What did my wife do?

Today I am mad at my mom. As she reads this (I'm pretty sure she reads it, but she hasn't listed herself as a follower), her first reaction will be "what the heck did I do"

My mom did to me what parents have been doing to their kids since the dawn of time. She cursed me. That's all I have to say, and anyone with kids knows EXACTLY what she did, and why I am so mad today.

Anyone without kids, but who has watched the Bill Cosby special "Himself" isn't laughing quite as hard as my mom is, but they think they know why I am angry. If you haven't guessed it yet, you are childless, and you were the kid that never gave mom and dad any trouble. I'm not sure how old I was when she first cursed me. I know I deserved it because I remember all the crummy things I said and did to my mom once I passed the age of 8 (I'm sure my mom remembers them, and probably a few I didn't think were so bad).

My mom stared me right in the eyes and said (everyone) "Someday you will have kids, and they will do the same things to you that you have done to me!".

Most of us have heard that line (except for my wife who was the kid that never gave her parents any trouble). When I told her about the curse, she looked at me and said "yeah, but what did I do/"

I still can't figure out where we went wrong. I didn't do all the things I was certain my mom screwed up on raising me. I praised them far more than I criticized them. I only spanked them 1x each. I tried to give them everything I didn't get when I was growing up. And yet, they are in many ways, just as bad to me as I was to my mom. OK I lied, they could not possibly have been as bad to me as I was to my mom, but it doesn't hurt me any less than I'm sure it hurt her. So much for the argument of Heredity vs. Environment. (I heard B.F Skinner was devastated when his kids kids turned out different than he thought they would) Chalk one up to the ol' gene pool

With a few exceptions my kids have done the same things that I did (the exception being they were never brought home by the police. Operating a motorcycle without a license, fleeing from the police on said same motorcycle, getting away by by doing my best Steve McQueen (Evel Knievel for the younger crowd, Jeff Ward for the really young crowd, if you have to ask, you are too old) over a chain link fence, and being turned in by the only honest kid at the playground. So far my kids have been free of any legal troubles (he said looking to the heavens and crossing himself). They have been mouthy, defiant, and disrespectful (on a bad day, not always) of my wife and myself (wife and me?). They have "hidden treasures" in the rooms (blouses, shoes, and dresses not conservative enough for our tastes, not to mention dishes and food that became science projects). Parking tickets that were not paid on time and fines that quintupled because of it. Leaving the lights and TV on and a bunch of dirty dishes in the family room (not to worry we have 2 people to clean up after them....yeah its us)

I won't bore you with all my complaints, let's just say I look at my kids with equal parts pride and pain.

The curse must be stopped. It is too painful, and with rare exceptions, no parent deserves it (I can think of one or two who do) So far I have not wished the curse on my kids, (not out loud anyway, and as we all know thinking about it doesn't count). I pray that if they have kids, the curse will end with me (but there goes that little genetic thingy). I pray that their kids will never break their heart, or hurt their feelings, or make them question why their kids would treat them that way. I hope my grandkids will be everything that I was not growing up.

Most of all all I hope the curse has done its worst to me, and that my mom forgives me for all the heartache I caused her (She has to right? After all she is my mom!)

As always, just my opinion...anyone out there share it?