Just some thoughts (don't worry, there's no point)

When you're young, you see your parents as beings that could do no wrong; they keep you from danger, and even though they make you do things that you don't want to, in the end, everything's all right (assuming everything is normal).

Soon, you grow up a little more, and that hand that once guided you now feels constraining. You push back, you rebel in any way you can, and generally make life hell for your parents. Where once they were faultless, now they're insufferable and short-sighted. Despite the hormones and intense emotion, there are moments of lucidity and wonderful cooperation where you don't feel the need to argue for the sake of argument.

You mellow out, though, and you stop fighting with them as often. Notice how I didn't say never. They're still family, after all. For some people, there is still some intimidation, as these are the people that raised you from nothing. Still, you can see yourself feeling more adult.

Perhaps you skip one of these steps, but the end result generally is you see your parents as humans. Your intimidation fades, and perhaps you see them make mistakes that help you realize this fact. This is, at least for me, the point where I got a glimpse of what it would be like to be a parent. I don't have any kids- it's way too early for me- but I see now what it may be like on the other side. It can also provide you insight as to how they got to be the people they are today. There's a sort of lucidity afforded with age (I say this like I'm venerable, or even wise by any stretch of the imagination- I'm not) that provides you with the ability to see people, and infer their stories. From these experiences and inferences, you can learn positive examples or use them as cautionary tales for your own improvement. It's here you learn not to begrudge your parents their faults or shortcomings, but understand them for what they are and what it means to you.

This, I feel, is crucial in becoming more mature and balanced. It may well be that we are destined to become like our parents, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. We can still be reflections of our parents while being our own people. When you think about it, your dad didn't have the same parents you do, and if you're a product of both of your parents, how do you end up being exactly like one or the other? Pair this with the ability to discern the best and worst qualities, as well as the willpower to adapt the best and weed out the worst, and you have a person who has become like their parents, yet different altogether. This seems like a parent's ultimate legacy- shaping another human being not only actively, but through example as well.

This may seem obvious, of course. However, it is one thing to say these things, it is another thing altogether to realize them in meaning. Perhaps one of the most important things in all of this is to realize that- however fucked up they may be- your parents are still human, and they have their own separate reasons for being fucked up. Just learn from it.

So, like the title says, there's not much of a point here, so don't look too hard for one. It was just some epiphany that I felt the need to write out for my own benefit.