Parental guidance

They say life runs a full circle. First your parents bring you up. And then it's time for you to bring them up. I certainly agree, going by the recent (mostly one-way) conversations that have been taking place between my parents and me.

“Of course you need to put on the seat belt! I don’t care what you did before, here you are putting on the seat belt!”

“I'm sorry I'm late. I’ll try to come home early tomorrow. Then we will go to a nice restaurant for dinner. How does that sound?”

“I’ll be home late from the office. I have a late meeting. Dinner’s in the fridge. Heat it up and have it, okay?”

“Don’t touch the gas, okay? Use the microwave. Come, let me teach you how to use it.”

Me (on the way back from office wondering if Dad would wanna go for a swim)
Dad (already splashing in the pool!)
Me - “Wow! You can swim!” (crazily clicking pictures with phone camera)

"I'll call you from the office. Pick up, otherwise I'll panic.”

“Don’t go too close to the edge of the water!”

“Watch your step, the steps are slippery!”

“Read a book, watch a movie, do some writing. If you get bored, call me, okay?”

“Come out of the pool at the slightest sign of lightning.”

“Here, take this umbrella along.”

“Do you have any money on you?”

"What is my mobile number? Do you remember?"

"Whenever you go out, carry a piece of paper with my address, okay? Always!"

"If you get lost, ask a passer-by for directions, okay? People here are very helpful."

"Are you hungry?"

“Come, I’ll take you to the gym today.”

“Carry a bottle of water along. Don’t buy canned drinks. They are too sweet - bad for your health.”

Me - “You should learn to be independent – learn to take the bus and train by yourself.”
Them - “But you are there na…”
Me - “But I won’t always be there!”

Me - “The computer crashed?? What did you do???”
Dad/Mom - “I didn’t do anything!!!!!!”

Me (to colleague) - "Okay see you tomorrow. Am rushing off. Gotta feed the two kids at home!"
Colleague - "Hehehe... totally understand!"

Me (on phone with Dad) - "Hello, technical support here. How can I help you today?"
Dad - "The movie is not playing. Only the song keeps playing over and over."
Me - "Okay... describe to me exactly what you see on the screen..."

Me - “So what if others are doing it? I said no jay-walking and I mean it. Do you know how dangerous it is?”
Them - "But you do it yourself..."
Me - "Err... because errr.. I'm familiar with the traffic here..."

“Wear comfortable shoes. We’ll be doing a lot of walking today.”

“So did you like the hot air balloon ride?”

“Don’t drop the DVD! Hold it gently. One scratch and it’s useless!"

"No Viv, don't help them! Let them try to switch on the DVD player by themselves."

“I yell at you for your own good.”

“Now you move the mouse and bring the cursor here. Okay. Now click here. No. Try again. No. Again. Okay, good. Very good!”

“So what do you feel like eating today?”

“I am so sorry I have to work late and can’t spend as much time with you as I would like to. I will spend the whole weekend with you, promise.”

“Look at Mrs. X. She can take a bus to the library all by herself! Why can’t you do that?”

“What do you mean you’re scared? How will you learn if you’re scared?”

And finally the most important one, that we could not do without, and they can’t do without either.

“Don’t worry, I'm here.”