Independence

I had a conversation with an authority figure the other day. She was asking why kids didn't do things immediately. I asked, "Do you think that maybe it's a form of independence?" What I meant was, "Don't you think it is a way for the kids to find come kind of control in their lives?" But that obviously didn't come across when she looked at me and said, "That's wrong!" and continued to lecture about how kids should be obedient. I understood that she was trying to say that it is not good to be independent in disobedience, but still it hurt and part of me felt crushed. Really? It's not good to have control over my own life?

Today she gave a speech and said how proud she was that her kids had taken initiative to create their own chore chart and are taking control of their own lives. The contradiction irked me. Which is it? She is always talking like this. My sister would say that it is good to be your own person as long as it fits and conforms to the box of the authority figure. But isn't that always how it is? In any job, in any home, you have to fill the box of the authority figure. So at what point will you be free to follow your own conscience and be your own person in the box that you create for yourself? And then you have to ask, are you independent then?