case a riot breaks out.