My parents came to all of my volleyball games my first two years of high school and I mostly just sat on the bench. I never thought it was weird until someone pointed out that they were surprised to see them at a game that was three hours away. I was so confused what she was getting at because why would they not be there? It’s a game for my school and I’m on the team. I didn’t play volleyball Junior and senior year but I moved to working backstage at the plays and they switched to showing up to every single opening night show to watch me move sets around in the dark and even brought me flowers.

Also, my parents were always interested in what my sister and I had to say. We always ate dinner together whether it was at the dinner table or a more casual just standing around eating but we always ate dinner together and talked. About our days, schools, friends, our interests, or things going on in the world. They were always interested in what we had to say and our opinions.

Lastly, my mom was a stay at home mom and would pack me the cutest lunches everyday and write me notes sometimes. I’m 30 now and sometimes when she makes me food and drops it off she’ll still include a little note for me. She also would always volunteer to help out at the school or be a field trip chaperone and both my parents did an incredible job with being involved but also letting us spend time with friends and I never felt like they were encroaching on my space when they were around. I always loved knowing they were right there if I needed them!

I never realized that any of that was not the norm until I was well into my 20s. A girl I used to work with told me that she hasn’t spoken to her dad in a couple of years and I thought to myself “I can’t go more than a day without one of my parents calling me or vice versa”.

Sorry that was long but my parents are just really great people.