My Parents Allow Me To Do Everything I Want

Welcome to the Here’s My Story channel. I’m Daphne. I woke up to my phone ringing. I had binge-watched a show on Netflix until the early morning. I was so sleepy. I pulled the comforter over my head, and tried to go back to sleep. But my  phone had no intention of quieting down.

I forced open my eyes half-way, and reached over to see who was calling. It was my best-friend Lucy. She wanted to do a video call. I picked up and said, “I’m so sleepy. Can we talk later?” Lucy couldn’t respond because she was sobbing. Panicked, I sat up and yelled, “What’s wrong?”

She couldn’t stop crying. “Daphne, I need to say goodbye to you,” was all she could say. “Why?” I asked. Unfortunately, Lucy’s answer was nothing new to me. “I told my mom that I wanted to get a tattoo  like yours. She was so upset. ‘You’re not going to see Daphne again.

She’s a bad influence for you. You’re getting ideas from her,’ she said. My mother thinks that having no rules at home is not right. ‘As long as you’re friends with Daphne, you’re going to want to live like her. It’s best if you don’t see her anymore. Call her and say goodbye,’

She told me.” Lucy was the third best friend I had lost this year. I would get close with someone, they would find out how I lived, and share it with their family. Soon after, one of their parents would say something like this: “Anything goes at Daphne’s home. But kids need to have rules.

She is a bad influence for you. You should end your friendship with her.” I used to be so sad when that happened, but, unfortunately, I’m used to it by now. There was nothing I could do. Since I was fully awake, I might as well get some breakfast. When I went to the kitchen,

I saw a note on the fridge door. Mom wrote, “See you soon, sweet girl!” I figured that my parents had gone on a trip. The note said “soon” so they hadn’t gone abroad, which meant that they would be back in a week. As you can see, there are no rules for the adults

Or the kids in our house. Everyone’s free to do whatever they want. When I sleep over at a friend’s house, I don’t tell my parents about it. But, for example, if I go to my grandma’s, and decide to stay there  for more than a week, I’ll let my family know. That way,

My mom knows I won’t be home for  a while so she doesn’t have to cook for me. Actually, she doesn’t have to cook for me at all. We don’t have any rules around that, either. At our house, there is no set time for meals. We don’t sit and eat together.

I can eat my dinner in the kitchen or in my room, anywhere I want to. The best part is I’m free to eat  whatever I want as well. For example, I was binge-watching that show all night which was why I only had ice cream and chocolate for dinner.

My mom doesn’t think of snacks like that as junk food. We always have steamed vegetables, chocolate, fruits and ice cream in our fridge. Everyone can eat whatever they feel like eating. For those who are curious about my health, I can tell you that I’ve had no issues because of what I eat.

Our body already knows what it needs. You can’t possibly have chocolate for dinner every day of the week. You will definitely crave steamed vegetables at some point so, thanks to your body, you always end up eating healthy, anyway. The other thing I like about our house is that

There’s no set bedtime. Sometimes I want to go to sleep at nine pm, sometimes I forget about time when watching a show and get into bed at dawn. For a while, I was hooked on The Sims. I was spending every waking minute playing that game. Since there are no rules around gaming

Or watching TV at our house, my mom used to sit, and watch me play the Sims until three in the morning. She would even fall asleep in my bed while I kept playing. Since I don’t have a bedtime, you might want to ask me: Do I not have school? My answer is:

No, I don’t. When I hit school age, my parents asked me, “Do you want to go to school?” I said I wanted to because I would have so many new friends. But after a while, I realized school was definitely not for me. Going to school meant I had to obey  countless rules.

But I was raised in a household without any. That’s why I was shocked at each and every one of them. One day, I felt so sleepy during class. I told the teacher that I wanted to sleep. She said, “You can’t sleep at school. You need to wait till you get home.”

This was the most ridiculous rule I ever heard in my life. I didn’t go back to school the next day. I told my parents about my decision to quit school a week later. , “You might be young but you still know best what’s good for you or not. Do as you wish,”

My dad said. If I’m ever curious about anything, my parents get me a tutor on that subject. I learn things by taking online classes. At school, students are assigned classes without being asked the question: “Do you want to know more on this subject?” I, on the other hand,

Only learn about the things that I want to know. Because these are things that I actually care about, I never forget what I’ve learned. When my friends stay over, they are so surprised that we don’t have any rules at our house. And I’m surprised that they are surprised.

