Thursday, May 10, 2007

Approval or Disapproval?

Ok, I'm sick.

I'm on the mend now, but I've done more sleeping in the last two days than I have in the previous week. However, what am I doing when I'm not sleeping? I'm cleaning the house. What the hell is wrong with me?

My parents are coming into town tomorrow. They live in a house that is so icky, I'm scared to walk around barefoot. They just had to tear up all their carpeting and replace it with tile because their dog has ruined the carpet to the point of no repair. So why do I care what my house looks like - especially since said carpet-damaging dog is coming too?

My parents would be the first to lecture me for cleaning instead of resting while I'm sick. So, here's the question of the day - am I looking for approval for the house being clean - or am I actually seeking disapproval for doing housework while I'm sick?

Do we ever stop wanting that kind of attention from our parents? Positive, negative, it never seemed to matter, as long as it was enough for my father to look away from the television, and my mom to recognize me as an individual - separate from my brother and sister. Do we ever outgrow that need to be seen?

3 comments:

Chickenbells said...

No my dear sickie...I don't think we do. Unless...well, we learn how to see ourselves and stop seeking outside approval (especially from said parents) Sounds good huh? Let me know if you achieve it...because it's a hard one!

alienbody said...

Hmmm...could it be that you are trying to show them how much better at this stuff (affection, family environment, clean house, etc) than they were?

Chickenbells said...

Happy Mother's Day sweetie!