Do you resent not living up to your parents expectations?

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I know I did

Good question. I used to, but not anymore. I resent them for having such restrictive expectations of me. Now that I am finally out from under that with no one telling me "This is what you WILL do.", I have no idea what I really want. I wish they could have let me get to know myself and have my own dreams.

I used to, but then I realized they have no right to restrict me with some BS expectations.

my parents dont really have any expectations.
they just want me to try my best with everything.
xx

Resent is not the word. More like sad. Sad that parents have to have expectations other than the best for their children whatever that is. Sad that parents make such crucial mistakes while bringing up their children that whatever love they give is wasted in children who don't love them back.

it was all such a failure,
but it seems like i'm restoring all that (started studying at 35, started my master this year)
i'm sure my aunt and uncle who brought me up would have been proud,
but there are dead now, so a bit too late for that...

I just knew if I could do what they told me to do I would have been what they wanted. But they confused me so often by encouraging me to do things in which I had no interest or inclination at all. That paralized me mostly and I resented the paralization, I suppose. I since have forced myself to at least LOOK like I am 'paying attention' and smart enough to remember what they said (and Aspie enough to remember what they said EXACTLY!)

I have since learned that people don't really expect you to remember what was said, only how you felt about the exchange. (oh, bushwa! speak English!)

(only because English I don't have to run through bablefish translator)

Merle

Used to. When I was really young, I cried myself to sleep a lot wanting to be like the normals. The Normals that didn't think the thoughts that kept me up at night, scared of the dark, worrying about Death, Religion and World War. The Normals that just accepted the social norms and easily understood how to chit chat and tell jokes. The Normals that didn't have problems with procrastinating.
Then when I was a teen, my parents-products of the 50's-gave me very mixed messages about what was expected of me as a modern woman. I was encouraged to dress provocatively but not allowed to date, encouraged to go to college but then harassed about dating and marriage. Encouraged to study but complained when I didn't make my own money, or if acted too smart.

I don't worry about it, they're not so happy anymore anyways.

For years I did but now I see that their expectation was that I'd become a "mini-me".

I've gone in a different direction and have been fairly successful. They understand now.

My mother doesn't really have any expectations. It is my grandmother that has them all.

She has a grandson, who in her eyes, is perfect. He is in his last year of high school...doing very well so far with all schooling. He gets top grades, has a good social life, does extracurricular activities and plans on getting an apprentiship to be an electrician in 2009.

Then there is me, her grand-daughter. The high school drop-out, the one with no social life outside of the internet, the one with no future goals and who spends nearly everyday inside. The one who fails at nearly every task she sets, the one who knows about how tornadoes form but is too overwhelmed by life to study anything.
In her eyes, I am a failure and yes I resent that.

i actually resent my parents for not setting higher expectations for me and pushing me harder. i have grown to almost hate myself for being average even though my potential is far beyond that. so in a way i resent not living up to my own expectations, i resent the fact that I didn't achieve as much as i could have in high school and the fact that now i cant make it into great colleges like i should.