I think it’s weird to live by rules. Last year, I had a slumber party with two friends I’d met online. I had a nose piercing at that time. When they saw it, one of them asked, “Isn’t it illegal for people under eighteen to get piercings?” “Why should it be illegal?” I answered.

When my friend said, “That’s what my mom told me. You need to be over eighteen years old if you want to get a tattoo or a piercing. Otherwise, both the artist and the kid get punished!”, I figured out what was going on. Her mom had scared her with a lie

To keep her from getting either one. She believed it because she always lived by the rules, and never questioned them. “Then I’ll show you something that’s going to surprise you even more,” I said, pointing to my wrist: “I got my first tattoo  when I was thirteen. Now I want a bigger one on my neck.

But I keep postponing getting one because I can’t decide what to get. I went to look at designs at the tattoo parlor with my mom, but I didn’t like the ones she recommended. Next week, I’m going to check it out once more with my dad.” My other friend screamed, “What??

You went to the tattoo parlor with your mom? I can’t even imagine my mom being in one, let alone her taking me there!” My friends are always surprised when I tell them about my life. What surprises me is that parents feel entitled to set rules for their kids and to punish them.

Once I went to a birthday party. There was an ice cream man that gave you as much ice cream as you wanted. I ate very little because there’s always ice cream at our house. But the other kids at the party went crazy. Each had at least ten scoops of ice cream.

I found out later that most of them got sick and had sore throats. That’s why their families banned them from eating ice cream for a long time. I think that made no sense. The kids saw first hand that they get sore throats when they have too much ice cream.

I’m sure if they see an ice cream man at another party, they will never eat that much again. The kids already learned their lesson so what’s the point of punishing them even further? You may think my parents are eccentric since we have zero rules at home.

But that’s not what they’re like at all. As kids, they were both raised in fairly free households. They told each other about it when they met. When they decided to marry, they thought, “We grew up in an environment of freedom, had happy childhoods, and became normal, decent human beings.

Someone who is even more free will have an even happier childhood, and grow up to be a wonderful person,” and they decided to have no rules for their future kid. I was born seven years after this decision and grew up in a rule-free home just like they imagined. When I was younger,

I thought all kids  were raised like me. But with time, I realized this wasn’t the case at all. I couldn’t believe that there were even more rules for kids than there were for adults. I love Pixar movies. When I was nine years old, I saw the trailer for Inside Out on Youtube

And loved it. “Let’s go to the movies,” I said to our neighbor’s daughter. “I’ll ask my mom but she said she was very busy today. I don’t think she can take me to the movies,” she replied. I was surprised. When I said, “Why is your mom taking you to the movies?

We’ll go, you and I,” she was surprised. “What do you mean? So you can go to the movies without your parents?” she asked. “Yes, why?” I said. “How does your mom respond when you tell her you’re going to the movies by yourself?” she asked. When I said to her,

“Why would I tell her I’m going to the movies? I’m the one who’s going,” she laughed and thought I was kidding. She was shocked to realize I was dead serious. Later, she told her mom about our conversation. The next day, when I asked her,

“Do you want to go, and play at the park?”, she said, “My mom won’t let me play with you anymore.” As you can see, her mom also saw me as dangerous for her kid. I think it’s wonderful to live in a house with no rules. In the future,

I will definitely raise my own kids the same way. Some of you may argue that kids need rules in their lives. Once, a friend told me, “I would’ve been a spoiled brat if my family had no rules at all. If you don’t go by the rules, then you are prone to danger.

That’s why rules are good. I wish you had some rules, too. Then you’d have a much easier and safer life.” I think just the opposite. Kids shouldn’t be patronized by their families. They should be able to make their own mistakes and learn about life that way. These are obviously my opinions.

You may think differently. Please write your thoughts in the comments. Should kids lead a life of discipline, obeying the rules? Or should they be completely free like me? Let’s discuss  this. Sound off in the comments.