It’s difficult to have honest discussions with your parents about things they’ve done wrong. It’s drilled into us from childhood that kids should be eternally grateful to their parents, and while I think honoring your father and mother isn’t the worst virtue in the world, you shouldn’t look at your parents through rose-colored glasses either. It’s so common for a mother or a father to see any criticism of their past decisions as a personal attack on them, and when that happens, it rarely leads to a productive conversation. If you have ever heard, «Oh, I guess I’m such a terrible mother,» after bringing up something less than perfect about your mom, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Rhetoric like that serves to shut down the discussion and make the kid feel bad that they dared to say anything remotely critical. If you know this situation all too well, these parenting texts will absolutely resound.