realize that they are both your parents and respect them no matter what and stop thinking you so damned smart.

I have not a clue, but a GREAT question

I can't help you because I have no respect for my father in any way. But very good question, tres bien

I must first ask you how you know that your parents aren't nearly as smart as you are. What evidence has led you to this conclusion, and is it a trustworthy conclusion? A failure on your part to comprehend or understand their reasons for making their decisions does not inherently make their decisions idiotic. You must first sit down and ask them why they decided what they have. Understand their reasons and logic. Until you can explain their position back to them and have them agree that you understand it, you really aren't ready to compare their position to your own. Only when you truly understand the reasons behind their decisions can you reasonably say whether or not you agree with them. You can then begin to explain your position to them, and your reasons. If you cannot convince them to see things your way or compromise, you have to respectfully let them make the decisions that they have. If you are an unemancipated minor, you have to abide by those decisions. I hope I don't need to point out that calling their decisions "idiotic" is not respectful. Therefore, the first place you can begin respecting their decisions is to stop placing judgments such as "idiotic" on them, and begin to really understand and respect their right to disagree. Make sense? (BTW, what exactly is up with this avatar?)

Until you no longer live under their roof, you are bound by their rules regardless of what you think of them. The only thing is to suck it up and dream about the day that you are on your own and don't have to answer to anyone but yourself. I will say though, that I have a lot more respect for my mom now than I did as a teenager. I have also learned that while I didn't necessarily agree with her or appreciate her back then, I now mostly get where she was coming from and, surprise, she's not nearly as stupid as I originally thought!

Technically speaking, you don't HAVE to respect their decisions. (and the phrase "respect their idiot decisions" is self-contradictory, no?) As long as you're dependent on them for support, you're in a bit of a bind perhaps. But that doesn't mean you can't be a completely disrespectful son. Chances are that your question is rooted in some specific event or events -- they said or did something recently, and you're upset about it. Respect isn't about their brainpower anyway. There's 2 kinds of respect: the kind that's given freely and the kind that's earned. Both of these have their place. The kind that's given freely is the kind that I try to give to everyone -- just to recognize that they're a human being, that they're a pretty complicated organism as a result, and that they can feel pain, make mistakes, suffer, experience joy, etc. This kind of respect is really about YOU, not about THEM. Being able to "generate" this kind of respect from thin air represents a certain level of maturity and development. (Think LynfromNM for an example of someone who has mastered this). The other kind of respect is "earned", i.e. you give it to people when they demonstrate qualities or talents which you value. It's hard for teens to give this to their parents, because they're too busy trying to define their own identity, and the parents are one of the main apparent barriers in that process. So there's kind of a double-slam here: a teen has trouble generating the "free" respect because they often aren't developmentally mature enough to see the value of it or realize the basis of it, and they have trouble generating the "earned" respect because they see their parents as a barrier on their road to adulthood. So parents of teens rarely get any respect. That's just what they have to live through, and what you get to work through. It's painful on all sides, usually.

I sense a disrespectful child here. You are lucky, you have both parents, compared to many, many single parent families. you should be honored to live in a home, where your parents care about your well-being. Your parents must be much more intelliegent than you give them credit. after all, they did have you. If you really believe they are making idiot decisions, just think what your life would be like, if they were not there for you. think about that. The bottom line here is....one day you will be a parent. how would you feel, if your child thought the same about you? Remember.....WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND.

Maybe your the one who makes idiot decisions and is not nearly as smart as them!

Rflagg keep in mind, when I wrote this I had me in mind, not you. Twenty-five years ago I was asking this same question but didn't have anywhere to post it. There is a huge difference between intelligence and wisdom. Intelligence is something that can be developed and can also be something we are born with an aptitude for. Wisdom is something that takes time to develop, no matter how smart you may think you are. Part of developing wisdom is recognizing that people who have been alive many more years than you have, know things that you don't, regarless of whether they are your parents. The hardest thing to learn about your own parents is that they are not perfect, but that does not mean they are stupid. We all have a hard time accepting the truth that they were once the same age that we are now, and that they really do remember what it's like. One day you will wake up and look in the mirror and say, "My god! I am the same age as my parents were when I said these things about them!". I was born when my parents were in their early twenties. I became a father just before I turned thirty-six. I was sixteen when my parents were thirty-six. Even at that age (36), I had not forgotten what it was like to be two, six, ten, sixteen, and every other age I had been. You won't be fully accepting of the fact that your parents really do know, until you reach the ages they are at yourself. There are things about the consequeces of certain decisions that they know, that only experience can teach you, no matter how intelligent you may be. One thing your parents have over you is the fact that they KNOW what is means to be your age. You wont know what it means to be their age, until you get there. And then they will be older still. This process goes on until your parents pass away. Do you realy want to wait until then to learn to get along with them? When it is too late? I only barely began learning to get along with my mother at about forty years of age. I am forty-six now. She died two and a half years ago. Do the math. Imagine how I feel about it. Do you want to feel like that about your parents? Ever? Have you ever heard the song "In the Living Years"? By Mike Rutherford (Genesis) performed by Mike and the Mechanics? I'm gonna leave you with it and let you draw your own conclusions. The Living Years: "Every generation Blames the one before And all of their frustrations Come beating on your door I know that I'm a prisoner To all my Father held so dear I know that I'm a hostage To all his hopes and fears I just wish I could have told him in the living years Crumpled bits of paper Filled with imperfect thought Stilted conversations I'm afraid that's all we've got You say you just don't see it He says it's perfect sense You just can't get agreement In this present tense We all talk a different language Talking in defence Say it loud, say it clear You can listen as well as you hear It's too late when we die To admit we don't see eye to eye So we open up a quarrel Between the present and the past We only sacrifice the future It's the bitterness that lasts So Don't yield to the fortunes You sometimes see as fate It may have a new perspective On a different day And if you don't give up, and don't give in You may just be OK. Say it loud, say it clear You can listen as well as you hear It's too late when we die To admit we don't see eye to eye I wasn't there that morning When my Father passed away I didn't get to tell him All the things I had to say I think I caught his spirit Later that same year I'm sure I heard his echo In my baby's new born tears I just wish I could have told him in the living years Say it loud, say it clear You can listen as well as you hear It's too late when we die To admit we don't see eye to eye" Hit the back button on this to let it buffer al the way if you need to let it load. Listen to it and think about what he's saying. And remember, Mike (who wrote it) once felt the same about his parents. BTW: Mike isn't the singer, he's the other guitar player in the live one, without the hat.